In order to appease those of you who have been clamoring for new posts on this blog, mainly those of you who answer to the name “Bert,” I am making a post. Although shed hunting is all fun and games, once in a while, a guy’s gotta try to make a living too, although I hate to admit it. I have to say, I’ve really been blessed with a lot of cool experiences with this whole shed hunting bit. This weekend I got to tour a family’s shed hunting shrine in their basement. They have been shed hunting for over 20 years and have amassed hundreds of sheds. They have a great collection of antlers. Joe’s first buck, killed in 1960, had a small rack that went forward over the eyes. His wife, Janet, has killed several bucks. Together, with their son Mike, they have found dozens of sheds. Most notable are the sheds off a buck they call The Old Monarch. They have 14 sheds of this deer, and yes, it is a wild buck that lives in an area of heavy hunting pressure. They have 5 matched sets and 4 singles. Joe, Janet and Mike have all found sheds off this deer. The kicker is, the first shed they have off this buck was probably from when the buck was 3.5 years old. So it was 11.5 when it died! They also have the skull. Interestingly, they found the buck’s right antler 9 years in a row. They only found 5 of the buck’s left antlers. Must have been harder to find. The buck was a mainframe 10-pointer. He had weak brows and his tines were just average. He grew a droptine 5 years, but broke it off 4 of those years. The buck was nice from age 3.5 to 8.5, then started to decline at 9.5 and eventually was just a big fork. What a cool experience and some great people. They also have 6 matched sets off another buck. I just finished writing a story about them for the Minnesota Deer Hunters’ Association magazine. I spent 5 hours just talking deer with them. What a treat. Here’s a picture of their sheds off this buck. The sets are mounted on artificial skull plates.
Remarkable story about the single deer’s multiple sheds. Just curious (not distrusting) how they knew that the last shed — the fork — was the Monarch’s. Also, the skull?
And, Joe, will your article for the Minnesota Deer Hunters’ Assoc. be available online? (Hope so.)
Comment by Roger — February 2, 2010 @ 6:29 am
Neat story Joe!
I was studying the picture trying to see the details of the antlers and it looks like many of them have the same “anomalies” year after year down around the bases … that’s neat.
I have sets from 2008 and from 2009 that I am quite sure are the same buck (all 4 antlers picked up with 100 yards of year other over the two years) and looking at them next to each other all the angles, curves, anomalies, and blading on the tines are pretty much identical. Wondering if I’ll find them again this year.
I started thinking after finding the small shed yesterday from what I am assuming was a 1.5-year old buck … do you (Joe) or anyone else for that matter have any idea (on average, of course) how long it is between when the young bucks start dropping and the older, larger bucks follow suit? I know that usually the young ones lose their antlers first, so finding this young buck shed and no large ones suggests to me that things might be just starting (along with the fact that it is Feb 2nd). I guess I am just trying to figure out how much longer I have to be patient … someone with good records might be able to tease that out of their data. Thanks in advance to any who might reply!
Comment by Dan — February 2, 2010 @ 11:58 am
Dan, my experience in the Mid-Atlantic coast (D.C. area), although not nearly as vast as other bloggers’success, is that mid-February is the start for the larger bucks. I haven’t found any sheds yet, but a local yearling has already shed one small antler; the larger guys are holding on to theirs.
Comment by Roger — February 2, 2010 @ 3:10 pm
Awesome update Joe, thanks for sharing!
This just came in on the MN DNR news today: a man out shed hunting here in northern MN found 2 dead bull moose antler locked:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_14299040
What a sweet find! I’m very jealous and looking forward to longer days so I can start a little shed hunting after work!
Keep up the great posts!
Comment by Sara — February 2, 2010 @ 6:19 pm
Nice going on the consecutive sets, Dan. As for big bucks/small bucks dropping, I personally don’t think there’s any rhyme or reason to when they drop. Small bucks, such as spikes, could drop early because they’re not as well developed or are undernourished, but on the same token, mature bucks could be run down from the rut and might drop early. I heard of one large buck dropping in late November this year. As much as we want to solve all the riddles of nature, I don’t think Mother Nature follows our rules. Just my thoughts.
Joe
Comment by joe — February 2, 2010 @ 6:26 pm
Hey Sara,
Thanks for posting that! It’s an amazing story! Sad for the moose, but what a find!
Joe
Comment by joe — February 2, 2010 @ 6:34 pm
Hi Roger,
I suppose there is usually some degree of uncertainty when matching up sets. The one constant in sheds is the base size. Although antlers may decline in size as the buck ages, the base does not. The deer’s pedicle does not shrink over time. I would say comparing the buck’s last rack with the very last single shed, it certainly looks to be the same deer. As for the skull, that’s a wildcard, but both the skull and the pedicles were simply enormous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a skull quite like that. I didn’t try fitting the shed into the base, but man would that deer have had some big bloody holes in his head after he dropped his antlers!
Joe
Comment by joe — February 2, 2010 @ 6:40 pm