Shed report: most people are saying that the bucks have dropped about 50% at this time, possibly a bit less.  Many bucks dropped early and then it seems that there has not been a lot hitting the ground since.  Strange how that happened.

My friends, the Pruchas from Wisconsin, came down here last weekend with their friend Kurt Shroeder to start off the shed antler hunting season. They hunt my farm as well as several others in the area.  Most years they will find at least one big one here, but so far the best side they have found is from the buck I had named the "Great Eight".  It is a buck that I profiled back in August on Episode 2 along with several other big deer.  Like a few of the others on that list, I never saw the Great Eight again. 

He never showed up on trail cameras and I newer saw him from the tree stand.  Yet, here we are at the beginning of February and we find his shed again, same as last year.  Now that brings up an interesting debate that I am going to try to resolve.  Was that buck here all season and just never showed up in front of the stand or the cameras or did he leave and then come back after the season?

Hmm. honestly this one could go either way. 

Kurt is shown in this photo with the buck's right side that he found in Feb. 2008 and now he also found the left side last weekend so he has a matched set that are one year apart.  Pretty cool. 

I'll post a picture of Kurt holding both of them in a future blog.  The buck didn't really get any bigger, maybe just a couple of inches, so he is obviously already old. 

So now, back to the puzzle.  I really want to shoot this buck next year.  He is not huge, but for an eight pointer he is a toad - probably about 160 inches.  How am I going to go about getting him?  First, I need to know more about him and having the two sheds will help a little. 

Both were found in the very center of my farm, an area I have not hunted in the past because it is hard to hunt without alerting deer and I thought it would serve well as a sanctuary.  But you would sure think he would come out of there sometimes if he was in fact there all fall!  Maybe he is one of those bucks that has the personality to be almost totally nocturnal.  Sometimes those old bucks get senile as they hit max age and start moving more.  I sure hope that is the case with this one.

I need to get more cameras focused in that area early next fall to see if he is still here after the bucks shed their velvet and split up their bachelor groups. We filmed him several times back in July in a slightly different part of the farm, so I am pretty sure he summers here. And we know from the sheds that he winters here, but is this his fall range too?  I bet it is, but I will have to wait until late September to find that out for sure. 

More drama for next year's show!

I am going to splice together a shed antler hunting show for you to watch probably in a week or two.  Scott Prucha filmed most of the action last weekend and I want to get at least one more weekend in there before I produce the show.  Should at least be entertaining.