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Well it's almost that time to start looking for whitetail deer sheds in Wisconsin. In my experience, most bucks lose their antlers in late January, but this all depends on location and buck stress levels. I have put on many miles shed hunting in the past and believe that it is a great way to scout the area you hunt without disturbing the deer too much and figure out what bucks are in the area. I have a few basic strategies for finding sheds:

1. Go to the bedding areas. Bucks will bed down in the thickest areas with branches or brush to knock those antlers off. A thick patch of pine trees open to the south is an ideal spot to check.

2. Find the watering hole. In Wisconsin winters, most rivers, streams, or ponds freeze over, but I have found numerous small springs or holes that somehow stay open. These spots will draw the most deer and be a great spot for finding shed antlers. My uncle has found a ton of sheds this way. Here is a picture of one of these waterholes with all the snow around it packed down...

Deer watering hole

3. Follow the trails. This seems rather obvious, but a good snowpack will force the deer on trails and narrow down your area to search. This will allow you to maximize your success rate.

Recent Comments:

Thanks for the awesome diagram for placements. This was sent to me by a friend to asssit me with my first deer hunt!! I am a turkey hunter, so this will help me with a larger target!! thanks
Nice site, thanks for information!
Is it possible to have a lung shot, high in the lung area just behind the shoulder, and track 200 yards only to find no deer? Do you think it would have died in the vicinity and we overlooked it. Wh
shot a deer in the neck waited a day and their was only bones
I have a field that I hunt and it has three ponds. It appears that all of the deer in the area travel to these ponds. Is the story true about the squirrels eating the antlers? It is odd that I cann
I shot my first buck, he was a great 6 point from what i could see. The buck was maybe 20 yards from me, i got a great shot and found the blood trail for 300 yards.There was at the least 3 pints of bl
justinwp - February 29, 2008
Hopefully I can get out and find some sheds here in the next month. There is definitely a lot of snow this year and that might make things a bit more difficult.
Stilley D. - March 06, 2008
I found a 170 class pair already and his shed from last year. Hoping to go out this weekend. You find anything justin?
justinwp - March 10, 2008
I got out a for a couple hours today, but no luck; although, I did find where the deer have been heavily concentrated and hope to get out again this week.
austin - March 18, 2008
well yesrday march 17 i found a big deer horn 6in g1 10in g2 and 6in g3 and a 5in mase on the base it is a nice one in 14 now
Josh - November 05, 2008
I have a field that I hunt and it has three ponds. It appears that all of the deer in the area travel to these ponds. Is the story true about the squirrels eating the antlers? It is odd that I cannot find sheds anywhere around the pond. Additionally, the ponds are thick with briers around the edges...
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