Outdoors - Predicting the Future

   Deer start losing their antlers around the end of December with most of the bucks having lost them by the end of February. Looking for these shed antlers makes a good excuse to get outside for some fresh air and exercise on the few nice winter days available. A person could use checking fence for a reason to get out on a pleasant winter day, but shed hunting is more fun. Both activities can be done at the same time, so a person feels like they have really accomplished something when they have checked for downed trees on the fence and have a few antlers to bring home as trophies.

   Saturday was one of those rare winter days when the temperature was above freezing, and the sun was shining. My wife and I decided to take a ride around the farm, check for trees that have fallen on the fences, and most importantly, find some antlers. We started by driving along the edge of the timber south of the house. I was watching out in the open hay field while she scanned the timber. We had gone only a short distance when she shouted, “Stop! Stop!” We had our first antler just that easy. Finding shed antlers is a lot like mushroom hunting. They are hard to spot, but once you see one, you do not want to stop searching. It does not even have to be a large one to give a person the fever. We were hooked for several more hours of searching high and low for the elusive deer antlers.

   We were driving near the fence between the road and hay field near the driveway. I was watching to my left in the field only occasionally looking where I was going. It is important to get any antlers out of the field as they will puncture and destroy a tractor tire. My wife was watching for sheds under the cedar trees next to the fence. Frequently, deer will lose their antlers when they jump a fence. They may also lose them when they are bedded down under a cedar tree to be protected from the weather. These conditions combined may prime shed hunting areas. We were almost to the driveway when I glanced forward just in time to see an antler disappear under the front of the Ranger, in line with the right front tire. I hit the brakes just before we ran over the antler laying sharp tines pointed up. Running an antler through a Ranger tire will ruin it also.

   Our next journey took us to the north calving pasture. We found several more there, in the open pasture, in the timber, and near fences. By the time we got hungry and thirsty enough to go back to the house, we had quite a collection of antlers, both large and small. To be able to find that many in a few hours, we decided we must have a very high deer population. That is a good feeling to know so many deer survived deer season and the worst part of the winter. I think I can safely predict a good deer hunting season next fall.