Where to hunt for sheds?

I have some off time now that there is no season until turkey. I was wanting to look for some sheds but I just don't know what kind of areas to look in. I do not want to go into their bedding area so do yall find them around their feeding areas (fields and feeders) or do you just get lucky walking through the woods and find them? Thanks!

Start at your feed pens and start making circles working your way into a larger and larger circle

Fence lines, creek crossing, road crossings, ditches, bottom of draws, downwind side of food plots, downside of feeders, stock ponds, water troughs, edges, feeding areas etc. Around fences or ditches look away from it a distance since a buck will sometimes hit the ground hard in a spot and antlers will jar loose then fall off after a few jumps or running a bit.

Ok thanks I appreciate it!

Be prepared to do lots of walking. Don't spend all of your time looking way off when walking or you will walk by sheds that are at your feet. Also think about how many bucks you have seen during a season. There will be 2 sheds(most of the time) for each one. If you have a buck for 20 acres then you will have to cover 10 acres to find one side. Finding where deer are concentrated at will up those odds.

This ^^

agree - feed pens and trails leading to the feed pens. Any water source - we find them around the stock tanks. We have no problem finding the bedding areas this time of year and walking through them as they will drop them where they bed.

Slow steady walking and don't be in a hurry - obviously looking for the white or tan color - it is a blast. We go in south texas mid to late April and spend a weekend looking

Getting awfully tall and green down south right now. That is going to make it tough to find sheds in the next few weeks.

Ive spent countless hours hunting for shed antlers in east tx. Half of the sheds Ive found were while hunting or fishing. The best way to find sheds is to always look for them while you are in the hunting woods, but don't forget to look up at what your hunting too. They might run off. The other half was while shed hunting. I have found most of my sheds where the buck feeds near a bedding area. Most of the time they will be on the edge of a wood or brush line in a field. Remember when they are shedding, lets say March, the grass is lush and they don't have to travel far from their bedding area. I try to watch deer movement up until they shed. This is the easiest way to know where your buck herd is, so your not tromping around in no mans land. Ive found between 70 and 80 sheds and have been with friends when they found some. A lot the sheds get chopped up and bailed up by the hay bailers. I have found sheds in bedding areas and near dips or creeks. I also have stepped on them while walking and stopped to see what was under the grass. Don't think you cant walk right over them. I stepped over an elk shed up north that was 3ft long one time because I thought it was a tree branch. My friend got that one.

I think this is why we find most of our sheds during dear season when things have died back and lost leaves.

My 3 best years for finding sheds(200+ per year) were when we had a drought and ice in early March to knock the vegetation to the ground. This year will be very tough, only ones will be the ones in openings, roads or pens with short vegetation.

Notice any difference in properties with/without stock?

Yes I did on water sources. Places with water troughs only you will find more around the water sources in dry years. Places with a lot of ponds and creeks or lots of water make it more difficult since deer seem to be more spread over the whole ranch. In South Texas the back end(flow entry) side of tanks can be very good in years with less rainfall. I have pulled up to large tanks with low water levels and found a lot sheds laying in the open area around the bar-pit. Usually the only green vegetation on a ranch sometimes is around the water in the pit. One ranch I looked for sheds on had only 8 tanks on it and then one large creek over about 6000 acres. In dry years those water sources were gold mines for sheds vs a year like this. In a year like this if the water level was low and not enough rain to raise water level, the weeds grew so tall you could not find sheds. If the tank was full then it was a waste of time trying to look around one. The more surface water you have will keep the deer spread out over the whole ranch.

Two other tips for you:

1) Stop often and turn around and look behind you. No, they won't sneak up on you, but you might see one that you couldn't see when walking forward, since they might be obscured by a tree or a bush or cactus, etc.

2) If you have a shed already, toss it out in some different areas so you can get used to what to look for. It's similar to stalking animals - you're not necessarily looking for the whole thing, but rather a tine or curve of a beam.

Find most of ours with a baler.

Thanks a bunch cause I have been wondering too.

My Ranger Tires finds them pretty good

And plowing.

Had a place baled last year and the recipient got a nice 5pt elk shed...lol

I always had to shred first to plow..I would find one in a tire after it went flat

I carry binoculars when shed hunting. You are going to see a lot stuff that looks like an antler, but its not. The specs will save a lot of waisted time and walking. You might catch yourself driving down the highway looking for sheds in the ditches. Do wreck.