Got hunting ... try looking for antlers

When Brian Roberts walked into the hardware store at El Dorado Springs last week, he stirred up interest from his hunting buddies about what he had in his hand.

Roberts had found a 12-point shed antler and said he found it while mending fences on his farm. "It seems a little early to find shed antlers, but after finding this one, I'm going to start looking for more since my wife wants an antler lighting fixture that if you had to buy one would cost big bucks ... no pun intended," he said.

Here in the dead of winter and with only a few hunting seasons open and many Missourians with cabin fever, hunting shed antlers offers a way to fight cabin fever.

With weather that is less inviting, hunting shed antlers is an incentive to venture outdoors during the next month.

Usually, around this time of winter, whitetail bucks begin dropping the antlers they grew before the fall rut. The exact timing varies from year to year and from place to place, but now you can be sure there are a lot of antlers on the ground in Vernon County as well as throughout the state.

Just looking for the antlers puts you in closer touch with nature. If you are a deer hunter, it can also provide clues to the location and habits of bucks that survived the hunting seasons.

In mid-winter, bucks spend most of their time looking for food, so smart shed-antler hunters focus their attention on places where food is readily available. Travel corridors between feeding and bedding areas are worth checking.

Other promising places to look include harvested grain fields, places where corn has been spilled on the ground and food plots on conservation areas as well as fields where hay bales have been stored.

Although you still need permission to trespass on private land, shed antler hunting doesn't have to be confined to areas where hunting is allowed. Public wildlife areas are excellent places to look for antlers. Golf courses, orchards and even subdivisions near woods are good spots to search.

Archery deer hunters who find antlers and other deer sign around some areas may be able to gain permission to hunt that area next archery season.

Game trails, logging roads, wooded fence rows and stream corridors are natural travel lanes for deer and should be checked. South facing slopes are favorite bedding areas because they offer maximum exposure to warm sunshine of clear days.

Hunting shed antlers is like any kind of hunting. The more you do it, the better you become. Veteran antler hunters in productive areas can bring home dozens of antlers a year. Don't be discouraged if you fail and come up empty handed or only find one or two antlers the first year. More than likely you will find other rewards that will keep you coming back to the woods and fields at this time of year when just a few Missourians take the time to experience this kind of event.

You might find shed antlers throughout the year, but the best specimens are available now through early March. Mice, squirrels and even deer gnaw on shed antlers for the nutrients they contain. Whole antlers don't last long in the wild.

There are a lot of uses for shed antlers including making knife handles, picture hangers, towel racks and even chandeliers.

With all the bucks in the state today, there are bound to be some antlers laying around for the taking and besides, it will help sharpen your eyes so you can see the mushrooms that will be popping up this spring.