Pennsylvania Game News - March 2024 - 12

FINDING SHEDS
If you want to beat squirrels and
other animals to dropped antlers, now
is the time to get serious.
Whitetail
bucks can lose their
antlers as early as December. All
typically lose them by March, though,
which means there are more sheds on
the ground currently than at any other
time of year.
Persistence is one key to finding
them. Some prefer hunting sheds on
sunny days, saying that's when antlers
reflect light best, while others prefer
cloudy or overcast days just before or
after a rain for the same reasons. But
in any case, more time afield means
more chances to find antlers.
Just hunt with the sun at your back
so it shines brightest on what's in front
of you.
As for where to look for sheds,
they can be anywhere. Heavily used
deer trails always hold promise.
Brushy areas around food plots and
agricultural fields, conifer stands that
offer winter cover, swamps, creek
bottoms, islands in rivers, sun-soaked,
south-facing benches and hollows are
worth checking, too. Don't rule out
open fields entirely, either.
Wherever you go, take along
binoculars. They help you scan areas at
a distance.
And remember, shed hunting, like
all outdoor activities, should always
be done in ways that minimize wildlife
disturbance and respect landowner
rights.
there are traces of magnesium, sodium,
potassium, barium, iron, aluminum,
zinc, strontium and manganese, as well.
By gnawing on deer and elk antlers,
other species are consuming elements
necessary for their own health.
" These nutrients are important for
all types of animal growth, not just big
strong antlers, " says the U.S. Fish and
12
Wildlife Service. " Rodents in particular
love shed antlers. Even bears, foxes,
opossums and otters have been known to
eat antlers. "
Across the globe, osteophagy - that's
the term used to describe the consumption
of bone - is behavior exhibited by even
more animals.
According to a study described in
the Journal of Archaeological Science,
giraffes, among other herbivores, are
known to eat bones while pregnant
and shortly after giving birth, when
nutritional resources are at their seasonal
lowest.
Reindeer consume antlers, as well.
Both male and female reindeer - also
called caribou in North America - grow
antlers. Males, though, drop theirs in
fall, while females carry theirs through
spring. That, too, is about survival.
According to Game Commission
deer biologist Jeannine Fleegle, female
reindeer drop their antlers when they
reach their calving grounds, then chew
on them for the calcium and phosphorous
needed for lactation.
In the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, more than 1,300 antlers and
bones were surveyed on the Porcupine
Caribou Herd's calving grounds, Fleegle
said. Caribou gnawing was present on
about 90% of the antlers but less than
10% of the bones.
Closer to home, about a decade or
so ago, a company that manufactures
mineral supplements for deer and
domestic animals conducted an informal
survey. It asked customers to put out trail
cameras focused on antlers, then report
what ate them. It got results from 13
states.
Squirrels were by far the animal most
likely to chew on antlers, always during
daylight hours. Once the sun went down,
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2024

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