This is exactly how I found the shed antler during my walk last night. Imagine the surprise of this small buck when he lifted his head and saw half of his rack sticking in the shrub.

Last weekend I took a couple of hours to purposely go hunting shed antlers. During my walk, I found two small sheds, and a skull with antlers from a small buck that must have died either early last fall, or the previous winter. Not a bad haul for just a couple of hours work. I planned to do a bit more searching yesterday, but the day didn’t go as I thought it would and I ended up not going.

After dinner, it was so nice outside that I just had to take advantage of it and take the dogs for a walk. We walked out onto the property and just stayed on the road to avoid getting the dogs filthy once again. As I was walking up the hill I noticed something white sticking out of a small shrub that surely looked like it could be an antler. As I got closer, I could clearly see that I was about to get my hands on a small shed that I wasn’t even looking for. Upon further inspection, it turns out that the small buck must have been rubbing the shrub when his tiny antler got pinched between two of the branches leading to it popping off of his head. It certainly wasn’t a great antler, but it’s going to rank up there among some of my best finds due to the circumstances.

I plan to get out a time or two over the next week to do some more searching. So far I’ve found five sheds and the skull, and I know there are many more treasures out there. One thing I’ve learned about hunting shed antler is to expect the unexpected. When you’re walking and looking, don’t assume some areas won’t have antlers laying on the ground just because it doesn’t look like a good spot. I’ve found them in some of the most unlikely of places, and often times it’s when I wasn’t even looking in the first place.

I photographed this group of gobblers last year in early April.

I had a hunch the gobblers would start talking soon, and I was right. This morning at first light I was listening to a variety of birds chirping while I was laying in bed when a group of crows decided to make their presence known. Almost immediately they were answered by a gobbler (maybe more than one), which brought a smile to my face. He sounded off about a half-dozen times before the dogs decided they needed attention, taking away my concentration from listening to the birds.

With almost no snow left in the area and the temperatures predicted for well above freezing for as far as the forecast shows, I think we finally ushered Old Man Winter out the door. It seemed like everything changed once I put my snow blower back in the shed, so I’ll keep that in mind for next winter. Unfortunately, it’s a sloppy mess outside. I’d love to let the dogs out to run, but I know what the result will be. We have a small lake formed behind the house, and you can’t walk anywhere without sinking in about an inch or so. The snow may be gone, but the slop is going to be with us for a while I’m afraid. I’ll still gladly take that over below-freezing temperatures and two feet of snow.

I stopped by Agway yesterday to replenish my deer feed supply and finally got everything unloaded this afternoon. Upon entering my shed I see my ground acorn product (the name escapes me as it is a brand-new product that someone from QDMA gave me to try) all over the floor, and my minerals were also broken into. It seems a herd of mice found my stash and they have been feeding quite well since the last time I was there. I’m envisioning giant mice walking around now that they stuffed themselves on all of my high-protein grub! Man can those tiny little creatures make a huge mess.

Just a couple of thoughts I thought I’d share. First, I saw several groundhogs out and about on my way to and from Harrisburg, PA today. That’s a pretty sure sign that Spring is near. There is almost no snow remaining in the central part of the state, and a large group of golfers were out on one of the courses that I pass along the PA Turnpike.

Second, I saw a decent-sized flock of turkey while on an evening bike ride. I heard a lot of people worrying about how they would make it through the tough winter, but this group seemed to be doing just fine. There were about a dozen birds in the group, which was made up of a few older hens and young hens from last spring. I wouldn’t be totally shocked to hear a gobbler sounding off at daybreak over the next week or so, especially if we get a few morning or evening thunder storms as predicted. How can you not love this time of year?

The sunsets were incredible and we didn't have to leave the porch from our condo to watch them each night.

It was a much-needed break from what turned out to be the nastiest winter in my lifetime. Before last week, I had never been to Florida, but I have to say the trip was worth the wait. We stayed in a nice beach-front condo with Angela’s parents who regularly vacation in the area. In this case, her mother Molly’s 50th birthday was being celebrated, which was the driving force behind our trip. We were excited that they invited us.

Catching a spring training game at McKechnie Field was a highlight of the trip.

Although I’m obviously a northern woods kind of guy, I have to admit that I can see the attraction to Florida during the winter months. I could count the number of people I encountered in a bad mood on one hand, and I can promise you that we didn’t see a hint of a snowflake. I got to golf, go to a Pirate’s spring training game, and walk along the beach each day looking for shells. Molly is an expert shell collector and she seemed to know something about all of the shells we collected. Her and Angela were up at the crack of dawn in order to beat a woman we affectionately called “Yellow Bag,” to the punch. We also ate a lot, and then we ate some more. From excellent barbecue ribs to overwhelming pizza buffets, our bellies were always full (and now a bit bigger).

Angela and I enjoying an evening on the beach.

Now it’s back to the regular routine at home, except the weather is finally changing. With temperatures in the 50’s over the next several day, I expect we’ll be losing several more inches of snow. I can see several areas of bare ground in the woods already, which the animals seem to be taking advantage of. This evening we took the dogs for a much needed walk, and I retrieved a trail camera from the woods that I placed there prior to the major snowstorms. As bad luck would have it, it only took about 20 pictures the entire time so there must have been some type of malfunction. We did see three nice longbeards on the way out, so it looks like the turkey made it through the toughest of the weather.

Hurricane evacuation route signs are part of the culture in Florida.

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to get out and look for antler sheds. In the meantime, I hope to get my hunting room reorganized, and my treestand gear all winterized before it’s fully stored for the summer. The cycle continues!

I can't wait to smack some golf balls around after the last several weeks of wrestling with a snow blower.

Yep, we’ve finally had it. Time to go somewhere where we know for sure we won’t be seeing any snow. I will be playing golf and catching a baseball game, and there is a really good chance I’ll have to put on sunscreen. When we return, the temperature should be around 50, and a nice portion of the snow blanketing the area should be melted away. Hey Old Man Winter…here’s half the peace sign!