When is the earliest time to go looking for sheds, I have heard february. Is there a best time to go out, and are there certain features in a woods to look for to increase success? Meaning should i look along the scrape line, or just in a bedding area or what? Any info would be much appreciated, this is something that i would like to do in early spring with my 3 sons, if weather is condusive.

Bedding areas and feeding areas and the transitions in between. I wouldn't start your search before the middle of February.

In Jan. I put out corn feeders with bungee cords that the deer have to put there head through so when I go shed hunting I dont look far.

Realtower,
That almost sounds unfair or cheating.

There's a new book out on the subject by Joe Shead. Got a chance to meet and interview him and he knows his stuff. He's also good at answering emails. You might give him a try if you want to dig a little deeper.

Thats a good idea.

I've always found mine by following deer trails from feeding areas. I wait until the snow is almost gone. In this area it's usually a clear cut I find some deer trails and start walking. The best I have ever done is find two left sides of tens and a spike buck all with in forty yards of each other last spring. One measured just over sixty inches to. This year I found both sides of the one that measured over sixty inches from the year before. Then I found the left match to the other ten which now is a big deer. Have'nt had it measured yet but I'd say it will go between 65 and 70 inches. Found them seperated about a mile away from each other this year bowhunting this fall. I'm yet to see either of these deer though.

Best time to look is March or later and just after a good thaw or later when the snow is about gone (early Spring). If you begin to look too early, you will have to retrace your steps as many of the deer have not dropped yet and may drop where you have already looked. If you have a lot of ground to cover, I would recommend waiting until you know all the deer have dropped! Feeding areas like left over beans or corn is the gold mine. Good luck!

Im sorry meat-run Im giving away all your secrets

We found 1 shed last weekend pheasant hunting, 7 pts. Definately last years, must be no hungry critters.

my brother just shot(what he thought was a doe) yesterday he already lost his horns. big surprise when u go to guttin

I also recommend the book by joe shead. He's a friend of mine and we live in the same city. I received my copy at the beginning of shed season and had by far my most succesful year, and in the most competitive areas. his website is www.goshedhunting.com Its also available on ebay if you want to email him, his email is shedhunter@mail.com Hes a super nice guy, and knows what hes talking about. I started mid march last year, reason being is we had about 4 feet of snow until then, and all of a sudded 50 degree weather. It was uncommon to come out of the woods empty handed! This year Im startin early though, got my eye on a certain few deer id like to have. Im startin the first of the year. Its never too early to start walking, you might get lucky, and the upside to not finding anything is that you develop a pattern of the deer. The snow makes it easy to see where the deer have been traveling all winter and where the bedding areas are. I did a lot of Winter scouting . It really paid off. Check out the book for real. I havent used this site for anything else but posting shed pictures and trail cam pics. I got a little excited when I saw a shed post! Hope to see a lot of pictures this year. Last years thread was AWESOME!!

SHEDFREAK32

in response to the antlerless buck post.... Id get out in the woods and try to find those antlers if I was you. Also I received a tip from a taxidermist who had a guy bring in 2 bucks to get mounted, and I was told that both of the racks had already begun to seperate from the skull. The shedding process was in full affect, so it could be early this year!! Deer are weird that way, as a shed hunter I wish they would all drop them within a month of each other, unfortuantely it doesnt work that way. I have heard them dropping as early as november and I myself have seen bucks carrying both sides into MAY, so its a guessing game, each deer is different. has nothing to do with the antler size whatsoever. I got the itch, anyone else?
Im what you could call a little bit obsessed with this!

I hunt in some of the most competitive sheding areas in minnesota so I am out there from the middle of february till whenever and I sometimes walk the same trails two days in a row. I rarely find sheds off of trails. I concentrate on the trail and 5-10 yards on either side. Walk any and every trail that way you can know the area well and know your not missing anything. Also like others have said, feeding areas are key.

The best tip that nobody has posted here yet - walk, walk, walk, and walk some more. My moddo is "walk till your hips bleed". You just have to find that first one, then it seems as if they come easier for some reason. Good luck to you!