Skip to main content

Unlock Adventures: Train Your Dog to Find Shed Antlers

Want to take your knowledge of deer and elk to another level? Try shed hunting with your pooch.

Unlock Adventures: Train Your Dog to Find Shed Antlers
Logs that have fallen across game trails are good places to search for deer sheds. (Scott Haugen photo)

Wading through a lush green field of rye grass with my two pudelpointers, we headed for a 15-acre stand of oak trees on the far side. A small creek meandered through the hardwoods. It was March 31.

On the outer edge of the oak trees, Kona found the first elk shed of the day. The pedicle was still bloody. Kona had no trouble sniffing it out and delivering it to hand.

Amid the massive mess of briars surrounding the creek was a mind-boggling array of elk trails. Small openings filled with tall, dead grass, pocked the deciduous stand.

The creek was narrow—easy to jump across in places—yet old wallows were simple to identify. So were the many years of rubs that...

Continue Reading

Recommended Articles

Advertisement

Get the Newsletter. Get it all.

Subscribe today and get the latest reviews, tips, recipes and more.

Sign Me Up