Second Season: Hunting for Shed Deer Antlers

By the calendar, hunting season is long over. Your chance to bag that whitetail buck or down that red-legged mallard came and went months ago. Even dedicated rabbit hunters who hunted all winter long had to put away their shooting irons and beagles at the end of February.

But in a typical year, round about March, another hunting season opens here in Wisconsin, and this one doesn’t require licenses, tree stands, orange coats, camouflage, decoys or hunting dogs.

As the deep winter snows begin to recede, as they have done in dramatic fashion here in Hudson this week, a whole world of buried treasure comes to light. I am speaking, of course, of shed whitetail deer antlers.

You may not consider shed antlers as treasure, but I do.

For one thing, it allows me to keep track of what whitetail bucks are roaming through my little part of Wisconsin. Buck whitetails are dang tough to spot most of the year, since they prefer to do their roaming at night. Pretty much the only time you’ll see mature bucks out in broad daylight is during the rut, and that was way back in November.

A lot can happen to a deer over the course of a year, and, if you’ll pardon the pun, finding shed antlers can shed a little light on who’s still around.

Another reason I enjoy hunting deer antlers so much is that, right about now I desperately need some time outdoors.  Turkey season has yet to arrive, ice fishing is becoming mundane, and the morel mushroom bloom is a good two months off.

This is the time of year that I need a good walk in the woods to remind me why I enjoy living here. Searching for shed antlers is the perfect cure for what ails me.

Buck whitetail deer, as you undoubtedly know, grow a new set of antlers every year, typically beginning in May. Those antlers are shed each winter, and are usually buried for a few months in our deep Wisconsin snows. Deer can shed their antlers anytime from November, just after the rut, until late March. When they shed them is a matter of how much stress the winter has put them under, among other things. This has been a tough year for deer.

This winter most of the bucks I’m familiar with shed their antlers early—in December and early January. At least I haven’t seen any deer with headgear since then.

What I’m getting at is those sheds have been buried for a long time now. That makes them tougher to find come the big melt off because of the accumulation of forest detritus on top of the sheds, along with their general discoloring and fading. After a long winter, they blend in maddeningly well with the forest floor. It’s a bit like trying to find a raven in the night sky, there’s just not enough contrast.

That long winter under the snow also gives other critters a greater chance to find those sheds and start gnawing away at them. Rodents, mice in particular, love to chew on antlers. It has something to do with the calcium in the antlers, or so I’m told. Whatever the reason, mice spend most of the winter tunneling under the snow, and when they find an antler they don’t hesitate to consume it, bite by tiny bite.

Some people shed hunt because there is actual monetary value to the antlers, particularly if you can find a large, matched pair. I seek them out instead because it’s a cure for cabin fever. It’s an excuse to get outside and take a walk in the woods. And as the snows recede, this is the perfect time to do it.

Personally, I don’t much care how big or small, the antlers are. I consider them all trophies. In fact, those little teeny spikes are tougher to find than the larger ones, so I enjoy discovering them just as much. It’s the hunt that matters.

It’s a good thing I don’t care about the size since I’ve never found anything bigger than half a basket eight-pointer, but I’ll keep trying. And if I find a record-breaking, matched pair of antlers, I won’t be selling them. They're worth more than that.

If you don’t have an area to search close by, allows the collecting of shed antlers. According to Park Manager Aaron Mason, “We have quite a few people who come to the park to hunt for sheds. It’s a good place to search since we have a sizeable deer population.”

I mentioned before that you don’t need a hunting dog for this kind of work, but that hasn’t stopped me from trying. My yellow lab Rosie will retrieve just about anything she can carry, and some things she can't. So I’m training her to find sheds. At least that’s the theory.

Rose-the-Nose hasn’t helped much yet, mostly just fetching antlers I’ve already found, but I’m hoping with enough practice she’ll get the hang of it. I’m not sure if anyone has tried to train an antler retriever before, and I’m not sure if it will work.  But I can tell you this; if I leave her at home while I go for a walk in the woods, she’ll bury all my hunting gear and sell my truck.