woolybear Posted March 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I gave the greenfield another shot again and saw the same 3 bucks still with both sides. I'm starting to feel like a dog chasing his tail with these bucks that wont drop this year. With the crazy NY temps we've been having, I may need to start checking water holes for the rest of them,....don't laugh, I'm serious,lol! I did pick up one more little freshy from up at the cornfield yesterday. The hillside was finally clear of snow and there it was where I had walked over many times already. I finally beat my old record with this guy #24! Still only my 10'th freshy so far this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 At the green fields again yesterday...kinda slow. Then it happened where I least expected it...#25 hiding in a thicket and he's a good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger-Hunter Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Great pics. Love em. When is the latest to go out and find some. I'm guessing April is too late.. especially with the warm weather we've had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Great pics. Love em. When is the latest to go out and find some. I'm guessing April is too late.. especially with the warm weather we've had. Thanks Stinger! Without trying to sound silly, it's never really too late to look for antlers. Last year my latest find came on July 29'th or 30'th. Things will slow down once green up takes over as it already has gotten off to a good start here, but the antlers are still out there...just tougher to find. Folks will start to look at ya funny if you tell them you're going shed hunting once we get to about May so at that point it's best to just say your going hiking. If you happen to find a horn along the way....BONUS! Good luck to ya if you make it out to look for a few. I've got a few more antlers to add here soon as I get a minute to post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 3-24-12 I'd pretty much decided to "call it a season" at this point and be happy with what I found. It happens every year. I always think I'm done untill a casual stroll through the woods turns up another antler. Game on again! That's what happened with this old green gobblin! Taking my morning coffee for a walk it looks like the critters dragged this one out from somewhere for me. It has some heavy chew around the base so I thought they chewed it clean off. A closer inspection revealed it was a broken off antler by the jagged edge. It aint pretty, but it's #26 and a welcome addition to the pile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 3-25-12 I shot up to run around the powerlines today. Within a 100yd path I had found 1 shed and 3 old skulls all just 50yds inside the woodlot. I guess if the deer get hit and don't fall dead under the wires they'll go unrecoverd inside the thick edge. It's getting pretty green now in some spots so the mad dash is on to find as many more as I can before calling it quits for good. I think I'm getting my second wind now,lol. #27 has a new home! The days finds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 (edited) 3-27-12 Another pretty productive day in the sticks. It didn't start out all too hot though when my first find for the day was a tall and wide 4pt deadhead. I had trail cam pics of him with both antlers and was looking forward to seeing more of him if he made it through. I tossed his stinky skull in my pac and moved on to another section of woods that's usually good for an antler or two every year. It didn't take long and I spotted a nice 3pt side under a bowed tree trunk. Looks like this horn popped off as he Limboed under it...#28 I searched everywhere for the mate but turned up nadda....well, untill I stumbled upon another old bone pile. I threw him in my pac with his stinky buddy and continued on with the quest for horns. Again it didn't take long and I spotted another one. An oldie 5pt with heavy chew but a nice hunk of bone.#29 ...and the days finds. That's all for now. One short of my 30 horn goal for the season...maybe I'll catch up with him tomorrow. Edited March 28, 2012 by woolybear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Shame about the skulls there Matt, that 8 looks like he could have been a nice buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 I hear ya William, all those obvious skulls tells me I don't have much competition for antlers in some areas. At least that's the positive spin I try to put on it. I finally managed to find my 30'th horn for the season today. It was from one of the last antlered bucks I had seen at the green fields mid March with two of his buddies. I looked long and hard for more but this was the only one for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 I've been running around the greenfields like crazy trying to find anything and everything before we get too green. Two days of hard hiking and this is all I have to show for it. First I came across this nice little 6'er. Then just inside a hedgerow point I spotted an antler ahead. It looked huge from a distance...must have been the light and my imagination playing tricks on me. It's a nice shed, but it had some ground shrinkage when I finally reached it,lol. Reality is any antler from this point on could be my last so maybe I was expecting "the perfect horn". .. my 2 day takehome. The shed is really old and dry and cracked. First one I've ever found in this condition. It weighs next to nothing. #31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Season's just about over for me. I'll continue to get off the beaten path and maybe find a few more but it's time to move on to other things. Obviously I wont be doing any complaining about the way this season has gone for me... and the weather wasn't bad either! So I'm getting rolling on my season ending pics and thought I'd start with the skulls and deadheads. Picked up 15 skulls, I believe only 4 were fresh and and the other 11 oldies. The rest of my fresh dead buck finds(4) already had their hats removed by someone else before I got to them. I got a little bit of cleaning to do on some of them yet but I don't get too carried away...just skin the heads and let the elements take care of the rest. I didn't take home as many non antler items as I usually do. Only brought home 7 broadhead tipped arrows and one leghold trap. Anyhow, here's my little tribute to the unrecovered bucks from the last few years. I like to get these outta the woods so no other antler pickers find all that bone laying around to turn them on to some of my spots. Some of my sheds this year were found only because I had to take another look around after finding all the skulls in some areas, so that's kinda my logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Here's the unofficial season total! Probably wont be getting many offers from the chandelier makers but they're all good to me! Starting with the lefties... The righties... The sets... ...and the army of antlers all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 4-13-12 Ya know I was only kidding about being done. That's how I trick the rest of the antlers to come out of hiding....worked again! Found #32 while mountain biking around the park today. Ok, maybe I chained the bike to a tree and went for a little stroll. I'll go biking again tomorrow,lol My season goal has now been extended to 40 horns. I still have 3 good spots to check that I haven't set foot in yet this season. Maybe this weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 No luck with sheds today but I did find another fresh dead buck. Not a massive rack but he's a real nice 8pt with a 20" spread. Off to the wall of shame for this guy! I've come to the conclusion I need to get a bigger pac too,lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 Thanks guys! I've given up on my thicket searches as it's gotten too thick now. Decided to look for some horns behind the house today in the open woods. I already covered the top of the hill pretty good where it flattens out so I switched tactics today and began to cover the bottom 3'rd closer to the road. Went the better part of the day without a find when I came across another little old skull. Further up the same ridge I walked right up on antler #33 setting beside a scrape! I didn't get that in my ATL. This guy still has the wax ring... I wonder how long it's been off? No luck with the mate. The days finds. Looks like somebody tried to cut the rack off the little deadhead but decided it wasn't worth the effort,lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Looks like a great season to me. No way could I find that many down here in 3 years. Maybe it's all the thickets in the pine plantations, don't know but I usually don't find many when I go out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Thanks John, this has been anything but a typical season for me. Probably owe it to the mild winter which really extended my season and let me take advantage of extra time spent hiking under favorable conditions. Still picking through the lower section of the hill today when I spotted a little oldie laying in an island hemlock patch in the open woods. The recent snow had him covering up in the leaves to keep warm. We still got about 3" up at the top of the hill...it's not quite the elevation change some of you see in the mountains, but it's definately a steep hard hike to the top. I thought this may be the mate to antler #2 for the season but it's not. I'm pretty pumped to still be picking up antlers regularly at this stage of the game! Here's #34. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 I'm retracting my statement that this horn doesn't match antler #2 for the season. Took a closer look today and I'm gonna call them a match set. Not sure if it's the chewed tines that make them "unbalanced"...part of why I questioned it. Add the missing brow tine on the left side and the color difference for more scrutiny. Granted, one was on top of the leaves while the other was burried. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention they were found about 150 yds apart. ....but then I look at the similarities in the bases. Almost a carbon copy how they deteriorated around the burr. ...and a view from behind just to confirm my thoughts. Curious what you guys think. Match or no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Guys, I'm at a loss for words to describe this crazy season anymore. Got my 8'th set and 36'th horn today.....I can't believe this! Here's what I first saw. As you can imagine I was already thrilled with that. I snapped the ATL and stood up to scan for the mate. Sure enough it was hiding in the grass a few feet away. I didn't get the best pic....the sun was making it hard to see what my camera was seeing but they're both in there. outta the grass..they are in great condition for being on the ground a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted May 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Although I've given up with the hikes exclusively for antlers, I still find myself enjoying the woods through other activities enough to keep my eyes pealed for any leftover bones. Unfortunately, there seems to be no end to the # of dead bucks out there this season. Here's yet another from the other day. I'm still hopeful for 4 more horns on the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted May 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Although my trips to the woods exclusively for antlers is officialy over, I'm still hopefull for 4 more horns while I enjoy the outdoors through other activities. While out taking pics the other day I came across yet another fresh, young, dead buck. Seems there's no shortage of them this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Matt this thread has been awesome!! I truly have enjoyed it. I have looked at it many many times! Thanks for sharing and CONGRATS on such a great season!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Hey, thanks Todd! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for following along! Turkey season ends at the end of May, so I'm gonna do a few more hikes then and try to come up with 4 more to end my dream season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted May 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 One down and 3 to go till 40! Spent some time at my sis house this weekend helping her out with some yard chores. Decided to hike it home and came across this little 3pt side not 5 minutes from her backyard on a big piney ridge. I didn't spend a lot of time in there, but I'll be back. It's a nice open area with no undergrowth... perfect for late season sheddin'! Here's #37! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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