Finding deer antler sheds can give a hunter great insight into a deer’s trends. Finding a shed is a step toward predicting their behavior for the coming hunting season and indicates how healthy the herd is. But what if you can’t find the sheds in the first place? Here are some tips for finding those elusive sheds this spring.

Look in Bedding Areas and Food Sources

Try to scout out a deer’s bedding area when they’ve left to visit their food sources, either dawn or dusk, just like when you’re on an active hunt. Places that have a lot of natural cover like dense bushes or thick, low-lying branches are prime spots for deer bedding areas. Once you’ve spotted a bedding area, take a look at the surrounding area. Try to spot any natural trails or signs of the path the deer might take. If you can identify the path, see if you can find an antler shed along the way. If you’ve stumbled upon an active deer trail, you might end up discovering their food source as well.

If you have a Feedbank Gravity Deer Feeder on your property, make sure you’re checking it for antler sheds. Bucks might shed their antlers as they feed from your feeder, so make sure you’re not missing the gold on your own property. Set up a trail camera facing your feeder and monitor the activity. Keep an eye on whether squirrels or other small animals are grabbing the sheds before you’ve had a chance to find them.

Look Closely

It may sound cliché, but you should keep your eyes peeled and make sure you’re always looking at the ground as you shed hunt on foot. It could be possible that you are walking through hot areas too fast and mistaking deer sheds for a stick or a branch. Sheds don’t always fall off right in the middle of a trail, they can sometimes be found off to the side of the path, or underneath a tree. They might fall off among a group of trees that the deer had been using as a food source. Make sure you’re paying close attention to your surroundings and don’t let the sheds pass you by.

You Could Be Competing

If you’re not finding sheds it doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t any to be found; it might mean that someone else got to them first. If you are shed hunting on public hunting ground, it’s possible that other hunters have found the sheds first and have already taken them for their own research. Adapt the same way you do when there’s hunting pressure during hunting season. Take a break from shed hunting that particular area and let the pressure clear out. The deer might have become wary of all the foot traffic and decided to stay away for a while. If it is truly a hotbed of deer activity, the deer will return once the pressure subsides and there will be more sheds to find in the coming month, and this time you’ll be able to grab them without competition.

If you’re having trouble finding deer antler sheds, be patient, stay alert, and remember that other hunters are doing the same thing you’re doing. Areas with a heavy buck population will have plenty of sheds to choose from, you just have to make sure you’re looking in the right places. Don’t be discouraged and stay vigilant. Your patience will pay off soon enough.

What do you do when you can’t find any sheds? Let us know your shed-finding tactics in the comments below!

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