2022 shed thread

Discussion about shed antlers, etc
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Mr. Lehey
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2022 shed thread

Unread postby Mr. Lehey » Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:12 am

Let’s get the “2022” thread rollin! I know it’s a tad early but anybody been out lookin yet?


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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby Swamp Stache » Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:36 pm

It's a start anyway.
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby Mr. Lehey » Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:56 am

Swamp Stache wrote:It's a start anyway.

Whereabouts was that pic? I mostly search in southeast WI. The earliest I’ve ever found one was January 19th. I took one quick walk this past weekend just for something to do, didn’t find anything but I really didn’t expect to though. I’ll start getting more serious in a week or two.
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby Swamp Stache » Sat Jan 08, 2022 5:42 am

Western mn. Pretty early for a drop around here. Seems most are closer to February. That said I did shoot a buck muzzleloading about 5 years ago that "shed" one side when he hit the ground. That was early December.
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby Lockdown » Sat Jan 08, 2022 5:33 pm

It’s not uncommon for them to shed late December, especially when stressed by inclement weather. My biggest matched set was found the last couple days of Dec.

Saw blood drops in the snow and thought coyotes made a kill. The drops led me right to the set laying under a bush in a CRP field. Night bed. ;)
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby tim » Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:38 pm

I don’t start looking this early. I’m the only guy in my area with the groceries so this nice early bitter cold weather—-I’m leaving them alone for now. Give them a chance to drop without harassing them
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby Evan_Outdoors » Wed Jan 12, 2022 1:49 am

Lockdown wrote:It’s not uncommon for them to shed late December, especially when stressed by inclement weather. My biggest matched set was found the last couple days of Dec.

Saw blood drops in the snow and thought coyotes made a kill. The drops led me right to the set laying under a bush in a CRP field. Night bed. ;)

Dang I just found some drops of blood in the snow but it was very little. I ran out of time and didn’t search real hard after I briefly lost the trail. I better go back!
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby KRONIIK » Wed Jan 12, 2022 2:11 am

Lockdown wrote:It’s not uncommon for them to shed late December, especially when stressed by inclement weather. My biggest matched set was found the last couple days of Dec.

Saw blood drops in the snow and thought coyotes made a kill. The drops led me right to the set laying under a bush in a CRP field. Night bed. ;)

Backtracking; or was he bleeding before he dropped them for some reason?
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby hcooper84 » Wed Jan 12, 2022 2:35 am

A couple years ago I found a large set of antlers. Shortly after I found a dead shed buck carcass. Sure enough the antlers fit perfectly to this dead bucks bases.

The buck could have died from multiple causes. Infection, weather, shot, etc. But my taxidermist did mention he’s heard of sometimes bucks dying after shedding there antlers from blood loss. Especially with larger bucks. He said that sometimes the wounds don’t heal up on there heads and they eventually bleed out.

I don’t know the truth of this completely. To me it seems far fetched as some of the shots we see on deer and they survive after crazy amounts of blood loss.

Has anyone else heard of this?
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby KRONIIK » Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:10 am

hcooper84 wrote:A couple years ago I found a large set of antlers. Shortly after I found a dead shed buck carcass. Sure enough the antlers fit perfectly to this dead bucks bases.

The buck could have died from multiple causes. Infection, weather, shot, etc. But my taxidermist did mention he’s heard of sometimes bucks dying after shedding there antlers from blood loss. Especially with larger bucks. He said that sometimes the wounds don’t heal up on there heads and they eventually bleed out.

I don’t know the truth of this completely. To me it seems far fetched as some of the shots we see on deer and they survive after crazy amounts of blood loss.

Has anyone else heard of this?

I sure it's possible.
Sometimes the rut, hunting pressure and winter stress just don't leave them much margin for any additional stress/blood loss, etc.

Craziest shed-related thing I've ever seen was documented in a long thread on ArcheryTalk a number of years ago, probably 2014-ish.
Some guy (in Kansas, IIRC?), found a strange, large antler in December. It had a huge chunk of skullplate still attached, so he just assumed it was a off a chewed-up deadhead or something.
Nope.
He soon had many trailcam pics showing up of an otherwise healthy-looking shed buck with a section of its' brain completely exposed to the elements.
I would estimate it was almost the size of a playing card. I actually found it slightly nauseating to look at; some of the pics he had of it were very clear and graphic.

If memory serves me, the wound seemed to be healing up over the next few weeks/months without apparent ill effect to the animal, going well into the spring.
But he lost track of that animal before new antler growth began, and I don't think he ever saw it again, at least not that he could identify it as that particular buck.
It was determined by some experts that it was probably not caused by any trauma, but was likely just some sort of an anomoly in the normal shedding process that for some unknown reason affected the surrounding scalp and skullplate instead of just the pedicel itself.
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby hcooper84 » Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:16 am

KRONIIK wrote:
hcooper84 wrote:A couple years ago I found a large set of antlers. Shortly after I found a dead shed buck carcass. Sure enough the antlers fit perfectly to this dead bucks bases.

The buck could have died from multiple causes. Infection, weather, shot, etc. But my taxidermist did mention he’s heard of sometimes bucks dying after shedding there antlers from blood loss. Especially with larger bucks. He said that sometimes the wounds don’t heal up on there heads and they eventually bleed out.

I don’t know the truth of this completely. To me it seems far fetched as some of the shots we see on deer and they survive after crazy amounts of blood loss.

Has anyone else heard of this?

I sure it's possible.
Sometimes the rut, hunting pressure and winter stress just don't leave them much margin for any additional stress/blood loss, etc.

Craziest shed-related thing I've ever seen was documented in a long thread on ArcheryTalk a number of years ago, probably 2014-ish.
Some guy (in Kansas, IIRC?), found a strange, large antler in December. It had a huge chunk of skullplate still attached, so he just assumed it was a off a chewed-up deadhead or something.
Nope.
He soon had many trailcam pics showing up of an otherwise healthy-looking shed buck with a section of its' brain completely exposed to the elements.
I would estimate it was almost the size of a playing card. I actually found it slightly nauseating to look at; some of the pics he had of it were very clear and graphic.

If memory serves me, the wound seemed to be healing up over the next few weeks/months without apparent ill effect to the animal, going well into the spring.
But he lost track of that animal before new antler growth began, and I don't think he ever saw it again, at least not that he could identify it as that particular buck.
It was determined by some experts that it was probably not caused by any trauma, but was likely just some sort of an anomoly in the normal shedding process that for some unknown reason affected the surrounding scalp and skullplate instead of just the pedicel itself.


That is a story I wouldn’t believe if just told by word of mouth but you’ve seen the photos to back it up. These animals always surprise me with their toughness and ability to keep going. Great share!
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby KRONIIK » Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:22 am

hcooper84 wrote:
KRONIIK wrote:
hcooper84 wrote:A couple years ago I found a large set of antlers. Shortly after I found a dead shed buck carcass. Sure enough the antlers fit perfectly to this dead bucks bases.

The buck could have died from multiple causes. Infection, weather, shot, etc. But my taxidermist did mention he’s heard of sometimes bucks dying after shedding there antlers from blood loss. Especially with larger bucks. He said that sometimes the wounds don’t heal up on there heads and they eventually bleed out.

I don’t know the truth of this completely. To me it seems far fetched as some of the shots we see on deer and they survive after crazy amounts of blood loss.

Has anyone else heard of this?

I sure it's possible.
Sometimes the rut, hunting pressure and winter stress just don't leave them much margin for any additional stress/blood loss, etc.

Craziest shed-related thing I've ever seen was documented in a long thread on ArcheryTalk a number of years ago, probably 2014-ish.
Some guy (in Kansas, IIRC?), found a strange, large antler in December. It had a huge chunk of skullplate still attached, so he just assumed it was a off a chewed-up deadhead or something.
Nope.
He soon had many trailcam pics showing up of an otherwise healthy-looking shed buck with a section of its' brain completely exposed to the elements.
I would estimate it was almost the size of a playing card. I actually found it slightly nauseating to look at; some of the pics he had of it were very clear and graphic.

If memory serves me, the wound seemed to be healing up over the next few weeks/months without apparent ill effect to the animal, going well into the spring.
But he lost track of that animal before new antler growth began, and I don't think he ever saw it again, at least not that he could identify it as that particular buck.
It was determined by some experts that it was probably not caused by any trauma, but was likely just some sort of an anomoly in the normal shedding process that for some unknown reason affected the surrounding scalp and skullplate instead of just the pedicel itself.


That is a story I wouldn’t believe if just told by word of mouth but you’ve seen the photos to back it up. These animals always surprise me with their toughness and ability to keep going. Great share!

Thanks.
I agree that it is hard to believe; I had a hard time with it even with indisputable, multiple examples of photographic evidence.
Maybe somebody can look it up if it's still in ArcheryTalk's system.

I heard the site crashed pretty badly at some point, so I have no idea if that thread got lost or not.
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby Lockdown » Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:32 am

KRONIIK wrote:
Lockdown wrote:It’s not uncommon for them to shed late December, especially when stressed by inclement weather. My biggest matched set was found the last couple days of Dec.

Saw blood drops in the snow and thought coyotes made a kill. The drops led me right to the set laying under a bush in a CRP field. Night bed. ;)

Backtracking; or was he bleeding before he dropped them for some reason?


I followed the drops for probably 75 yards right to a super fresh set of mature buck sheds. I’m sure he dropped them while he was bedded. Then got up and was dripping blood from his pedicles. I just happened to see the blood and luckily follow it in the right direction. Finding sheds there wasn’t even a thought in my mind. The best part was it was a buck I was after and had lots of pics of about 3/4 to a mile away. With a 16” spread I scored the sheds at a hair over 150”. He was MIA the following year. Neighbor ended up him during shotgun. Scored mid 170’s.
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby KRONIIK » Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:36 am

Lockdown wrote:
KRONIIK wrote:
Lockdown wrote:It’s not uncommon for them to shed late December, especially when stressed by inclement weather. My biggest matched set was found the last couple days of Dec.

Saw blood drops in the snow and thought coyotes made a kill. The drops led me right to the set laying under a bush in a CRP field. Night bed. ;)

Backtracking; or was he bleeding before he dropped them for some reason?


I followed the drops for probably 75 yards right to a super fresh set of mature buck sheds. I’m sure he dropped them while he was bedded. Then got up and was dripping blood from his pedicles. I just happened to see the blood and luckily follow it in the right direction. Finding sheds there wasn’t even a thought in my mind. The best part was it was a buck I was after and had lots of pics of about 3/4 to a mile away. With a 16” spread I scored the sheds at a hair over 150”. He was MIA the following year. Neighbor ended up him during shotgun. Scored mid 170’s.

Cool.
But yeah, that's basically what I was asking. (Whether you were following his tracks in the direction he was traveling, or "backtracking" them to where he came from.)
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Re: 2022 shed thread

Unread postby Mr. Lehey » Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:17 pm

Yeah I get excited any time I come across blood while shed hunting. I’ve never found a shed that way though. Once I came across a good bit of blood and started searching but nothing, I look up and see blood on the tree above the blood on the ground, must’ve been where a hawk was eating a squirrel and blood was dripping down.


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