Shed thread 2018 - Page 3

CanadianEh · #61 02-06-2018, 10:39 AM

Things were really starting to look up as the snow melted with the warmer weather. Then Mother nature steps in with a dump of fresh light fluffy deep snow.

Been pretty slow so far this year.. I know I enjoy reading and seeing some back story on these amazing deer & sheds we find year after year.... So to kill some time, perhaps you guys might enjoy a timeline photo story! .

I am not sure if yall remember my first pick from last year.. Seeing this big fella one night full, then the next morning with 1, and having them both that evening, after they moved outta the feeding area, was easily the highlight of my shed season last year.

(last years pic)

Well I saw this guy again way back in July in velvet, one time only..

Then I didnt see him for 5 straight months, thinking perhaps he was a goner. He really surprised me when he showed up again on Tuesday last week.

I happened to spot him on Thursday sporting a single AGAIN!

Seeing the forecast last week I got out one time for a few hours again before the major snow dropped. I went out to do some glassing and walk some trails. Didnt have much luck at all walking, so I sat on the ridge and glassed into a few open clusters of trees that the bachelor group frequented. BOOM! It jumped out at me like it was highlighted.

Making sure there were no deer in sight, I went and picked it up.

While I was sitting in the snow, grateful for this amazing find.. taking a look around ahead of me maybe 30 yards and think I see more tines sticking up in the snow... Words cannot describe how pumped & excited I was thinking I had found his other side!

I went over to see it, barely being able to contain the excitement, thinking to myself I cannot believe this has happened 2 years in a row! Mixed emotions of disappointment and happiness flooded in when I got close enough to realize it wasnt his match, yet still a nice fresh shed.

I took a few "as it lay" pictures.. And see yet 2 more tines stick up out of the snow only 20 feet away. Its a little blurry but you can see them at the top of the last picture. Turned out to be the match for this one.

I realized after looking through the pictures from the last week I had taken of individual deer that this was the buck who dropped the set.

All in all it was a FANTASTIC day that I wont soon forget. But the matching side for that first buck haunts me every night.. Knowing it is buried under 8" of fresh snow somewhere out there, and having to likely wait weeks to go find it... The interesting thing, is he measures a little smaller this year, so I feel this beauty is on his downhill side of his prime.

Hopefully I will be able to post an updated with a matched up set a little later in this month.

Sorry for the long post..

reddeerhunter · #62 02-06-2018, 10:46 AM

Thank you for sharing. Trés cool.

Ikilledbambisdad · #63 02-06-2018, 06:17 PM

Great story CanadianEh!

KBF · #64 02-06-2018, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HuntingAlberta

Found this one already. You can see from the base where it ripped out of his skull, he got caught in a 2x12 board fence and ripped his antler off and the fence apart.

Makes a person wonder after seeing this. Quite often on tv or in the wild you will see elk with antler coming off the head at a goofy angle or position. Perhaps a similar type injury in there past.

Soab · #65 02-06-2018, 07:26 PM

Just when I was getting excited we're supposed to get even more snow

Bub · #66 02-06-2018, 09:49 PM

Great post, Canadian! And well done!

I finally was able to get out today for the first time after many failed attempts. Put some really good miles. Pretty tough walking though and good luck finding anything out there, which was exactly what I expected and the walk was just for the sake of walking, really. Even with snowshoes, it's over knee deep in most places. I did not count, but pretty sure I saw more than 40 whitetails, many confirmed bucks and quite a few assumed to be males due to their body mass. All of them were naked, no antlers.

Also, pretty much all of the fields I usually hit are untouched due to the amount of snow on them, I am assuming. It's like a real winter we are having for a change

Surely it isn't going to be easy finding anything this season.

CanadianEh · #67 02-06-2018, 11:59 PM

Thanks guys glad you enjoyed..

The new snowfall that is expected this week is going to be hard on the animals.. Lots of ground already deeply covered as you mentioned Bub.. Im going to take a break until things melt down and clear up a bit. Not much point going anyways in 2 feet of snow..

Bub · #68 02-07-2018, 12:21 AM

Indeed, I am out till mid spring by the looks of it, lol.

The moose · #69 02-07-2018, 10:02 AM

wow canadian! what a start! I have yet to even think about getting out. I have multiple trailcams out but expect very little from them because of all the cold snaps.

With this next snowfall expected (25-35CM) today I dont expect there is much reason to go out this weekend as planned. Still will likely try and get into the cams on snowshoes though if things work out. Will just need to tow my daughter in on a sled.

landwalker · #70 02-08-2018, 10:27 AM

Such a wonderful job, and thanks for the sharing.

MissFlyfishing · #71 02-09-2018, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianEh

Things were really starting to look up as the snow melted with the warmer weather. Then Mother nature steps in with a dump of fresh light fluffy deep snow.

Been pretty slow so far this year.. I know I enjoy reading and seeing some back story on these amazing deer & sheds we find year after year.... So to kill some time, perhaps you guys might enjoy a timeline photo story! .

I am not sure if yall remember my first pick from last year.. Seeing this big fella one night full, then the next morning with 1, and having them both that evening, after they moved outta the feeding area, was easily the highlight of my shed season last year.

(last years pic)

Well I saw this guy again way back in July in velvet, one time only..

Then I didnt see him for 5 straight months, thinking perhaps he was a goner. He really surprised me when he showed up again on Tuesday last week.

I happened to spot him on Thursday sporting a single AGAIN!

Seeing the forecast last week I got out one time for a few hours again before the major snow dropped. I went out to do some glassing and walk some trails. Didnt have much luck at all walking, so I sat on the ridge and glassed into a few open clusters of trees that the bachelor group frequented. BOOM! It jumped out at me like it was highlighted.

Making sure there were no deer in sight, I went and picked it up.

While I was sitting in the snow, grateful for this amazing find.. taking a look around ahead of me maybe 30 yards and think I see more tines sticking up in the snow... Words cannot describe how pumped & excited I was thinking I had found his other side!

I went over to see it, barely being able to contain the excitement, thinking to myself I cannot believe this has happened 2 years in a row! Mixed emotions of disappointment and happiness flooded in when I got close enough to realize it wasnt his match, yet still a nice fresh shed.

I took a few "as it lay" pictures.. And see yet 2 more tines stick up out of the snow only 20 feet away. Its a little blurry but you can see them at the top of the last picture. Turned out to be the match for this one.

I realized after looking through the pictures from the last week I had taken of individual deer that this was the buck who dropped the set.

All in all it was a FANTASTIC day that I wont soon forget. But the matching side for that first buck haunts me every night.. Knowing it is buried under 8" of fresh snow somewhere out there, and having to likely wait weeks to go find it... The interesting thing, is he measures a little smaller this year, so I feel this beauty is on his downhill side of his prime.

Hopefully I will be able to post an updated with a matched up set a little later in this month.

Sorry for the long post..

This guys in Fish Creek! I have pics of him and one of his sheds too!!

CanadianEh · #72 02-09-2018, 09:03 PM

He forsure is NOT in fishcreek that I can guarantee.

Ikilledbambisdad · #73 02-14-2018, 08:34 PM

Bump! No freshies yet for me but I did find this deadhead a little while back.

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nube · #74 02-14-2018, 09:44 PM

Great Pics CanadianEh!

Bub · #75 02-14-2018, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissFlyfishing

This guys in Fish Creek! I have pics of him and one of his sheds too!!

Show us the pics!

Nothing for me yet either. I have not been out since my last post here though. She is way too deep out there. I have drove out to a couple of fields and it is just dead there deer wise: no deer and hardly any tracks. Tons of elk though, but no bulls. Where are the bulls?

A wintery winter, that's for sure.

CanadianEh · #76 02-14-2018, 11:40 PM

I always thought the big bulls head out into the forestry..

Occasionally see a spiker still around. But otherwise they gone.

Bub · #77 02-14-2018, 11:57 PM

I agree not often one can find a bull at this time of year. It's a little different here though. The "forestry" is literally meters away.
I was watching a good herd a couple of days ago feed on bales and just browse the field. I would conservatively estimate at over 200 heads for sure. Not a single spike from what I could see.
Saw quite a few just a few days before that too and the same thing.

CanadianEh · #78 02-15-2018, 09:54 AM

Is it possible they have shed early? Ive only ever found one Elk shed.. and it was atleast 4-5 years old half buried in a marsh.

Bub · #79 02-15-2018, 10:37 AM

I don't really know. People were writing in the Suffield thread that they found dozens of sheds and I think it was like a month ago. From my personal experience and from what I read, they shed the latest and start much later then all other deer. Maybe someone who really knows can set the record straight.

I have only ever found two elk sheds. Both in the same year and same area. They were not a set. I haven't seen another one before or since. And it is kind of weird because even in areas where there is more elk than anything else I don't see their sheds, no fresh sheds or from years past.

HuntingAlberta · #80 02-15-2018, 02:28 PM

The biggest bull elk I find start shedding on March 20th and the smaller bulls to spikes will shed through late May. They are all still packing now.

The elk sheds they were finding in Suffield would be from past years as you are not allowed to pick them up.

reddeerhunter · #81 02-15-2018, 02:31 PM

Big bulls will be dropping by March 7.

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northbuck · #82 02-16-2018, 10:26 PM

It's been a slow year for me thus far...found these 3 little ones a couple days ago...
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northbuck · #83 02-16-2018, 10:57 PM

For the guys wondering about the elk...like a couple of others are saying, I usually don't start finding any elk sheds in my area until March. and i rarely find them where the big herds of cows are hanging out.

I did find something interesting with the whitetails this year though...
I'm watching 3 separate herds each holding 30 deer (more or less) and each herd has a dozen bucks (give or take...) of various age classes. The distance between is approximately 15 miles from the first herd to the last...
That isn't very far apart but the general shedding times of each herd don't seem to correlate with the others...this year at least.

One herd had all of the bucks shed by late January.
The middle herd still had more than half the bucks with antlers in late January but then as of last weekend, they now seem to have all shed.
And the last herd, which has 14 bucks that I get to observe every evening, still had 13 of 14 still carrying last Saturday evening. As of Monday, that number has changed to 11.5 of 14...one buck dropped both sides within a 48 hour period and one little guy dropped one side sometime Monday night and this afternoon was still packing the other side.
Here are a few pics of some of the bucks in that last group taken this afternoon...
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BorealBucks · #84 02-17-2018, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northbuck

For the guys wondering about the elk...like a couple of others are saying, I usually don't start finding any elk sheds in my area until March. and i rarely find them where the big herds of cows are hanging out.

I did find something interesting with the whitetails this year though...
I'm watching 3 separate herds each holding 30 deer (more or less) and each herd has a dozen bucks (give or take...) of various age classes. The distance between is approximately 15 miles from the first herd to the last...
That isn't very far apart but the general shedding times of each herd don't seem to correlate with the others...this year at least.

One herd had all of the bucks shed by late January.
The middle herd still had more than half the bucks with antlers in late January but then as of last weekend, they now seem to have all shed.
And the last herd, which has 14 bucks that I get to observe every evening, still had 13 of 14 still carrying last Saturday evening. As of Monday, that number has changed to 11.5 of 14...one buck dropped both sides within a 48 hour period and one little guy dropped one side sometime Monday night and this afternoon was still packing the other side.
Here are a few pics of some of the bucks in that last group taken this afternoon...

Maybe antler shedding sync's like female menstrual cycles sync. So whatever group they're in would dictate those cycles, herd specific.

husky7mm · #85 02-18-2018, 09:33 AM

Could be that for sure, could also be the feed from one are to another, food for thhought.
I hope the few big bucks I have in my area didnt shed early cause those sheds could be anywhere then. If they shed anywhere after jan 20 or so they will be yarded up hard. I am staying out of the area this winter as to not make any packed trails for the predators to follow in. The snow up here in the peace is a meter deep. Its going to be hard on the deer. I use sleds for work the day after I brake a trail somewhere there are animal tracks on it walking in meter deep snow is exhausting. It takes about 1/2 hr to go 100m.

icecap · #86 02-20-2018, 04:06 PM

Between the snow and other obligations I haven't made it out this year. Decided to go for a drive today to see where the deer were hanging out. Found one from the truck and went to pick it up and ended up with a match.