[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/shed-hunting-its-not-just-about-finding-antlers\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/shed-hunting-its-not-just-about-finding-antlers\/","headline":"Shed Hunting: It’s Not Just About Finding Antlers","name":"Shed Hunting: It’s Not Just About Finding Antlers","description":"According to social media, I suck as a shed hunter.\u00a0 Everybody and their brother is out there scooping up sheds...","datePublished":"2017-02-28","dateModified":"2018-12-04","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/ShedHunting-e1488302665976.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/ShedHunting-e1488302665976.jpg","height":552,"width":960},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/shed-hunting-its-not-just-about-finding-antlers\/","about":["News"],"wordCount":814,"keywords":["News"],"articleBody":"According to social media, I suck as a shed hunter.\u00a0 Everybody and their brother is out there scooping up sheds left and right and bragging about being in double digits already. Meanwhile, I\u2019m sitting here with one measly dinker of a 3-point side after putting on 25+ miles in supposedly the \u201cWhitetail Heaven\u201d state of Iowa.\u00a0 Sure, some are still holding, but you\u2019d think after putting on that many miles in deer laden country, you\u2019d stumble across more antler than that.Here’s my giant 3-point reward for walking 25+miles.It was our second year in a row making our now annual trip down to Iowa for a mid-February shed hunt\u2026 or in my case, long country walks. Overall, our group of four only came home with eight shed antlers for the cumulative 100+ miles walked.\u00a0 To break that down, that\u2019s one shed every 12.5 miles walked.\u00a0 Worth it? I guess it depends. Like most group shed hunts, there always seems to be one clear winner and one clear loser.\u00a0 I drew the short straw this year, and was the clear loser.\u00a0 Meanwhile, my cousin, Jared was the clear winner after walking up on a 155\u201d matched set.\u00a0 His stroke of luck continued on to the second day with another nice five-point side \u2013 making them the three biggest sheds of his fairly young life.Yup, this was when the other three of us got extremely shed-jealous.Going into the trip, the main goal was to find shed antlers.\u00a0 During the long drive down we had made bets on who would find what in an effort to curb our anticipation.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just say our hopes were high and if this were the Price is Right, we all would have over bid the actual price.\u00a0 The first morning, as we stepped foot onto the new land, we were all giddy as could be. It must have been how Lewis and Clarke felt as they turned every river bend or crested every rise.\u00a0 Step by step, ridge after ridge, multiflora rose thorn after rose thorn, the reality of the shed hunt became ever so clear\u2026it wasn\u2019t about the shed hunt at all.Here’s a pic of my cousin, Jared, admiring his giant matched set.Just like hunting is hardly about killing an animal, shed hunting is hardly about finding an antler.\u00a0 This is the one fundamental ideation that many non-hunters fail to ever recognize.\u00a0 Meanwhile, it\u2019s the stuff that keeps us as hunters and outdoorsmen ever so alive.\u00a0 It\u2019s the adventure, the unknown, the tradition, the camaraderie, the discovery, the disconnect \u2013 those are the motives that drive us.Through hours of shed-less hiking and long car rides, you\u2019d better hope you get along with the group you are with otherwise it can turn into a long and miserable trip.\u00a0 You need to be able to take some trash talk, while also throwing some back.\u00a0 When it\u2019s all done in good fun, it keeps the energy up and laughter flowing.\u00a0 The small jabs and banter mixed with a few cold brews and hunks of jerky ensures camaraderie is alive and well.One of the best things about shed hunting is the scouting that accompanies the search.\u00a0 In fact, it will often dictate your search route.\u00a0 There\u2019s typically a lot of spots hunters won\u2019t touch during the fall for fear of pushing or alerting deer.\u00a0 Early spring is the perfect time to bust into bedding areas or other unknown pieces and ground-proof your suspicions.\u00a0 With bare ground that\u2019s full of sign, this is the best time to be in the deer woods preparing for fall.So you see, shed hunting is never a bust when you\u2019re out searching with friends.\u00a0 If it were truly about the antlers and someone asked me if I would knowingly walk 25+ miles through thorn infested woods to find a single little three-point side, my answer would be a resounding, Hell no!\u00a0 But understand the answer is never that simple, it\u2019s the unknown and good times that push us on, not the sheds \u2013 they are just the cherry on top."},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/shed-hunting-its-not-just-about-finding-antlers\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Shed Hunting: It’s Not Just About Finding Antlers"}}]}]