For many, a deer antler shed off a whitetail buck is a sacred treasure. Some even say they love finding deer sheds almost as much as actually tagging the buck that grew the antlers. Aside from being fun to find, sheds offer clues on how to beat a buck at his own game. 

Here, we explore how sheds serve as a deer scouting tool, helping you uncover insights into deer movement and land management opportunities.

Shed Hunting as Deer Scouting

When I find a deer shed (or any deer sign), I ask myself the four “W’s”:

1. When was this buck here? 
2. Where was he going to and from? 
3. Why was he here? 
4. What can I learn from this area? 

The answers to these questions serve as puzzle pieces, helping to put together the whole picture of how to catch up to that buck come fall. 

So, whenever I find a shed, I mark its location in the Hunt App with a Waypoint (tip: use the shed icon to stay organized) and add notes to that pin. If I find a shed in a bedding area, I’ll note which wind direction is best, or if I pick up an antler in a field, I’ll note what crop was in rotation. Anything that helps me connect the dots later is useful. 

While I’m searching the surrounding area for the matched set, I’m also looking for scat, trails, rubs, scrapes, bedding, water, feed—all the nearby deer sign that might help me see the whole picture of why this buck was here. 

In all, where you find an antler offers you a wealth of deer scouting information. Below, we explore the intel you can pick up when shed hunting. 

Buck Survival Post-Season

Finding an antler doesn’t guarantee that a buck will be alive come fall, but it lets us know he’s made it this far. Typically, I’m finding sheds in late February and March, when winter is almost over and the odds are good this buck won’t succumb to the elements. 

New Target Bucks

Long-distance observation and trail cam data can only tell you so much (and some bucks are notoriously adept at evading trail cameras). Nothing beats holding an antler in your hand to assess mass, tine length, and overall potential. If the buck’s antler is almost within the size range where I would consider him a “shooter,” then I’ll assume he’ll be within that range with another year’s growth.

Buck Patterns

Sheds say a lot about local bucks’ movements year in and year out. For example, I consistently find sheds on specific south-facing slopes (which get the most sun each day), and finding these sheds led me to the best buck bedding in these areas. 

Similarly, shed hunting helps me deduce which agricultural fields and oak patches are preferred. In my area, standing beans and alfalfa seem to be the preferred late season food sources. But, late dropping oaks, corn, and freshly planted winter wheat fields have also produced a lot of sheds over the years. I like to talk to the farmers and figure out what will be planted in the spring so I can look back on my notes to gather information for the fall. Bucks seem to have distinct patterns—bed to feed and feed to bed—each fall when combined with certain crops.

Deer Herd Health

Sheds can offer clues about overall deer herd health. When I find a shed, I try to figure out how long ago it was dropped. Is there still blood? Does the wax ring on the base look fresh? If the answer to these two questions is “no” and it’s March, then I know the buck dropped his antlers early. That could be due to a hard rut, injury, or lack of food sources. If I’m finding a lot of sheds that have been shed for a while, I start to wonder if the local bucks are getting enough feed and nutrients in the wintertime. 

I also try to judge the overall herd health on certain farms by the number of sheds I find. It’s not an exact science, but a higher shed count usually indicates good habitat, namely ample feed and cover. If I’m not finding sheds, it’s probably because I’m lacking bedding and feed on my property and need to adjust my efforts accordingly.

Applying Deer Shed Intel to the Season Ahead

Having found sheds and answered the four ‘W’s’, we can focus on how to use what we learned come fall. Here’s a rundown of how shed hunters can leverage shed season insights toward deer hunting success.

Refine Stand Locations

Sheds, in correlation to bedding and feeding areas, tell us how bucks use an area. If I find a lot of sheds in a particular bedding area, feeding area, or on certain trails, I can assess whether my stand locations have been good or bad for these spots. If I see a ton of deer sign and sheds in an area I was not set up properly for, I go to work on choosing new stand locations.

For example, a few years ago, I found a ton of sheds on some connecting trails that went from a bedding area to an agricultural field. I hadn’t realized how frequently bucks used those trails. I adjusted my stand locations accordingly, which put me in position to score on a buck as he traveled to and from.

Improve Entry and Exit Strategies

By learning new areas and refining stand setups based on what I’m learning while finding sheds, I can also use this info to improve how I enter and exit my stands. For example, sometimes l find sheds in areas that I didn’t know bucks were using, and once I’m in these zones, I can look around to see what a buck sees. Often, I realize I need to change my entry and exit because if a buck was lying where I found his shed, he could see me. 

These little clues help us optimize entry and exit, which is just as important—if not more important—as the actual stand setup itself. If you can’t get in and out undetected, you really have no chance to tag the buck you’re hunting.

Inform Food Plot Plans

Sheds show me where I need more food plots or if I need to consider finding better areas for food plots. For example, if I find a lot of sheds in a certain area of a property, but no feed is nearby, then I know the bedding is there, but the deer are traveling to feed. I’ll mark this as an area where I need to put a food plot to help improve overall deer health and maximize my hunting opportunity. 

Basically, I want to find sheds in bedding close to feed, or in feed close to bedding. If I don’t have both, I want to make up for whichever I am lacking.

Uncover the Need for Cover

As alluded to above, if I see a lot of sheds in fields, and am not seeing many in bedding areas, this tells me I need to create more or better bedding. I will hinge cut and create more bedding for my bucks to hopefully get them to bed and feed on my property.

Adjust Trail Camera Placement

By pinpointing where bucks drop antlers, I can adjust trail camera placement to monitor high-traffic areas I can’t glass or scout year-round. Bedding areas, staging areas, funnels, and scrapes deep in the timber are all productive trail camera placements I’ve found over the years thanks to a shed. Marking down where I find sheds year after year shows a trend in buck movement, and that’s exactly where I want my trail camera focus to be.

Locate Overlooked Areas

Finding sheds in unexpected places can open up an entirely new way of looking at a property and how you hunt it. When I find a shed in an area that surprises me, I open the Hunt App to review my existing Waypoints and notes. I’m trying to figure out how this spot coordinates with other spots I already hunt. 

A lot of times, I realize my stands and trail camera placement were lacking because this newly found area is a big piece of the puzzle I was missing. This begs the reminder: A shed can be anywhere. Leave no area unturned, and you’ll likely be amazed at the overlooked areas you soon discover that add a whole new dimension to your strategy. 

Happy Shed Hunting

Shed hunting can be one of the most rewarding and fun experiences you can have in the outdoors. Get out there, take the whole family, bring snacks and drinks, and enjoy your time outdoors while also gathering valuable information for the season ahead.