The bones be droppin’ | News, Sports, Jobs – Evening Observer

Jan 28, 2023
It’s not a major secret that Mother Nature has been kind to the majority of us in Western New York this winter season. With just enough snow on the ground to follow tracks, but not enough to make an afternoon stroll in the woods a major work, the time is right to take part in a fast-growing tradition in our part of Whitetail Country — shed hunting.
Hunting for bone or deer sheds/antlers helps us all get a jump on next fall’s deer season. From pulling stands to doing a little scouting to glassing fields to checking on that big one that got away last season, time frames during late January and February are opportune times to head to the field in search of sheds.
A few years ago, this thing called shed hunting was done by a small group of sportsmen/women. Today, shed hunting has become a popular wintertime project we have taken up to extend and help in our deer season success.
Like anything else in life, some folks like to take some things to extreme and others, like myself, we stay old school. With today’s electronics, pinpointing important spots can be as easy as opening an app and clicking on a map. With some success, some folks train their dogs to help in finding sheds. I enjoy blending old school and current ideas, by laying leather down myself.
Before one heads out, it’s important to know when and where to begin your search. This knowledge will not only help you find a needle in a haystack, but it will also let you learn about the whitetail deer in your hunting areas.
Deer are members of the cervidae family and shed their antlers annually after the mating season. The rut, as the mating season of deer species is known, varies depending on the climate of their habitats. Male deer use the antlers during mating season to display, challenge and fight other males for domination. The key here to remember is bucks lose their headgear after the rut. A buck’s testosterone levels begin to decrease after the rut, and when they drop to a certain level, antlers are shed. Since antlers shed at different times in certain areas and in certain years, something causes the testosterone levels to vary from area to area and winter to winter. Thus, the real question is this: What causes the testosterone levels to drop to the required level?
We know that testosterone and mating are related, so high numbers of does could lead to late shedding of antlers. In a nutshell, this is how it all works. Testosterone in bucks stays high as they chase estrous. Does will only come into estrus if they have not mated, so when you have large numbers of does, they do not all get bred in the first go-around. When that occurs, hot does will still be popping up later in winter, and rutting bucks will be chasing them. The more that are not bred, the later the bucks’ antlers drop. And once most does are mated, the bucks’ testosterone levels drop and so do their antlers.
History and science have shown us, here in our part of Whitetail Country, chasing begins around the end October each year. Doing a little math, one can discover that soon after the final rut during the first part of January, bucks should start dropping their head gear 30-45 days after the final rut is done.
Some research has shown that bucks in poor nutritional condition areas, or those that are diseased, shed their antlers earlier than they would have been healthier. Poor nutrition causes testosterone levels to drop and, as mentioned earlier, when testosterone drops, so do antlers.
Some research has found that older bucks often shed earlier, and suggest that this is due to the physical toll on their bodies paid during the rut. Chasing does, fighting other bucks and being too busy to eat all reduce bucks’ body condition. Thus, when the rut ends, if they are really run down, their testosterone levels drop faster than normal.
Tied to this poor-nutrition theory is habitat. If habitat is over-browsed, then the body condition of bucks in the area will be poor. Since we know that testosterone levels drop when the bucks are undernourished, then poor habitat might also cause them to drop antlers earlier. In turn, I would suspect that deep early snows, which would limit food intake, also impact the time that antlers drop. In fact, studies show that farther north, where snows are heavier, antlers begin to drop from mid-December to late January.
If poor nutrition leads to early shedding, then good nutrition should lead to late drops, right? In fact, studies show that bucks, where nutrition is very good, don’t begin to drop antlers until mid-January or later. Even though these bucks rut hard and their overall body condition is down, their testosterone levels apparently aren’t affected as much as deer from poorer habitats. Thus, they keep their antlers longer.
Good nutrition leads to one other factor that causes bucks to keep their antlers later in winter. When fawns have good feed, many of them will be bred in their first year. A study done in Iowa showed that almost 75% of doe fawns were bred, most during December, again leading to bucks keeping their antlers later than in other parts of the country. This correlation between good feed/habitat and antler shedding has led several researchers to conclude that antler retention is a good measure of the habitat. If the antlers drop later, those bucks live in good habitat. If bucks tend to drop earlier, such as mid-December to mid-January, those bucks live in poor habitat.
Why would anybody want to leave the comfort of their living room, to head to woods and search for dropped antlers? For me, there are many reasons — getting out walking is always good, watching winter patterns, spotting deer/turkey, collecting antlers for personal reasons, and collecting antlers for educational reasons.
Many of us whitetail hunters have a strange fascination with antlers. To put it simply, they’re just cool. And for that reason, I myself love shed hunting just to see, touch and hold antlers. Not to mention being able to bring those antlers home to adorn my home. Other folks enjoy antlers for other reasons, such as using them in building projects or decorations.
On top of these personal reasons, there is also much that can be learned by a shed antler. Most obviously, if you find a shed off a buck, you have strong proof that said buck made it through the hunting season. If you’re shed hunting a property you also deer hunt, this gives you an opportunity to determine what bucks will be available to hunt in the coming fall. Finding sheds can also help you learn about a certain buck’s whereabouts and patterns of movement. If you find one shed in a corn field, and the matching side of the shed in a nearby thicket, you’ve now uncovered two of his winter bedding and feeding areas. That’s valuable information that can translate to putting together the puzzle that can lead to hunting success.
OK, so we now understand why and when, but how does a hunter start shed hunting? The first place I check out is the bedding areas. Bucks will bed down in the thickest areas with branches or brush to knock those antlers off. A thick patch of pine trees open to the south is an ideal spot to check.
After that, check out the feeding areas and where they are drinking. This may not be as easy as one thinks with many ponds and streams frozen over during this part of the year but once you find where deer are drinking, you have found a honey hole. Feed this time year will vary from browse to field edges. Deer are opportunists when it comes to finding food, and with their tri-stomach system they can take in various types of food at any given time.
Following well-traveled trails will not only help in finding sheds, but will also give you a better understanding of deer daily habits. This seems rather obvious, but a good snowpack will force the deer on trails and narrow down your area to search. This will allow you to maximize your success rate. Shed hunting is a lot of fun and, in doing so, makes us get it into the woods and discover bedding areas and travel routes. Shed hunting helps put more pieces in place for your deer puzzle for the coming fall.
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