sets spend time or move on

[Ridge_Walker]

Question for everyone here. When you find a single do you think its wise to spend alot of time looking for the other side or just keep on the path you where on and hope its there. I will spend an hour sometimes just making circles and was wondering if i was kind of waisting time. whats your thoughts?

 

[bonepicker]

I always spend at least a little time looking for the other side of a single. In my experience, I will often find other sheds in the same area. It may just be where I live, but bucks seem to winter together in little pockets. (the bulls too) If I find an antler, I will almost always find another if I look. However, it is not really common for me to find both sides off the same buck. As an example, last year, I went to a new area. I hiked for a total of 4 hours. 1 hour in, I found a brown antler, I hiked around for another hour and found 4 more, none were matched up and they were all from differnt years. One more brown, one from the year before, one two year old and one that was 3-4 years old. I then hiked for 2 more hours and found nothing. But because I looked around, I found a consitent wintering hole for bucks. If I would have just kept walking, I would have had a 3+ hour hike with only one antler. I'll be doing the same hike in a week or two and you can guess where I'll spend most of my time. Hopefully I can match up a few this year in that area.
Anyway, that's what works for me.

 

[Epointer]

I think alot of deer can pack one horn for a long time. Most of the sets I find are really close together. This last weekend we picked up 16 brown horns, and only matched up one set. It was lucky we matched that one up because they were about 800 yards apart. While trying to find the match to the first brown I found I picked up 5 more horns, and never matched any of those.

 

[massNtrash]

I always spend at least some time trying to find the other side because i have noticed that they are either going to be within a hundred yards of each other or a half a mile away. A lot of this has to do with how much they get pressured if they are left alone they will usually drop in the same area. With that being said one of my biggest sets was over a mile and a half apart and it took me a year and a half to find the other side because the buck crossed a river and went over three ridges before he shed the other side. But the majority of the sets that i pick up are within a few hundred yards of each other. I think last year i found something like 26 sets all fairly close together.

here is the link to the set that was a mile and a half apart.
http://www.monstermuleys.com/photos/PhotosID23/69.html

 

[YELUM]

Great question. Quality or Quantity.
For me its quality. I have a few friends that will pick up 150-200 sheds a year, but might only get one or two 170 inch sets. In 2004, I found a great looking 190+ buck, and a 1/2 dozen other bucks ranging from 150-190 wintering in one valley. I spent every weekend for 12 weeks in that valley with a few friends. We found 65 sheds in that valley including a 197, 205, 184, 180, and 174 sets. I ended up with 4 of the 5 big sets. I wouldn't trade my sets for the 200 my buddys found.

Yelum

 

[BreederBuck]

I agree with always looking for the other side. How much time I spend will naturally depend on the size of the critter. My brother and I have spent days looking for the missing side.

 

[whiteshadow]

yelum pm sent

 

[Khunter]

I found half of what would be a 350" bull and my friend and I spent about an hour looking for the other half. He yells to me that he see's it and trots down there and he picks up another whopper, only it was the same side as my shed, no dice. So now we're looking for the other half of both big bulls. More than an hour later and almost 3/4 mile awy on THICK PJ I find the other half to his set and say congrats. We never did find my other half.

I'm no expert but heck yes try to match them up in the same general area.

That said I have found 3 complete sets, 2 brown, and one white that are 345-352" bulls. Found both sides of all of them laying on or withion 5 feet of each other. My shed fanatic friend keeps trying to tell me how lucky that is (especialy the two brown sets in one afternoon). I just ask why he does not find more matched sets together--it is so much easier that way...

So when one guy find the first half and you friend then finds the other half of a set, who gets the complete set. I am always happy to hand over the 2nd half and always hope folks would return the favor. What do you guys do?

 

[bonepicker]

I like to trade for matched sides. It seems a little more fair that way. For example, if I find a big buck and later my buddy finds the other side, I'd trade him a white set for his brown single and if I don't really want the set for whatever reason, he could trade me a big elk single, etc. That's just how we do it.