Shed Hunting PR

Once again I found myself headed Northeast on I-80 at 5:30 AM. It was Saturday March 9th and I was driving to camp to get a morning shed hunt in. The forecast for the day wasn’t great (at least from a walking perspective). It was looking like steady rain all day – perfect for making antlers easier to spot.

Vince and Dan were originally planning on making the trip as well, but the rain scared them off. Heading out alone, I opted to once again hike behind camp rather than the Wilderness. I started off at 7:00 AM to hit some new areas before taking one last trip through the area I found the big one on Super Bowl Sunday.

The ground was wet and dark, and the increased prospect of finding sheds made the constant drizzle a bit more palpable. After about an hour or so, I started making my way down into the Fubar area. Around 8:15 AM I looked up to see stark white sticking out against the dark brown earth. It was just a small 4 point right side, but I was on the board early.

I continued out the ridge to where I have already found a couple other sheds this year. Even though I have already hit the area, it is where I have seen the most sign so I figured it was worth another look. I was zig-zagging through there and at 9:30 AM I saw white tines sticking out from under the leaves. I snapped some pictures before picking up the 4 point left side that has been shed for at least a year.

As the rain started coming down harder, I decided to head out to Rob’s Spot before making my way back to camp. Or so I thought. I took a look at OnX before starting my walk and after an hour or so, I realized I was back where I started! This time, I kept my map out and made a beeline for the pipeline. I got there and headed out to Rob’s spot. About a third of the way there I spooked two deer to my left and thereafter spotted a nice shed 40 yards off the trail at 10:45 AM. It was a cool, white left side with no browtine.

Earlier in the day I was joking to myself that I should just leave after finding my second shed. I had never found three in a day before, and for a while I wasn’t sure that I would. Thus, when I found this last one I was ecstatic. I had also never found more than 4 in a year before, and this put me at 7 for 2024. In total, it was a great (and very wet) 8.8 miles in the ANF with my best shed day to show for it.