Shed Hunting 101: How (and Why) to Find Sheds

For non-hunters, shed hunting is a wonderful way to explore new terrain with a goal and task to guide the way. Over the past decade, shed hunting has exploded in popularity. While whitetail management has become more than a hobby for most hunters, private landowners see antlers as hope and anticipation for the upcoming fall hunting season. 

Hunters can learn a lot about the habits of bucks based on where they find sheds. For some of us, there's a subtle kind of magic to antlers. However, shed hunting, at its core, is simply a great way to get your hands on antlers and take inventory of what is alive. 

So, if you've never tried shed hunting before or are ready to improve your strategies and antler haul this season, keep reading for our best insights into shed hunting.

About Antlers

The fastest-growing bone in the natural world, deer antlers can grow up to an inch per day. 

Beginning from a small swelling on a male deer's head called a pedicle, or antler bud, antlers materialize and harden as summer turns to fall, eventually morphing into the impressive racks cherished by hunters everywhere.  

What is Shed Hunting?

"Shed hunting" is the search for deer antlers that fall off naturally after the rut in late winter. 

Bucks shed antlers and shed hunting takes place around February and March in most areas. However, before you go, check your state's regulations on shed hunting. Shed antlers are a hot commodity for outdoor enthusiasts and hunters. 

While bucks no longer need their rack as the season shifts, hunters can use shed antlers to piece together a hunting strategy for the next season and acquire valuable information about animal behavior and moving patterns throughout the cold-weather season.

Why Do Hunters Shed Hunt?

The desire to find shed antlers from deer and elk has created a die-hard passion within the tight-knit community of hunters. 

Shed hunting is one of the best ways to open the door to a new world of adventure for someone interested in hunting. Because antlers are a quintessential symbol of the wild, it is easy to introduce new people and kids to the hunting community through shed antler hunting. 

Antlers found in the outdoors also make great wilderness-inspired decor. Or, if they aren't quite your style, you can also sell them or make crafty home goods and healthy chew toys for dogs. 

For whitetail hunters, shed hunting allows them to engage in whitetail strategy year-round. Scanning the woods for sheds continues the whitetail pursuit through the winter and spring months and teaches hunters about the game that frequents certain areas. 

Shed hunting also allows hunters to uncover whitetail movement via trails and provides opportunities to change whitetail patterns with land management techniques or keep them the same for the fall season. Understanding where bucks are moving on trails and how bucks travel further for food aids in determining where to create food plots and implement other aspects of whitetail land management strategy.

Can Shed Hunting Help Uncover a Target Whitetail for Next Fall?

Shed hunting centers around finding antlers. More specifically, sheds give an inventory of what is alive and potentially available to hunt next season. 

However, the correlation between great shed hunting and great fall whitetail hunting is not always consistent. For the dedicated whitetail hunter, shed hunting introduces a low-pressure environment for practicing how to scout whitetail patterns based on the sources of their movement, such as food and cover. Understanding what fuels whitetail movement rather than where whitetails are moving will pay dividends in the fall season. 

Throughout winter, spring, summer, and fall, whitetail food and bedding locations shift along with patterns. Shed hunting uncovers whitetail trails and patterns that can be manipulated by land management strategies such as food plots. 

Much of what hunters learn through shed hunting may transfer to the fall hunting season. However, shed hunting should not be the "be-all-end-all" of scouting since whitetail winter patterns are incredibly different than fall patterns due to diminished cover in the whitetail woods. 

Remember: You can learn a lot from finding shed antlers, but deer change their patterns throughout the year based on factors such as caloric needs, cover, and breeding during the rut.  

The Pros Shed Hunt, Too

In the video below, whitetail guru and HuntWise PRO Staff Jeff Sturgis of Whitetail Habitat Solutions outlines five pro tips for shed hunting. Sturgis has spent the last 30 years perfecting his whitetail algorithm and is behind the power of the HuntWise whitetail algorithm.

Using HuntWise to Shed Hunt

If you're ready to level up as a shed hunter (and as a hunter in general), the HuntWise App can help. 

With the app, you have access to landowner info, property boundaries, and aerial and topographic imagery. Having this information in the palm of your hand gives you insights and access to more private and public land as you hunt for sheds. 

Additionally, HuntWise helps hunters benefit from shed season through: 

• Private and Public Land Layers: Map layers are one of the most useful tools in the HuntWise app. Our different map layers outline landowner names, wildlife management zones, acreage, and parcel boundaries. At a glance, HuntWise uncovers who owns a piece of property, aerial imagery of that property, and how to acquire permissions for private land use. Also, use HuntWise to find public land. 
   
• Walking Paths: In the field, record a path to backtrack and establish where you have and have not been in your search for sheds and whitetail movement. 
   
• Markers: Perhaps the most valuable tool while shed hunting is to use markers to identify potential movement areas and trails and mark bedding or feeding areas. Also, drop a marker where you pick up sheds. 
   
• Topography Maps: There is little whitetail movement where there is high topography. Use the topographic maps to seek out flat areas and benches. 
   
• Shape Tool: Outline reasonable-sized areas to search using the Shape Tool to tap parcels or manually draw boundaries quickly. 

HuntWise is free to download and try! Get it to plan and track your next shed hunt, then use it to improve your whitetail hunt next season.

Use Shed Hunting and HuntWise to Improve Your Hunt

Shed hunting is an excellent reason to log some miles in the offseason and stay fit while waiting for whitetail season to begin. The spring shed season can also be a productive way to spend your time scouting and understanding land management during the off-season. 

Whitetails are creatures of habit, so finding well-used trails, bedding areas, and food sources will be useful for improving your hunt in the fall. However, shed hunting should not be the sole component of your winter and spring whitetail strategy. 

Use the HuntWise app to e-scout land, map good hunting areas, learn regulations and hunting season start dates for your area, and enjoy discounts on the gear you need for a great hunt. 

Content updated February 2, 2024.