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Lucky day, time to buy a lotto ticket

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
Fellas,

Yesterday had to be one of the luckiest days of my life..... I went out looking for sheds after work. Parked the truck and got out and started walking down a path I have walked many times before. I got no more than 30 yards from the vehicle and noticed a large deer trail coming from the left, I look down and HOLY CRAP!
Lying right in the middle of the trail is this HUGE shed antler....I don't know how it wasn't spotted by someone until now.

I pick it up and look at it and realize that it's not from this year, it's got moss on it and has some hairline cracking, but overall it's very solid! This thing weighs 4lbs. So I take it back and lock it in the truck and I almost hyperventilate from the excitement of the moment.

After thinking about things and looking it over, I realize this shed looks very familiar......damn familiar. It can't be.....

I get home and hold it up to my 2006 bowkill and sure as shit its the shed from 2005 off of this deer! It's almost a clone to the right side. This shed has been lying in this spot for 5 years undetected. It was on high ground in some tall weeds, but had been exposed this year due to the snow, not a single animal chew on the entire thing.....

This shed was about 3/4 mile from the location I killed the deer in 2006, and only 40 yards off the road! I know 2 guys that have other sheds from this deer from 2 prior years also. I am going to see if they would be willing to barter something for them.

Here is the ATL picture....hard to judge it's size.



I put a tape to this last night and came up with 25" of mass(6, 6.5, 6.5, 6), 24" main beam, and tines and nontypical points that total 82". This shed has 11 scoreable points on it!







For those that haven't seen the buck from 2006, here is the picture of it.....The shed antler had a little nub in the exact spot where the drop tine grew the following year, and it had kicker points in all the same places.

 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
Does anybody know how to restore, clean and refurbish an antler like this?

I thought about spraying some kitchen cleaner on it to get rid of the moss, then wiping it down with some mineral oil......
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Damn Chad, that's one hell of a find and story!!! You are shed magnet that's for damn sure!!! Awesome stuff man!

I agree it is a helluva find and story, but I have to draw the line at "shed magnet". I know I wasn't out looking for them on a Monday afternoon. lol Put in a ton of miles over the weekend, but I don't hit it after work during the week too often. I think ol' Gern earned this one! Congrats on the find and thanks for inspiring me to get back out there despite getting skunked my last 6 outings!
 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
I agree it is a helluva find and story, but I have to draw the line at "shed magnet". I know I wasn't out looking for them on a Monday afternoon. lol Put in a ton of miles over the weekend, but I don't hit it after work during the week too often. I think ol' Gern earned this one! Congrats on the find and thanks for inspiring me to get back out there despite getting skunked my last 6 outings!

Well, I forgot to mention that I walked about 4 hours again from friday till monday and never found anything! I also forgot to mention the 4 point shed I found yesterday in addition to these.........Hey, I found a small 4 point shed yesterday also!

There are still a lot of places I would like to look, but I fear I'm running out of time.....the walleyes are moving into the river as we speak! That will take preference over sheds. Any of you guys want to go fishing that have never done it, I would be up for some guiding.
 

Diablo54

Senior Member
7,082
126
Outside
Does anybody know how to restore, clean and refurbish an antler like this?

I thought about spraying some kitchen cleaner on it to get rid of the moss, then wiping it down with some mineral oil......

Be careful! Before you start rubbing stuff on it try it on a different antler and be careful. Ive seen sheds ruined by people trying to clean them. The only thing that seems to work is bleach. And that gives you a very light antler. Ive seen wood polish used but it made the antlers look like replicas
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Don't get me wrong, I know old Chad puts in more than his fair share of time searching for sheds! But having a little luck on your side never hurts! :D That could have just been another big shed, but to have the connection it has, that's where a little luck comes in handy!!! And it's damn sure something I don't have!!!