A week ago, I took the wife and boy out for an early shed hunt to see what was out prior to all the "shed poachers" getting out and about. As we were driving down to the farms from home, I couldn't help but think about all of the phone conversations I've had with incoming/inquiring hunters about EHD and the 2023 deer season (finding some EHD deer, 5 total). I became convinced that as we finished our walk on 3 farms for the day, I would find a handful of dead heads and maybe 3-5 sheds. We stayed the night down in Bloomfield at Southfork, so we could hit the road early on the farms. Weather showed an overcast start to the day, but that was not the case - it was extremely sunny and hard to see much, plus with mix-matched shadows on field edges and inside the woods.
FARM #1
This farm had some fall food plots on it, so I expected to see a shed there. We didn't see any, but I was able to grab my cell cameras off of the farm. We had a BIG shed buck on this farm in December, but he must have dropped elsewhere. That area will be shed hunted hard, so I do not know if we will go back yet this year. Next year, we will have a standing bean plot here, so I expect to find a shed or two in Feb/Mar 2025. Will wait and see!
FARM #2
This farm had some standing corn and some brassicas as well as some cut corn. I figured this was our best food source to look at. The corn field was extremely hard to look through due to the sunshine, so who knows what we walked past. Nonetheless, I found a little 3pt side on a fence line trail, and by time we got to the plot, we hadn't seen any. Then, my wife found a little 4pt side in the plot that was hard to see. Impressive find. We combed the plot and corn nearby but did not find another. I was shocked! I knew a main trail to the plot that came from across the property line. I took it to the property line, looked down into the dirt road, and BAM, a hammer. I almost didn't see it. The big snow we had in early January made this dirt road impassible by vehicle, so I then realized why that shed was laying there. Nobody had driven that road for well over a month. Here is a video of the setting:
Here are some photos of the shed, which I was pretty sure was from a buck I knew. It wasn't one of my archery season studs, shockingly. It was a deer I didn't know until January 3rd!
Here is a video of that buck, the first and only video I have of him... I wish I found his right side too! Since he found our food, I hope to see him this upcoming season.
FARM #3
This farm I found our first deadhead for the day, a little 6pt. It was so fresh, I figured it was a deer hit on the road or shot during gun season by a neighbor. So, I am ruling that it was not an EHD deer. This farm, we covered probably 4 miles of walking, and we did not find any sheds on one side of the farm that I expected to. We found a little matching set in a staging area leading to a crop field. We then found another 4pt side dink and then a nice 3yr old pearly white shed with a funky brow setup. No hammers.
CONCLUSION
We will be heading out again in the next two weeks to see what we missed, but hopefully it aligns with the weather (some big rain expected) aligns for easier searching. Finding 6 was not a bad day considering the sun, but more than anything, I am extremely happy to not have found any EHD dead heads. The farms I still have to walk are two that we did find EHD on this past October, so that is 5 total EHD deer I already know about and their location. We will do a "Trip #2" update here after that trip. We hope you all are having a nice transition to spring. Turkey season will be here soon. Take care for now!