shed hunting in washington state

kt&j

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Jun 11, 2006
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Hey everyone I have never been shed hunting and i would love to take my girls out but i really have no clue were to start any info would be great.
Thanks jim&girls
 
Best place to look for sheds in Washington is..........................................on the ground.

Sorry couldn't resist.
 
Find some public land in your area that has a fence line next to it. I have had lots of luck in places like that. Try drainages as well, that may be a little tougher hike for your girls, granted I don't know what age they are. I don't know what the land owners in your area are like but ask them if you can do a little on their land, again try the fence lines.
 
If you are just beginning to shed hunt and haven't hunted in washington before, I would look at when the animals drop their horns and then figure out where they will be at that time. For instance, as a general rule, elk usually start to drop their horns around mid march, some earlier and some later. If you are looking east of the mountains, you need to try and figure out where they are hanging out at that time and it will usually be pending on snow conditions. some may still be in their wintering grounds and if not just follow the snow lines at this particular time frame. Obviously you have to have a few animals in the area to find em, but at this time of the year these bulls will hang out together in a fairlly close grouping. If you are west of the mountains then probably the easiest place would be along major tributaries where the animals have been known to spend a great deal of time. If you are looking along the base of the ridges then you need to go up and down until finding the first and then side to side as they will be close to that same elevation quite often. 1600 feet seems to produce for me on the olympic peninsula as an average. Deer are much harder as they start loosing them as early as mid December. At any rate, the big buck sheds are generally much higher in elevation and pretty much follow the snow line at the time they drop. If a person could find a wintering ground east of the mountains where the deer have to migrate, this would be much more productive. Wintering grounds are always a good place to start and don't be afraid to call the local game biologists either as they will give ya some great info. P.S. If looking up and down ridges then concentrate on southern exposure as they spend more time there this time of year.
 

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