LAST EDITED ON Dec-11-06 AT 00:55AM (MST)[p]Do any of you fellow shed hunters remember what got you hooked on shed hunting? Here is a story I wrote several years ago about the day I became hooked on shed hunting and I thought a few of you might enjoy reading it.
I used to pick up a lot of sheds while I was out hunting and thought they were cool, but I definitely didn't have the same excitement about picking them up as I do today. However, that all changed a few years ago on one Indian summer day in early spring.
I was bored and had "cabin fever" from all of the long and cold winter days that I had spent cooped up indoors and needed to get out and see the mountain slopes starting to come alive with the fresh flowers trying to make their way through the tangled deadfall the previous winter had left behind. I headed to an area where I had seen deer wintering in previous years, but I had no idea if any deer had been wintering there that year or if there had been any good bucks in the area.
I parked my truck, put on my binoculars and backpack loaded with way too much gear, and began on my first official shed hunt. There was no trail in the area just a myriad of game trails covered with a couple feet of snow and ice left behind from the winter before. As I worked my way through the deep snow I could hear the sounds of water dripping off of the ice sickles and seemingly feeding the many plants that would be nourishing the velvet antlers of majestic bucks in the upcoming summer months. After hiking through the snow for about an hour and down off of the ridge I had finally made it to the canyon I was going to ?hunt.?
As I walked up to the edge of the canyon a bull moose stood at the edge of some oak brush 600 yards away from me on the other side of the canyon wondering what was intruding his territory? Although his antlers were gone, his posture clearly stated that this was his territory. After looking at me for a few minutes the bull slowly walked into the scrub oak that seemed to gobble him up as he vanished out of sight.
I began to glass the large canyon lying before me that was covered in oak brush on the west side and then opened up to sagebrush at the bottom. Looking through my binoculars every branch and piece of sagebrush that had any resemblance to an antler was scoured intensely. After a while I had not located any antlers and decided to head up towards the snow covered peaks of the basin. While I was hiking and starting to think about the burning sensation in my legs I stumbled across and old Easton arrow with a rusted broad head on it. As I looked at the arrow thoughts went through my mind of what might have happened in this canyon many years before?
I was now getting very tired and had hiked to the top of the canyon without any luck. The sun was starting to set on the horizon and I knew that my first shed hunting trip was going to be unsuccessful. I looked at the beautiful country that lay before me for several minutes and decided it was time to start heading back to the truck as I knew that I would have to hike back through the snow covered peaks to get back to my truck.
I looked down and started to take a step and couldn't believe my eyes. There laying only a couple of feet away from where I had been standing laid an amazing 4 point mule deer shed. It was a typical 3 point with a big inline cheater coming off of the main beam. It was a very humbling feeling knowing that I almost stepped on the antler before I found it even though I had considered myself to be fairly good at glassing. I have been hooked ever since! Let's hear what got you hooked?
Here is a picture of the shed. I will never get rid of it.
I used to pick up a lot of sheds while I was out hunting and thought they were cool, but I definitely didn't have the same excitement about picking them up as I do today. However, that all changed a few years ago on one Indian summer day in early spring.
I was bored and had "cabin fever" from all of the long and cold winter days that I had spent cooped up indoors and needed to get out and see the mountain slopes starting to come alive with the fresh flowers trying to make their way through the tangled deadfall the previous winter had left behind. I headed to an area where I had seen deer wintering in previous years, but I had no idea if any deer had been wintering there that year or if there had been any good bucks in the area.
I parked my truck, put on my binoculars and backpack loaded with way too much gear, and began on my first official shed hunt. There was no trail in the area just a myriad of game trails covered with a couple feet of snow and ice left behind from the winter before. As I worked my way through the deep snow I could hear the sounds of water dripping off of the ice sickles and seemingly feeding the many plants that would be nourishing the velvet antlers of majestic bucks in the upcoming summer months. After hiking through the snow for about an hour and down off of the ridge I had finally made it to the canyon I was going to ?hunt.?
As I walked up to the edge of the canyon a bull moose stood at the edge of some oak brush 600 yards away from me on the other side of the canyon wondering what was intruding his territory? Although his antlers were gone, his posture clearly stated that this was his territory. After looking at me for a few minutes the bull slowly walked into the scrub oak that seemed to gobble him up as he vanished out of sight.
I began to glass the large canyon lying before me that was covered in oak brush on the west side and then opened up to sagebrush at the bottom. Looking through my binoculars every branch and piece of sagebrush that had any resemblance to an antler was scoured intensely. After a while I had not located any antlers and decided to head up towards the snow covered peaks of the basin. While I was hiking and starting to think about the burning sensation in my legs I stumbled across and old Easton arrow with a rusted broad head on it. As I looked at the arrow thoughts went through my mind of what might have happened in this canyon many years before?
I was now getting very tired and had hiked to the top of the canyon without any luck. The sun was starting to set on the horizon and I knew that my first shed hunting trip was going to be unsuccessful. I looked at the beautiful country that lay before me for several minutes and decided it was time to start heading back to the truck as I knew that I would have to hike back through the snow covered peaks to get back to my truck.
I looked down and started to take a step and couldn't believe my eyes. There laying only a couple of feet away from where I had been standing laid an amazing 4 point mule deer shed. It was a typical 3 point with a big inline cheater coming off of the main beam. It was a very humbling feeling knowing that I almost stepped on the antler before I found it even though I had considered myself to be fairly good at glassing. I have been hooked ever since! Let's hear what got you hooked?
Here is a picture of the shed. I will never get rid of it.
