Shed Hunting

So Val and I took off into an area I usually mountain bike, and usually see deer. I read an article recently about hunting for antler sheds, and thought it would be cool to find some. However, after following deer tracks through about twenty different bedding sites and over the course of probably 5 miles of deep snow... no luck.

We saw some interesting things, though. Lots of piles of scat, in which Val took the liberty of rolling.

Lots of different animal tracks; most of which looked like deer and rabbits.

Lots of freshly dug burrows. This I couldn't figure out. What animal would be digging up earth after this snow and cold weather. I've smelled plenty of skunks out there while mountain biking, and figured it had to be a skunk or a rabbit.

Some feathers and fur from something unfortunate.

A small lower deer leg, probably from a fawn that got it stuck in a trap or an animal that had chewed it off a carcass and brought it here to nibble in private.

It's interesting, despite our failure, to see where the deer travel and bed down. I'll have to make a point to keep my eyes open once the snow melts, and maybe I'll find an antler or two...