Shifting Gears: 2011 Shed Hunt

  I hit the road after work Thursday evening, headed back to Kansas.  It was to be my only chance this Spring to look for the sheds of the deer I'll be hunting in the Fall.   I made it home around midnight Thursday night, and Staab met me at my parents' house around 6 the next morning.  His previous shed hunts this year  had his eye trained and his mouth running. I'd have to be sharp if I wanted to put some bones on my pile.

We started our search as the sun was supposed to be rising.  I'm sure it was there somewhere, but the drizzle blocked it out for the most part.  We hit two main canyons that were full of fresh deer sign, but empty of antlers.  As we rounded the mouth of the major canyon and began to head East, I looked down and to my left at my first shed of the year.

It felt good to get on the board first.  I guess I still got it.   That first shed got the juices flowing, but we covered quite a bit of ground after that with nothing to show for it. 

After getting the goose egg at a spot I thought might pay off, we headed for an old standby.  About 50 yards from one of my treestands, Staab tripped over these.

The wind picked up, the rain turned to sleet, and we kept covering ground. Staab ended up stumbling upon another one alongside a canyon trail.

It was time to head back to the car for a little wind and water break.  We stopped by the Solomon's place and talked to Gary, who had picked up 3 sheds off the field behind his house a few weeks ago.  One was from a buck I recognized from the fall.  We decided to go back and see if we could match some sets. 

As we were walking through some stubble that bordered the winter wheat, Ryan spotted one we almost passed over.  It was really camouflaged in that yellow grass. 

I don't really care to talk about what happened next, but I'll post the pictures....

We thought that last shed Ryan found was the match to Gary's shed, and the deer I had passed in October.  I checked the video when I got home....

Here's some close of pics of the set I took when I got back to snowy Minnesota.

The day ended up being a lot of fun.  Unfortunately I forgot the final score.  We were dead tired by late afternoon and planning to get up early and do it all again on Saturday.  I'll get that trip report up here tomorrow....