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| 2010's haul |
Let me start off by saying we've had a great start to the 2011 shed season. Be it the price of gas, the falling price of horns, or whatever... one of the areas we have honed in on lately seen little to no pressure on the bulls (other than us of course). Joe and I said we weren't gonna go all out like we typically do when looking for sheds. (As you can see in this 2010 pic) We are usually pounding the hills by February but I didn't make the first trip til March 10th this year and was only out for a couple hours. Anyways, with little pressure the bulls didn't move like they do when they are chased by ATVs or by too many people walking their beds. So this year, we were able to do great on finding matching sheds, to the tune of 8 sets thus far. Shed hunting is just an extension of the scouting that all Mossback AZ guides take part in. Picking up sheds lets us understand where and why bulls move into different areas throughout the entire year. Finding sheds in the spring lets us know which bulls have made it, and it leads us to discovering new bulls.
Take for example this shed. We found this horn last year and knew he was a great bull. By knowing where he was living, we were able to look hard and long enough to find this bull on the hoof this year. Joe was first to video him in June and we were also able to get some awesome tc photos as well. It also helps to compare tc photos to the actual horns so we can get better at estimating scores on the hoof. Photos are very deceiving and the only way to get an accurate score is to put the bull on the ground or pick up their sheds.
As exciting as it is for us to see which bulls we'll be watching and chasing this year, its gotta be just as exciting for clients that end up booking with our guides get to see bulls in their units, MONTHS before 99.99% of other hunters. Not to mention how fun it is to watch these bulls grow through the year and compare the environmental conditions to this year's horn growth. AND BELIEVE ME, it makes a difference. Last year, we all thought the conditions favored those 340-380" bulls but those 380+ bulls didn't get that boost the others seen. The weight of the horns have been heavier and seemed prove our assumptions were right on last year's conditions. If you're out to make money, this is a great year (except the price of gas makes an impact on the profit). Anyways, enough talking
let's see some bone..
On my first trip out, I picked up 2 great brown horns and 3 whites, including a set of whites from a bull Joe ended up with this year's set too. One of the brown horns was a great bull that we had followed the last couple years. He done quite of bit of growing from 2009 to 2010. His burrs and body lead us to believe he may potentially have more growing to do. That remains to be seen. Since no one had been into this area, I called Joe and gave him the coordinates for the horn I found and told him we needed to find the other side. Well he found it, and 9 other browns that day. The other side was about .21 miles away in a direct line from his water source to his bed.  |
| 2009 TC Photo |
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| 2010 TC Photo |
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| This set weighs 29 lbs total. |
The other horn I found on the first day out was also a dandy. I believe this is the bull we videoed last year but he wasn't photogenic so he avoided our trail cams. My family and I went to CO to visit my kids grandparents and I kept thinking about where the other side could be. Well, when we got back, 10 days later the boys and I got back out and found it, about .25 miles away. I can say on this one, I'll take luck over skill anyday.
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| JP and Tomas were all smiles with this find!! |
During our 2010 scouting we turned up this bull. I was able to find these sheds from the bull with alot of roaming through flat juniper countryUnfortunately, with the thousands and thousands of photos we have, I'm having trouble finding the tc photos for this guy. I'll turn them up soon but yet another great looking bull. Hopefully he'll keep it up.
This was a bull that we followed throughout the summer of 2010. Of course, he made a move before archery season but he turned back up in October. Even though he had completely broken his 5th and chipped other tines, we chased this guy during the late hunt. They sure know how to use thick cover to slip away. But, we are on to him now. With what we learned about this bull in 2010, if our clients are interested, he's in trouble. Joe found the 7 pt side on his first day out and 8 days later, I was able to find the match.
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| 2010 TC photo |
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| After hours of zig-zagging, the left side! |
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| Bases Loaded!!! |
This bull we call "Bases loaded". Look at this size of his bases. Other than bases and 57" beams, not much to speak of. We believe this bull is on the decline. Joe found the first side and yesterday, my boys and I stumbled across the match, 14 days later.
Even though not big, my boys and I turned up this match a week apart. I'm not convinced they know they are a set, but they are already trying to figure out what they are gonna buy with their share of the money.
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| JP and Tomas' 5x6 set. |
Here's a good example of what a good moisture season can do for a bull. I mentioned that I had found a set of white horns on my first trip. 2 days later and about 1.5 miles away, Joe found this set in the road on his way in. When we were looking at the horn out in the garage, I noticed similarity in the webbing between the right eyegaurds. Unbelievably we had 2 set from this young bull. This is a photo of the white and brown set. Looks like this bull is living right and we'll see what he looks like in 4-5 years.
Here are a few more shots of the sets.
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| 8 sets and counting!! |
Of course, hauling these sheds around have been well worth the aches and pains but we rely on our Outdoorsman packs to make the heavy loads as comfortable as can be. If you get the opportunity, try these packs while you're out shed hunting. It will sure make a difference, a difference you will truly appreciate at the end of the day.
These are just the matching set. We've found some great singles as well. Keep checking back. We've got some video to put together to show our shed hunting season thus far. You'll get a kick out of watching us stomp around the woods looking for horns. Fortunately our 3 and 5 year old lucky charms are into shed hunting. I hope this post gets all you pumped up for the coming season. We should be days away from the AZ results. Don't be shy when you get your results. Give us a call and let's talk antlers. Enjoy
