When the offseason comes and there is no more hunting until next season, we all feel that slight sense of sadness.  However, we spend the first several weeks after hunting season scouting, followed by shed hunting and more scouting.  However, by the first part of April, both shed hunting and scouting is not worth your time.  Spring has arrived, so plants are growing and as such, scouting becomes more difficult and most sheds have already been found or become next to impossible to find as undergrowth begins to take over.  You follow that up with an important thing to think about,  does start dropping their fawns anywhere from mid April – June depending on the doe, the weather and most importantly when they became pregnant.  So walking through the woods at this time of year is not a great idea as could push a doe in the process of giving birth, or worse come across a doe that just gave birth. ( NOTE) Does can become very aggressive just after giving birth in an attempt to protect their young.  Never approach a doe that clearly has recently given birth or is in the process of doing so.  I was hiking one year scoping out fishing spots and came across a doe which I didn’t know was there and she became aggressive quickly and I had to slowly back out of the area. Once you see a doe 15 yards in front of you getting up on her back legs ready to box with you, you have a whole new respect for them.  So as spring moves along, attempt to stay away from areas that does might be.

So as these hunting activities from early spring come to a close, I begin another passion of mine, fishing.  I have been fishing as long as I can remember, and it is my second passion to hunting.  I could go fishing every day, as I could hunt.  Early spring brings upon us trout season, I do a lot of fishing for native brown and brook trout, but I also hit the streams for opening days of the rivers for the stocked fish as well. Last week,  I headed out to one stream I fish pretty often for whatever is biting so to speak, I was really looking for brown trout and I ended up not catching anything until I was walking back along the river and I saw I large fish swimming along in 3 feet of water along the bank.  I quickly point the fish out to Amber and threw my Panther Martin downstream in front of the fish about 15 – 20 feet.  Just a few spins of the reel and bam! Fish on!  As it turned out, it was probably one of the largest rainbow trout I have caught; it was a hatchery fish a long way away from anywhere they stock. He did a lot of swimming.  The fish is pictured below.

Like most fishermen I am far from picky,  I just love enjoying the outdoors and wetting a line.   I start my year out trout fishing, following it up by summer time fishing for whatever is biting in local streams and reservoirs. I also attempt to do a little fishing in the Chesapeake Bay if I find a location and the time to go do so. I then move my fishing late summer to fishing in the ocean while on vacation in Ocean City.   I fish for a little bit of everything from March until, sometimes November.  It just depends on hunting, the weather, and what is biting where.

This is one of my secondary passions to hunting.  What are yours? What do you do in the offseason to pass time besides get ready for next season?  We would love to hear from you!

I went out shed hunting this weekend.  I was out walking different sections of Loch Raven Saturday with a friend of mine,  we saw a good number of deer, and lots of sign from last year’s rut.   I also would like to once again point out something my friend and I were talking about,  this is an amazing time of year to be scouting.  Between the fact that you can easily see old rubs and scrapes from last season, and the simple fact that finding trails and that are used daily is very easy, but you also have the advantage of little or no cover to be able to see deer rise from bedding areas while scouting.   Good chance if they are bedding there now, they probably bed there on a regular basis when they are not pressured.

The title of this post is antlers are off, see the picture below, it is one buck, most likely the six point that had come out several times a few weeks back. The other deer behind him appears like it too could be buck that shed his antlers as well, but hard for me to tell in a nighttime photo.  I also was thinking that the 3rd deer could also be a buck but you cannot see his head well, thus meaning this could be a little bachelor group traveling together.

 So, I searched one section of Loch Raven Saturday with one friend of mine, to see deer and lots of sign and trails, but in the end did not find any sheds.   Today, I headed back out with another friend of mine to walk a different section of Loch Raven,  beautiful day for shed hunting.  My friend came across several skulls, one of a doe that probably died sometime early last fall and the other of a buck who had shed his antlers and then died.  We guessed judging by the skull he died sometime last winter after shedding his antlers.  I would like to note it was pretty cool to see a skull of a deer whom had shed his antlers,  he had the base for where the antlers grow from, but where they would of protruded from his skull they were rounded off nubs.  This is how we could tell they were not cut off, but shed.  You never know what you may find out in the woods that is interesting even if it’s not what you are looking for.

We  never did find any antlers which was the point of our trip to the woods, but it was a nice day and being in the woods always beats sitting at home or even worse working!

Looks like it could be another slow year for shed hunting, but I’ll keep trying over the next couple weeks in hopes of maybe finding one that either someone else overlooked or maybe that deer that just hasn’t dropped their antlers yet.  I ran into a gentleman while walking this afternoon and he said a family member has seen a good size deer with his antlers still on.  So this why I said in the title some of the deer have shed their antlers.

Anyone been out shed hunting and found anything?  At this point I am just wondering if the deer are shedding their antlers yet here in the Mid-Atlantic, seems crazy late for them to not have dropped them.

If you have been out shed hunting and found something we would love to hear from you or see a photo!

Many hunters are depressed by the end of hunting season. Think about it, you have seven and a half months to wait for hunting season to begin again. So, the next thing you have to look forward to is shed hunting in late February, early March.   Well, the time is upon us, I can tell you that as of Saturday 2/18/2012, some if not all bucks still had their antlers.   So, as we think about shed hunting we forget one important thing,  this is a great time of year to get out and go scouting.  You can still see scraps and rubs from this past year,  this year even more so with the lack of snow here in the East.   I was out in a very interesting area on Saturday that a friend showed me and I saw loads of sign and a number of deer.   This is also how I know bucks still have their antlers on, I did see one decent buck that appeared to be an 8 point, although it was hard to tell because he was running.   I plan more walks in the coming weeks which will serve a dual purpose, scouting, and shed hunting as time goes on.

The important thing to be looking at this time of year is trails, feeding areas, bedding areas, as well as rubs and scraps.  Each piece of information will tell you a different bit of information about what the deer are doing now, did before and during rut.  This information will go a long way when you start scouting in July and August, and will help you even more in the coming hunting season.   Remember, new information you learn now, may be useful the end of next season as the deer herd up as they are now.

The other key factor in learning things this time of year is to scout out new trees.  Everything will look very different in 3 months, and even more so in 7 months when you to start hunting, but now is a great time to locate climbable trees that are on trails or along feeding areas.   Wandering around looking at these things and making notes of where all your trees are now, will allow you to go back without as much disturbance in the summer months and check to insure shooting lanes do not need cleared, or small branches do not need to be trimmed away that you did not see this time of year.

Another great idea is to plan your travel routes to and from these new stands.  Wandering around not knowing a direct route in July and August you risk spooking the deer that  may call that area home.  Whereas, if you have a direct route planned that eliminates spooking the deer as much as possible, you have a much better chance of those deer being less aware of you come opening day when you are sitting in that stand.

Finally, I would like to remind many of you, post season scouting is not only good time spent in the woods, but it is also a great time to take someone with you.  I know many people, that are interested in learning about deer and hunting, but have no interest in sitting in a tree or blind during hunting season.  Scouting and shed hunting is great way to introduce people to hunting and the outdoors.  It is great exercise and can even be a lot of fun for youngsters as you can send them looking for antlers without worrying about noise or disturbing others or anything like that.   So take someone with you, they may just end up your next hunting companion, friend,  or give you and a loved one a hobby to share.

Have you been out scouting or shed hunting?  We would love to hear what you have seen or pictures of sheds you may have found!