Thirty-one years ago, I found my first shed deer antler. It was such a memorable event that to this day I would be able to take you to the exact spot. I remember asking permission to shed hunt and the owner giving me the look of “you wanna do what?” Fast forward to now and shed hunting is mainstream. Seems like everyone is doing it. The one thing that has remained a constant, and I say it every year, is how difficult it is to find that first shed antler of the year.  

On a couple of small shed hunts this year I only spent half the outings looking for sheds and the rest of the time looking for critters to trap. I came home empty on both fronts, but it wasn’t a waste. Whether I am in the woods or on the lake, both are pretty good investments of my time.

My first “real” shed hunt of the year, and by that I mean a serious outing that includes a couple bottles of water and a snack, was measured in both time and pace to qualify distance. Four hours of walking at 2.5 miles an hour equaled 10 miles.

While walking in the woods I had to duck through some heavy brush, being forced to crouch low and turn my head to the left to avoid the prickly thorns. That’s when I saw IT! I thought I was looking at some sort of old discarded cow bone. After logging so many miles over the years I have learned what is worth a closer look and what is a waste of boot leather. I needed a closer look on this one. When I got within 10 yards of the partially covered item in question, I knew exactly what I was looking at. I threw my arms in the air holding my walking sticks, looking like an Olympic skier that just set the course record. My gold medal was laying in the snow.  

I slowly closed in on the four point shed deer antler, savoring the moment, because I didn’t know when the next one would be found. I soon realized that the shed was as big and heavy as I had hoped. I took a photo and picked it to discover that there was no ground shrinkage. On a guess it came from a 3.5-year-old buck. What I could say for certain is that the buck only recently stopped wearing it because there was still remnants of blood on the coral-like end.

The rest of my time in the woods was uneventful but that was okay. I accomplished what I set out to do. I found the hardest shed antler of the year: the first one!  

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