Shed Hunt

Q: How many miles of deer trails do you have to follow before you finally come across a shed antler?
A: A lot!


Ever since October, I've been following the incredibly well-used deer runs on Mt. Toby's three distinct peaks - Mount Toby (el. 1269'), Ox Hill (el. 1015') , and Roaring Mountain (el. 1195') - discovering an extensive network of trails leading to major feeding and bedding areas and marked here and there by numerous antler rubs from bucks in the rut. I wasn't really sure when antlers should start dropping, but I knew January would be the earliest, so I started keeping my eyes peeled during my hikes. Without snow, recognizing a wood-colored antler in the litter of oak leaves and dead twigs is dizzying and next to impossible. Last Wednesday's foot of fluffy stuff was just what the tracker ordered though, and now that it has melted a tiny bit and formed a very sturdy crust, I was able to hike up and down the steep parts with relative ease.

With my heels bent towards the fire tower, I began hiking the packed snow on the human trail but soon noticed some scraped up snow under oaks nearby. Diverting off-trail, I found one of the busiest feeding areas I've ever come across, an area with about a 50' radius where the snow had been entirely torn up in search of acorns. I also found a dozen or so beds and copious amounts of scat, indicating that the deer had spent a considerable amount of time there. The rule of thumb in shed hunting is that antlers will fall off at any time (that's a flat probability distribution for you stats-savvy folks), so to increase the probability of finding an antler, you need to either cover a lot of ground following deer on the move or look in small areas where deer have spent a lot of time, i.e. bedding and feeding areas! As expected, statistics finally won today because I indeed found my first shed antler, as pictured above in situ. It was a 3-point antler (meaning a 6-point buck) with the two smaller tines literally snapped off near their bases (as can be seen in this other photo). With all the deer around,including some bruisers, I don't doubt he lost those tines in a battle this fall. He's made it through this season though, and if he keeps gorging on those acorns I can perhaps expect him to be an 8-pointer by next year. That's the perennial reward of shed hunting.