Menu
SPORTS COLUMN: Deer hunter seeks out shed antlers after hunting season closes
While at the recent Kansas City Sportshow, I ran into Larry Williams, who is a deer hunter from way back.
"I started deer hunting some 49 years ago and have really seen some big changes," Williams said. "When someone hit a deer on the highway, it would attract crowds just to see a deer. Today if you don't have a 12- or 14-point buck, it wouldn't even raise an eyebrow."
Although Williams is now in his 70s, he still goes out in the deer woods at this time of year in search of shed antlers.
The dead of winter finds many Missourians with cabin fever, but one activity that peaks during February and offers a way to fight that cabin fever is hunting shed antlers. With most hunting seasons all but over and with weather that is less than inviting, hunting shed antlers is an incentive to venture outdoors.
Starting this month, whitetail bucks begin dropping the antlers they grew for the fall rut. The exact timing varies from place to place and from year to year, but now you can be sure there are antlers on the ground throughout the state. Looking for them puts you in much closer touch with nature. If you are a deer hunter it also provides clues to the location and habits of bucks that survived the hunting season.
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 easily available. Travel corridors between feeding and bedding areas are worth checking.
Promising places include harvested crop fields, corn cribs, places where corn has been spilled on the ground, food plots on conservation areas and fields where large 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.
"I found a spot where I knew there were deer," Williams said, "but the landowner doesn't allow hunting. But when I ask him about hunting for shed antlers, he said it would be fine if I shared some of them with him.
"I agreed and now that is a place where I always find some big antlers and both the landowner and I are happy."
Public wildlife refuges are excellent places to look for antlers. Other good places are golf courses, orchards and suburban subdivisions near wooded areas.
Archery deer hunters who find shed antlers and other deer sign around these areas may be able to gain permission to hunt there next 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 on clear days.
Hunting shed antlers is like any other kind of hunting. The more you do it, the better you become. Veteran antler stalkers in productive areas can bring home dozens of antlers a year. Don't be discouraged if you just find one or two antlers or even come up empty the first year. You will find other rewards that will keep you coming back to the woods at this time of year when just a few people take the time to experience this kind of event.
You can find shed antlers throughout the year, but the best specimens are available now through March. Mice, squirrels and even deer gnaw on the antlers to get the nutrients they contain, so whole antlers don't last long in the wild.
There are many uses for shed antlers including making knife handles and even making antler chandeliers. If you notice some of the ads for chandeliers in the log home magazines, these type lighting fixtures go for big bucks (no pun intended).
With all the big bucks roaming the state today, there are bound to be some antlers laying around for the taking.