1- Start shed hunting after the deer have dropped their antlers.  There is no reason to be running around the farm if the deer are still carrying their antlers.  Trail Cameras are great way to verify if shedding has started.  All you have to do is check the pictures for missing antlers.  You can also do a little distance scouting with high power optics.  Just check out a popular feeding area right before dusk and you should be able to confirm if the bucks are dropping their head gear.

2- Tip number 1 suggested scouting from a distance to verify deer movement and shedding.  This method will also tell you where the deer are feeding.  Make note of the most popular feeding sources and then try to determine where the deer are bedding.  In late winter deer are only concerned about sleeping and eating.  You can guarantee that the preferred bedding area will be close by the most popular winter food source.

3- Check out southern slopes nearby feeding areas.  Deer will use these as bedding areas because of warmer sunshine.  Start by leaving the fields on the most travelled trails.  Look for low hanging vines and limbs that might get hung up on a antler.

4- Search for jumping and landing locations.  A pasture or field fence is the perfect place to locate a shed antler.  The jolt from the jump and the shock of the landing could easily cause an antler to drop.  Creek crossings are also a great place for shed hunting.  Search in a large radius on both sides of a fence or creek crossing.  The landing may jar the antler loose but it make take a few moments for it to completely break free.

I hope shed hunting tips will give you something to think about and get you out of the house.  Shed antler hunting is just like deer hunting.  If you don’t get out and do it, you ain’t going to be successful.

Late winter scouting for whitetail deer is the perfect situation for a trail camera.  Deer are recovering from the rut and just trying to make it through the cold days and nights.  They are only focused on staying eating and staying alive.  A winter wheat field or late season food plot should have the deer concentrated into one general area.  Search for a well used trail entering the food source and set up your trail camera.  If baiting deer is legal in your hunting area, you could also broadcast some supplemental food source.

Let the trail camera hang for a week and then go check the pictures.  The pictures will be a huge resource of scouting information.  You should be able to determine the overall health of your heard.  The bucks may be bruised and battered from the rut, but they will still have their antlers.  The pictures will tell you when the bucks drop their headgear and give you an idea of when to start shed hunting.

Many deer leases also run out after deer season is over.  You may be in negotiations to pick up a new tract of land or you may have acquired permission to hunt a new farm.  This is the perfect application for a trail camera.  A few trail cameras can give you an idea of the bucks that are using the land and survived the previous season.

So get outside and get some use out of your $300 trail camera.  If you don’t have a trail camera, this is the perfect time to pick one up.  All the main retailers are advertising deep discounts so use some of that Christmas money or tax refund and get a trail camera now.  You should be scouting for deer year round and post season is a great time to start.