Where does everyone go?

ELKOHOLIC · Mar 22, 2009

Reading a couple of the discussions on here has got me wondering where everyone finds there sheds? Some can go find 10 to 50 sheds a trip and others are lucky to finds one. I think its got less to do with how good you are and more where your looking.

I usually don't go more than 20 miles from the house. It's all done on public land and there is so much competition that its rediculous. I spent all day Saturday looking and came home with one white elk shed. I'm still trying to figure out how someone missed it. Finding a 1 to 2 year old shed is almost unheard of because they get picked up so fast.

I see pics on here of people picking up dozens of white horns and wonder where this sacred shed hunting ground is that knowone else goes to. So lets here it! How many of you that find dozens of sheds every trip are on private ground?

Be honest! I'm not saying it can't be done, but around here I doubt it. Maybe I just need to find a better spot.

BucksBullsandBroncs · Mar 22, 2009

I find all my sheds on public ground. No private property here.

I just go where no one wants to go and walk. Its steep, hard to get to, and no roads near by.

I was in your situation before. I just had to find a better place and did.

BoneJunkie · Mar 22, 2009

I have hunted sheds for 15 years or so and I have always hunted on public ground....having said that I have only had one day ever that I have picked up more than ten sheds. I only hunt deer sheds and I always see people hunting them too. I usually find sheds where others have missed them or in the rough stuff where the deer have been pressured into. I dont hunt elk sheds at all, but I know they stick together better than deer and usually if you find them you can find more than one or two. I believe the only places that people are finding lots of sheds are in unhunted areas, or places that shed hunting isnt super popular, or they have nothing better to do than to spend every waking moment looking.

parnellie · Mar 22, 2009

i walk all public land and pick up on average 150 sheds a year. shed hunting is not as popular in my area as yours im guessing but its growing fast.

TINES · Mar 22, 2009

Sorry you live in no. utah too elko... It is insane trying to find antlers... anywhere there is no snow i guarantee has been hit. When you find a heard there is usually 6 people an hour watching it. Here is a tip... Go further west... nobody can ever cover that much country! I usually find old ones when I go.. but if you find where the biggest heards are you will findem.

JakeH · Mar 22, 2009

I find all my sheds on public ground in areas that get hit super hard, and sometimes I only find 1 or 2 or nore, but Usually can get 10 or more a day. The most I have picked up in one day is 34, and then went back a week latter and found 27 more, it is the only time in the 9 years I've been shed hunting that we found a spot that no one else had ever hunted in before, there was me and 2 buddys that found it and a dude on a 4 wheeler that had found it the week befor and we figure after talking to that other guy there was over 175 sheds in this one small area, it was awsome, and if that other guy wouldnt have been there it would have been like dieing and going to heaven.

Is what I do is look at the areas that look good, and then if I find that someone has beat me to the area I will venture into that same area but take a different path into less desrable spots, and I find a few in those spots most of the time.

Jake H. MM Member since 1999.

NeverStopHuntin · Mar 22, 2009

I find all of my sheds on public ground and 99% of my deer sheds come off of general units. It is possible to do well but it is getting worse and worse every year. I used to have some spots that not many other people hit and now they get pounded so hard its not worth going.

The biggest thing is never ever tell anyone where you are going!!

ELKOHOLIC · Mar 22, 2009

I think the hardest part is getting away from the ATV's. Nothin worse than seeing cross-country tracks doing grid searches.

utehunter · Mar 22, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Mar-22-09 AT 08:12PM (MST)[p]98% public land!!!!!!

SHEDSTALKER · Mar 23, 2009

100% public... Getting away from roads is key for me... I hike my ass off when I go and usually end putting in close to 25 miles in day according to the GPS (sometimes more sometimes less). The best day I've ever had was 5 brown elk, 12 brown deer, and 2 hard white deer. So far this year, I haven't had any days where I've broken 10 horns. I think I will break that one of these days in a couple new areas I have for elk now though.

kaibabNDN · Mar 23, 2009

The_Rez......nuff said

cmiddleton · Mar 23, 2009

land locked blm, hard to hike in blm and some privete.

bonepiler · Mar 24, 2009

Let me answer your question by asking you one. Where DOESN'T everyone go??? EVERYWHERE is getting hit these days, at least in Utah, so its just a craps shoot these days. People are scattering the animals before and during shedding, so you just dont know where they are going to drop anymore. Its a far cry from what it used to be, but hey, a newcomer might find it rewarding. But for some of us old school guys, its painful to see what it has become vs what it used to be. Just go and in time you will develop your own search image and find some horns. You just have to go spend the time and you will be rewarded, Thats what I had to do.

Hunting_Oregon · Mar 24, 2009

I hunt 100% private land but never ever find the amount of sheds that a lot of people find on here. but i do play hell with trespassers. they seem to think that because they are not killing anything that it is ok to go where ever they want.

"Life's tough... It's even tougher if you're stupid."
- John Wayne