Thread: Shed Hunting

Stumbled on some nice cast antlers on a DOC block last week, got me a little excited about next years roar. The 3 of them were all within a 100m circle. These 2 stags are obviously pretty cunning, nobody Ive spoken too who hunts the area has recognised these antlers while they were still attached to the deer that built them!





Anyone else found any sheds that have gotten their pulse up?

Be nice to find the owners next year. Over the years we find a few but not as many as would be expected.

Tripped over this on the lambing beat

Sent from my SM-G525F using Tapatalk

I have very heavy beamed antler right on 40" mark...and its on decline as top is going back.......really would be nice to catch up with his progeny .

Not a shed, but an interesting find. I picked this up yesterday. Had been dead for quite a few months so couldn't tell if it had been shot or what had happened to it.

Just some info that may interest some . When we were first living in America their Shed Hunting seasons was what really brought home to us what a huge industry hunting was ,far better than the big outdoors shops as a lot of that is Mall Ninja shit.

They have crowds of 100's who have driven across country to hunt good shed areas on the opening, it is like our Duck opening ,waiting in their RV's & busses etc as they camp out for days ,from memory when we lived in Montana the price was well over $10 a pound for Grade A elk sheds & just over $10 for Grade A deer. Their are teams of Wildlife officers that specialize in catching Shed poachers & it is highly regulated ,often when you were talking to someone about hunting or fishing they would rate Shed Hunting as their next top hobby.

If you enjoy Shed hunting there will no doubt be videos of the madness in the US so have a squiz it will blow you mind &make you realize how good we have it .

I found a freshly cast 9 point heavy timbered antler many years ago in a North Canterbury forestry block I was working in. I tried for three years to get him but no luck. He lived on a small hill in the block with a 100 metre thick band of dense manuka right round it and it was impossible to get through without him knowing you were there, and always snuck out the back door before I got through it. He was eventually shot in a cocky's paddock one night but he was well knackered and in poor condition according to the shooter.

Check out the antler man from episode 226 of the meateater podcast, his collection of sheds is jaw dropping https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/bi...ans-collection

From a few years ago...

Not massive, but here are the first sheds I've found, a month or so back. Pretty weathered. They were about a foot apart from each other. Hoping to get out on the weekend and find the owner, who'll be a few years older now I guess.

If the owner is still alive he will be in velvet this weekend, so will make a much softer trophy than what you have there....

In my experience stags drop their antlers where they have been wintering which is more than likely not in the same area as where they rut, and can be a fair distance away.
Those 3 casts look to have farm genetics in them, short and heavy with long brows and basil snags.
The picture from Mathias looks like quality "original" genetics.

Jeez…stupid me. Read the title of thread and thought Totalspan? Ideal?….stupid old prick.

Originally Posted by Puddleduk

Those 3 casts look to have farm genetics in them, short and heavy with long brows and basil snags.
The picture from Mathias looks like quality "original" genetics.

This is the "original" genetics around here. Safe to say not many folks are feeling nostalgic. I do hate those little nubs around the brow tine though.

Originally Posted by LMcNab

This is the "original" genetics around here. Safe to say not many folks are feeling nostalgic. I do hate those little nubs around the brow tine though.
Attachment 183189

See in fallow basal snags r a sign of maturity