Shed Traps

[Mike P]

Hey guys. I remember reading back a while ago about some guys building feeders that because of there design would cause an buck ready to drop his antlers to loosen them off dropping them close to feeder.

I am just in the works of making a new feeder at my property and have numerous deer coming in daily so I figured while I was making a new one anyway I would try to build something into it.

Ryan

Ryan B asked this question in a thread that was a couple of years old. I started a new thread to answer his question as the thread where he posted "Sheding must be complete by now" is rather confusing due to its age. Then to make matters even more confusing, I didn't see his second thread before posting this one.

Sooooooo, without further confusion, here are some thoughts.

As you might imagine, sheds are very important to us at our farm. It is one of the ways we determine if we are actually accomplishing anything with our programs. We use lots of deer cams (cuddies) and monitor the growth of racks on individual bucks. We have six and seven year histories on some bucks. Sheds are just another tool and they serve somewhat of a "report card" if you will. Some of you might recall that we even hired a kid with a trained Labrador retriever last year to run our property and find sheds.

We have looked at all kinds of ways to gather the antlers of bucks including traps. We found almost all to be a waste of time. And in some cases, the antler traps appear to be very unsafe and may actually harm the bucks.

Here is one way that is safe and probably the best if you want to try your hand at trapping a shed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K6JS8VdpvQ

This manner is safe and no harm will come to the buck.

Below are a series of pictures of various antler traps that we looked at and determined that every one was just too unsafe to risk any of our bucks.


Hope this helps out.

[fuel80guy]

Im sure lots of people have built many a contaptions to collect sheds but mother nature beats them all.KISS keep it simple stupid.
I would never have thought of this,,,im going to give it a try.

[DropTine]

I cant wait to put mine out, mine is like the 2nd one down.

Matt

[crazyfarmer]

Mike, im with you on the unsafe part.. i just dont trust a buck in good health thats not ready to shed getting caught in the trap and then some predators coming along and will the rest you can guess

ill just stick to my ATV and riding the opening cut bean fields looking.. Thats where I have best luck. Usually find 4-5 good sheds and 10-12 small ones every year

[Mike P]

ill just stick to my ATV and riding the opening cut bean fields looking.. Thats where I have best luck. Usually find 4-5 good sheds and 10-12 small ones every year

CF, thats how I find most of mine.


And I always have my best finds on March 2 for some strange reason.

[crazyfarmer]

same here... Feb 28-March 6 are about my biggest finds. But I still like getting out and finding them early before they whiten to much from the sun. Ive found a few in the woods, but they are pretty easy to find on a ATV standing up crosscutting fields back and forth. I have much better luck on cloudy days since your eyes arent stressed to much from the sun

my biggest shed I actaully found hanging about 4 ft off the ground in some thick vines around a field edge

[DesertRat]

I have two problems with these traps. 1. I have too much respect for game to risk their health by setting one of these up. 2. You are taking the fun of shed HUNTING out of the equation.

On just the risk to the animal factor alone, i would not put one up. What happens if a buck goes in there and he is not ready to drop his anler? He now has to tear his way free, risking injury and expending a tremendous amount of energy at a time when he needs it the most.

In my opinion, it is not worth the risk.

[RyanB]

actually I had something different in mind that will just help in the loosening on the antlers right when they are ready to fall off. Where I am feeding my deer it is right on my lawn down by my pond and I am currently just putting corn, hay, carots and stuff down on the ground but I can just imagine the mess I will have once the snow is gone. What I am looking to do is make a trough with a bit of a roof over it so they have to put there head down to it. Any deer should be able to get in easily to get the corn but I am sure a few of the bucks I have taken pics of will surly nudge the roof with a tine.

Ryan

[DropTine]

I never thought of that. Maybe I will just put a huge pile of feed, keep the turkeys and deer healthy through the winter months. Scrap the shed trap.

Matt

[warningshot]

i have to agree with desert rat ...i would find it horrible to approach the trap to see a deer caught up or injured or dead .......in the past i have seen a large antlered buck still with it both sides of rack in late feb... and this was in northern ontario ....

[honker]

ill just stick to my ATV and riding the opening cut bean fields looking.. Thats where I have best luck. Usually find 4-5 good sheds and 10-12 small ones every year

CF, thats how I find most of mine.


And I always have my best finds on March 2 for some strange reason.

You boys could always just get two ATV's then put a 300' chain linked to them and go through the fields to get some skulls and antlers. Think of it like pulling a comb through your hair... but in a bean field!

We chased ducks in north dakota that way.. but we'd get skulls and antlers all the time. Then again, Nordak is polluted with deer.