woolybear

LMBO- ok, ok, I'll whack 'em with my tripod next time through! Your such a bad influence John! Maybe I'll ship them to William and we can split the reward so I can get me some new camera gear!

I'm actually a little surprised by the replies to be honest with ya. I can respect where many of you are coming from with the explosion of yote populations across the country and their impact on other species, but I could never bring myself to harm the pups. I guess to me it was just a rare encounter that I enjoyed being able to witness and capture. I would imagine even with a litter of this size, they still have a pretty rough road ahead with no gaurantees of survival even without my intervention. I suppose maybe I'm getting soft since I picked up a camera and eased up on the hunting. Oh well, this batch will be around for everyone to enjoy in their own way or wage war against in the future. Good conservation needs both sides to keep everybody happy and the critters in check without wiping them out completely.

Thanks guys! I thought for sure your hearts would be melting but I guess not,lol. I understand............cat lovers!

Out looking for antlers today when I got sidetracked by 8 coyote pups in a big hollow tree. Four of them ran inside with mom, and the other four were playing in the treetops down below. I sat outside the den for 5hrs. and got a few keeper shots of them as they'd peak their heads out. Mama yote was inside the den letting out some low frequency "growls" every time the four outside started to get close to the den. She was warning them to stay away, and every time she did that, they ran back to hide in the fallen tree tops again. On my way out, I stopped to see the straglers outside and they just layed there at my feet. It took everything I had not to toss the 4 of them in my pac,lol! Sure wish I had the new camera today but I'm glad I had something!

I don't think I'll be trying to out-do these anytime soon,lol. Just a combination of dumb luck... right place and right time... and an awefull lot of time spent at this horn hunting stuff! These little nubbs made my season!

I haven't been doing very well keeping my shed journal current this year, but one of these days I'll update it with my latest finds. In the meantime, just thought I'd post the craziest set of antlers I ever found. I picked these up earlier in the week while taking a coffee break under an old apple tree. Match set that gross scores 2"! Deductions are really gonna hurt these horns,lol

Congrats on your 1'st of the season deer slayer! I always look around a little more whenever I see an antler rat around. Never caught one chewing on a horn, but I did find an antler that a squirrel had dug out of the snow before! Nice find!

Good haul so far dosse! Some nice looking antlers in that bunch! How big is that little outcast to the left in the group photo? Your smallest..? Continued success the rest of the season!

Sounds a lot like the areas I have to shed hunt. I don't have a whole lot of farm fields or food sources to hike myself. Sounds to me you're doing the best you can do with what you have available. I've never found much of anything in swamps around here besides dead deer, so I don't key on those types of features for sheds. When I'm in the open timber, I'll do like you do and follow trails, but also pay attention to any thickets in there. Another hot spot around here is evergreens in the middle of mature woods. Basicly, any type of terrain edges, or edges created by a change in forest habitat and vegetation. The thicker the better seems to be what works best for me when I'm in the big woods.

Nate- most of the dead ones I find are usually unrecovered deer from hunting season, but this year winterkill seems to be another reason. When we get a winter like we've been having and some of them don't make it to the deer yards, they die in these hills. No wolves here yet, thank God, or our herd would really be in trouble. Been kinda quiet for me lately so I did a hike down in the valley today where I was hoping all the deer went. I wasn't dissapointed, there was tons of sign, tons of antlerless, and I saw 5 bucks still packing both sides. Here's a couple that I managed to get some long range pics of in the open timber. I was really starting to worry I wasn't gonna find where all the bucks had gone. I'll be hitting this area when I have more time! ... also got another old skull yesterday from a different area. Got home and loaded the pics when I noticed the BB in his left sinus cavity,lol. ...and another set of horns I'm waiting for to drop...... or not!

Now there's a freak! Looks like he couldn't decide to grow a antler or a moose paddle! Very cool find!

2-5-13 I decided to do a hike down in the park today to try to get me a good snow ATL! I got there around noon so I had about 3 hours to look around before I had to start heading home so I could make it before dark. Well, I got my snow ATL, but it turned out to be another oldie. It's still a pretty nice horn so I decided to take it home to show it where I live! The g2 is broke off right where it joins the g3. It has a striking resemblence to the big fresh palmated 4pt I fouund last season. I think this horn may be the year prior but I can't say for sure. Anyhow, here's #14! Antlers- 14 Sets- 2 Dead bucks- 8 Dead doe/fawns- 5

Another quality find! You can still see the steam coming off that one!

1-30-13 Well folks, today I had a great day of shed hunting! I hit the woods at first light and got home just before dark. Got stuck in another rain storm but it actually felt pretty good! I needed to get cooled off the way I was running around with how warm it was. My most productive day in the shed woods! I'll get right to it! What a great day hiking! My first find of the day was this submarine 3pt two hrs into my hike with it's parascope up from the depths! My second antler of the day came shortly after, around 10:30am. A nice fatty 4 pt! Now I was rolling, but the rain was coming down in buckets. I took shelter under a big fir tree for a bit untill it let up some. Once I got moving again, it only took about 15 minutes to find my 3'rd antler of the day. Another oldie 3pt! I was happy with 3 horns for the day, but I had a lot of time left, so away I go once again! As I cut across a goldenrod field from one woodlot to another, I spotted my 4'th antler of the day! A sunbleached 3pt! Shortly after that horn, I heard the fire department whistle blow. I had 4 horns by noon! I hiked around the goldenrod some more but only found this dead shed head. I did a quick search for his horns but didn't find them. A little further through the field I spotted another dead buck who had shed already. I started looking for his antlers when I spotted one. My 5'th antler was his spike he dropped close by! That's him in the background. I didn't see the other side so I did a big circle around the field before returning back to him from the other direction. What do ya know... there layed the mate and my 6'th antler for the day! This is the first match set spikers I've ever found, and the first sheds I've ever found next to the fresh dead buck! By now it was close to 3pm, and I was pretty sure I'd found all I was gonna find for the day. I was wrong again. My next find was a very sad one. A very fresh dead buck dead in his bed with his antlers tangled in the brush. My guess is he got caught up in here and couldn't get free. He died from exposure most likely. I like this rack so much I will cap it and mount the antlers for inside display! He's the first split brow buck I've found. It probably took me 10-15 minutes to get him out of this mess. He was ted up tight in there. I chopped his head of with my hatchet and bagged him up. Now I would start heading towards home. BUT WAIT... what's that ahead! A fatty club horn, and antler #7 for the day! My pack was officialy FULL of antlers, a skull, and all my other crap. At this point I hoped I didn't find anything that couldn't fit in my pocket! I shouldn't have thought that! Up ahead I spotted the infamous goldenrod buck skull teepee! I couldn't wait to see what it was. It sure looked to be a nice one! GOLLLLLY... it sure was a nice one! So that's what I packed into a 10hr hike today,lol. Also found 2 dead doe along the way. Here's the haul for the day! Antlers- 13 Sets- 2 Dead bucks- 8 Dead doe/fawns- 5

Awesome match up on the big dude Stones! I was hoping you'd complete the set, and a GREAT set it is! Good job on adding 2 more to the pile too! You guys grow some nice bucks!

Here's my first six of the year! Hoping to add a few more this weekend.

Nice catch! Few years back one of my neighbors shot a buck that went unrecovered and died in the creekbottom across the road from me. Every day I passed by it, there was a mink litteraly inside the carcass pigging out on venison! He was so oblivious to the outside world, I finally got within 10ft of him and shot some video. Haven't seen him since the muskrats and beavers moved in. In the spring I've been seeing quite a few of them splattered on the roads around here.

Got it today bud, thanx!

1-14-13 Hey, even that chilly ride down the rapids wasn't enough to cool off my hot streak! I had a little time at the end of the day to do a quick hike and discovered antler #6 today! As I was hiking along, I decided to stop and pour myself a cup of java from my thermos. I saw a nice big tree ahead that looked like a great place to take a break and watch over the woods around me! Apparently at some point in time a buck had the same idea and left this little 2pt antler for me! It's an oldie but a goodie! I think my camera may have gotten a little too wet yesterday. Pics look a little cloudy. Anyhow....... From above.. uncovered.. Antlers- 6 Sets- 1 Dead bucks- 5 Dead doe/fawns- 3

Thanks Ruth! I think you're gonna get a kick outta this next hike! 1-13-13 I headed out this morning and got to my spot early. The weather today had me fired up and I hit the ground running! 45 minutes into my hike, I spotted my first antler! Nice little 2pt! No luck with the mate, but I didn't spend a lot of time in the area looking too hard. I wanted to hit some other spots while I was here. My fast pace eventually slowed a step or two after that find. Probably around hour six, all the hiking the last couple days caught up to me. I did find another dead doe on my way home. Heading home I needed to cross a crick that was roaring with the recent meltdown. I got to the edge of the bank and tested the depth with a stick. It was just about over my knees, which was ok because I was already soaked from crossing it earlier further upstream. Soooo........... I gingerly stepped in while holding onto a branch on the shore. Although only knee deep, the swift current took my foot downstream before it ever hit bottom. I had already commited and let go of the branch. Next thing I know, I'm laying on my back shooting down the crick like the log ride at Six Flags,lol! Now I'm soaked head to toe, cameras water-logged, ciggys and lighter dripping wet, and still have a 2 mile hike before I get home! I hopped outta the woods at that point and took the road home, but I swear as soon as I hit the road, the temps dropped and the wind picked up to about 30mph! Fortunately, my antler was stuffed safely in my pack and got away with only a bath! I love this shed hunting stuff!!! Antlers- 5 Sets- 1 Dead bucks- 5 Dead doe/fawns- 3

1-10-13 Hiked up in the hills today but didn't have much luck. I found a lot of great sign, so hopefully there's still some bucks in the area that haven't dropped for me yet. I did take home one old skull for the day. 1-12-13 Today I hit the dredded corn field since things were melting out nicely. I love this spring like weather. I just wish I had more time today. Two hours into my hike I spotted an antler ahead. #4 is a no-brow 3pt side! I didn't find anything in the corn, he dropped this one in the hedgerow beside the field. This may be a tough one to match up. I wont be back in this area anytime soon. Antlers- 4 Sets- 1 Dead bucks- 5 Dead doe/fawns- 2

1-9-13 Had a free day today so what better to do than a little shed hunting! Finally the snow is slowly melting out and making any hikes in the hills a little easier. I started out the day with a dead doe find. Likely a roadkill. Next I hit an old orchard and the adjacent hemlocks when I found another dead deer. A little button buck with 1" knobs. Nothing else untill the last hour of my hike. In another hemlock patch I spotted an antler melting out next to an old bed! #3 is a cute little miniature 3pt,lol Antlers- 3 Sets- 1 Dead bucks- 5 Dead doe/fawns- 2

Time to get caught up. Went through a little mini-slump at the end of December and beginning of January. Time to get back on track! No sheds found this hike, just another young dead buck. He's still pretty ripe so I left him lay to get cleaned up by the critters a bit before I toss him in my pac. 1-6-13 Well seems like it's been forever since my last antler so decided to suck it up today and head out to some public ground never mind the snow. Todays hike was a little different than any other I've been on before. Today I had company of forum member Red! I met Red on another site, and his enthusiasm about shed hunting got my attention so much that I wanted to be part of him finding his first real antler. I wont bore you all with the meet and greet details, but let me say he's a stand up dude I enjoyed hiking with ! I forgot to get some pics of the GIANT black bear skull he brought for show and tell. Awesome bear he killed in 2010 that went over 20"! On to todays hike.... our first find was a shed dead head. Nothing crazy. I assume not much more than a spiker or forky. This kill was VERY fresh. I believe winterkill already. We kicked the snow around a bit trying to uncover his headgear but no luck. I'm sure they are there close by, but we didn't waste much time looking with all the snow. I'll be back for them. Hiked a few more spots for a total of 5hrs or so, but not a shed in sight. Sign was spotty, so we focused on those areas where we at least found some sign. Didn't take long, and another dead head lied before us. Another VERY fresh 3pt. My biggest fears heading into the season are starting to come true. Winter appears to be taking a toll on the deer in this area. Antlers- 2 Sets- 1 Dead bucks- 5 Dead doe/fawns- 0

Nope, not yet.

Happy B-day to the entire litter of young pups!