Shed hunting season has arrived

One mild February day a few years ago, we pulled on mud boots and strolled through a grassy area inside Cedar Rapids city limits.

We expected exercise and found serendipity.

Marion discovered a treasure. Just off the footpath was a freshly shed deer antler. A big one. Her first.

Glancing around, she spotted another. Her matched pair is the holy grail of shed hunting, akin to hitting a home run. Nearby she found a bigger shed on a day marked with good luck.

Shed hunting is booming across the country, with its peak season during otherwise gloomy late winter months. The ultimate thrills of shed hunting are finding huge antlers or a matched pair

Iowa’s abundant male whitetail deer drop thousands of antlers each late winter. It’s called shedding or casting.

Elsewhere, male mule deer, elk and moose also grow and discard their antlers. Caribou are an exception. Both males and females of these far north deer grow and cast antlers.

Shed hunting for all these species is so popular it is becoming a competitive sport.

Iowa bucks born in spring only have bumps on their skull their first fall. A year later, these have grown to tall spikes or fork horns. Every year of a buck’s life his antlers grow larger until reaching peak size in six to eight years, if the animal is lucky enough to live that long.

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Because Iowa bucks grow enormous antlers, hunters from across the nation trek here to try to shoot a trophy. Fortunately, plenty of bucks survive the hunting season to shed their antlers.

Each April, blood rich skin, called velvet for its fuzzy appearance, forms on the head of male deer. The skin delivers calcium and phosphorus that form antlers that can grow as fast as a half inch a day through early to midsummer. By September the antlers are fully grown.

It’s rubbing time. Bucks find a springy sapling and aggressively rub off their velvet to reveal and polish bony antlers.

Rubbing can kill a young tree. When deer moved into urban areas, they found prized landscaping trees perfect for rubbing. Many Iowans have been frustrated to find their expensive tree girdled. Protecting vulnerable trees with sturdy wire helps.

Once antlers are polished, shortening days signal the onset of the breeding season, or rut. It peaks in early November when bucks spar for the right to mate with as many does as they can. Often there’s a mini-rut in early December.

Then bucks and does part ways and usually overwinter apart. With the mating season over, the attachment between the skull and antler base weakens.

One day an antler may be solidly attached to the skull only to have it fall off the next morning. It’s common for a buck to drop one antler yet keep the other for a few days and drop it a distance from the first one.

So, Marion’s matched pair find was indeed a treasure.

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When do Iowa bucks cast antlers?

There is no hard and fast rule on when bucks cast their antlers, but usually the largest antlers drop the soonest.

That can be as early as Christmas or delayed until early April. February is the prime casting month, so the best time to search for them is usually late that month and through March.

Cast antlers range in color from nearly pure white to deep brown. Snow buries them, making finding sheds challenging. Usually, the best hunting is right after the snow melts in late winter.

Is shed hunting legal?

Since no animal is killed, no license is required to hunt shed antlers.

The season is always open and there’s no limit. Under Iowa law, sheds can be collected and kept but any that are attached to deer’s skull, meaning a dead deer, needs a permit issued by a conservation officer to retain.

Shed antler hunting is legal on lands managed by the Linn County Conservation Board and many other land management agencies. Removing sheds from national parks is prohibited and may be from other nature areas.

Always check before collecting. Some of the best shed hunting is on private land where permission always is needed.

Prime shed locations

It seems obvious, but the best shed hunting is where many deer hang out in late winter.

That can be urban backyards. Many homeowners are astonished to find an antler on their lawn. City parks also can be productive.

In bigger natural areas, deer tend to linger where there is thick vegetation to shield them from storms with food nearby. Tracks and oblong deer beds in the snow reveal where deer loiter.

Find a wintry palace where deer frequent and sheds likely will be nearby.

Why hunt sheds?

Shed hunting is a late winter adventure. A time when we yearn to be outside, so shed hunting gives a purpose to a winter woods’ walk.

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People with a competitive nature sometimes have their sheds scored to see if they’ve found the biggest one. The North American Shed Hunters Club is based in Indianola.

“We score sheds and maintain a record book of exceptional ones,” said co-owner Glen Salow.

They can be reached at www.shedantlers.org. A helpful information source is a book called “Shed Hunting,” available at www.goshedhunting.com.

We recently visited elk country in Pennsylvania and learned the Quehanna Industrial Development Corporation will hold its 10th annual Shed Elk Antler Hunt in early 2024 with a public scoring in May. Whoever finds the biggest elk and deer antler wins a prize.

Other competitive hunts are springing up across the country.

Shed hunting tips

We’ve shed hunted for decades and spend several late winter days looking for them every year.

Often, we’re skunked and the reward for a day outdoors is exercise and fresh air, but once in a while we hit the jackpot and find several sheds in a short time.

Here are some of our shed hunting tips:

What to do with sheds

We keep some sheds as decorations on bookcases and on cabinets.

Artisans make everything from knife handles to decorative light fixtures from them. Many dogs love chewing on them. Breaking or cutting the tough bones makes for easier chewing.

Marion’s discovery of a matched pair of antlers was exciting, but finding even one shed is fun. Hunting sheds is an outstanding way to spend a late winter day.

Rich and Marion Patterson have backgrounds in environmental science and forestry. They co-own Winding Pathways, a consulting business that encourages people to “Create Wondrous Yards.”