Shed hunting is a dang good time. Let’s be clear about that right out of the gate.
But there’s more to it than just scooping up antlers. Whitetail sheds can hold a treasure trove of information if you know what to look for. Here are three valuable pieces of intel you can glean from the antlers you pick up this spring.
Proof of Survival
Finding the sheds obviously confirms that deer made it through hunting season and survived early spring. This is...

A common angling refrain holds that some lures are better designed to catch fishermen than fish. Hunters are no less guilty. In this series, I’m going to highlight the greatest hunting gimmicks of all time. Some might make you feel nostalgic. Others might make you nauseous. My hope is that all of them give you a good laugh.
The grunt tube is one of the simplest, most effective calls in the hunting universe. Unlike an elk bugle system or coyote e...

The basics of shed hunting are well known, but the devil is in the details.
Efficient use of time is the golden rule of shed hunting, so let’s not beat around the bush. Here are four simple tricks that will help you gain shed hunting success.
Scout Like it’s Hunting Season
The best DIY whitetail hunters I’ve interviewed on the Wired to Hunt podcast all prioritize extensive scouting. This emphasis also applies to shed hunting.
If you don’t have...

Shed hunting, from the outside looking in, can seem quite simple: walk a lot, look on the ground, and find antlers. But the search for whitetail sheds is rarely this straightforward.
Consistent shed hunting success requires both an understanding of deer habitat and behavior, and a smart strategy for searching the right places. Scouting with online maps, known as e-scouting, can help with both of these tasks.
Why?
One quality separates expert...

Shed hunting is one of those outdoor pursuits that sounds easy: Walk some trails, check some fence crossings, and fill up your backpack with antler. If you’ve got primo spots and plenty of time, this is probably true (and you likely don’t need to read an article about why you suck at shed hunting). But if your shed missions take you to public dirt or any ground where the competition is thick, it won’t be so easy. In this case, especially for...

Jason Kline has been hunting a once-in-a-lifetime whitetail in northwest Ohio for the last four seasons. That pursuit came to an end this weekend when Kline finally got his hands on the buck’s rack—but it wasn’t the conclusion he hoped for.

Kline found the long-expired buck while shed hunting on Sunday. The last time he’d seen it was in mid-October. “I figured he died since he just disappeared and was very visible in all...