Earliest Sheds you've found?

[Rackaddict]

Not that it is happening yet, but, what are the earliest dates that you have found sheds? Mid January for me.

[IAdroptine]

January 10th for me, it was on the ground for at least a week. Dropping in Dec. and Jan. does happen but is relatively rare in our part of the country.

I do walk my deer woods in January but use care not to pressure the deer so as to not push they out of my area.

[BigTypical]

December 27th is the earliest that I've ever found a fresh shed. I was a little confused when I saw it laying in the CRP field and at first thought that I had found one of the previous years sheds, but the wax ring was fresh and still was bloody. I've pick up most of my sheds in late Feb. and early March.

[BLUE BUCK]

The earliest for me was the 2nd week of Feb. 2 years ago. For some reason I seem to suck at shed hunting. I manage to find about 10 a year, and the majority are very small. Seems to me the big ones should stick out pretty good, but I can't seem to find them. The areas I hunt have fairly large bucks, and quite a few of them, but they do a great job hiding those things from me. Doesn't slow me down much though.

[Big Timber]

Blue Buck,
I have the same problem. Lots of big deer, but I rarely find a shed. And if I do find one, it's usually a dead carcass. I believe the mature bucks bury their sheds...LOL.

BT

[SD Buck]

The two earliest dates I have found sheds is Jan 4th and 6th. They were both during hard winters when there was a lot of snow on the ground.

[Shredder]

The earliest I had found a shed was mid December in 1998. It was a nice shed but not a monster. There was a small amount of blood in the immediate area where I found the shed.

I know when I was going to school down in missouri, we had a rifle season in early January for antlerless deer and several mature antlerless buck were checked at the check station I was using.

[Ogz]

Two years ago, Dec. 28th. Boone county, 70 inch 5 point side. Still warm! Saw the deer a short while later while still hunting but let him walk because the other side was also gone. He had blood on the side of his face from the antler dropping. Watched the deer all summer in a bachlor group, but didn't see him all season until that day.

[Camohead]

Jan 1st, saw the deer and one of his sheds the next year, he had a drop on both sides and sported 10 or 12 uprights but never saw him after that.

CH

[TJF]

December 31st 2000. Was bowhunting the last day of season that year. Found a very small 3pt set and a small 4pt. Before I found them I was watching a buck that had lost both. He was pretty big bodied and definitely not the previous owner of the sheds I found that day.

Tim

[Rweltzin]

December 31st for me too. We had about 2 feet of snow for about 20 days, and It looked like the deer were stressed out pretty much, (Walking pretty slow, and looking a little thin) I saw the buck i shot in 2001, with 1 side on. I had been seeing him for about a month with both sides on before that.

[MN Hunter]

My friend found a 61" 4pt this afternoon and an old chewed up antler. That makes 4 on the year.

[DC]

Prior to the winter we had 2 years back, my earliest shed was January 18th - a 64 & 5/8" 5 point.

2 years ago, I found a shed on December 26th while going out for a late muzzleloader hunt. I found 5 more before January 1st that year. I believe the early shedding was caused by 30 inches of snow and the coldest December on record in East Central Iowa.

Went out for a couple hours yesterday and found no sheds, however, it felt great just to be out searching.

Good luck shed hunting this year!

[Bucky]

Earliest shed ever was on December 26 of 2001. I found it on the edge of a picked corn field while muzzleoader hunting. It didn't look to have been shed in the previous few days either. Most of the time I start finding them in mid to late January but I usually try to save my energy and wait until mid February.

[180bc]

Greetings fellow sportsmen and conservationists. I was in Iowa on Jan. 6th and was blessed with an 86" shed. Fresh, blood still wet on the base. I may have ran him out of the thicket where I found it! I never saw the buck, but was delighted to see that such a magnificant creature still lives. Good luck in you hunts!