“Find a Dog That will Shed Hunt for You!”

I have been researching the use of dogs to hunt shed antlers for awhile now and it seems to be taking the shed hunting fad to the next level. An article I read states that most any dog can be trained to retrieve shed antlers. There also is a sizable market in training these dogs to find and retrieve antler that have been shed by deer, elk, caribou and even moose. I would like to see a dog pick up and carry a large moose antler!

For years, hunting for shed antlers has been a common pastime for whitetail deer, mule deer and elk hunters. But when it comes to hunting for the antler sheds of black-tailed deer and Roosevelt elk, the playing field changes. Just as with hunting the animals themselves, looking for their antlers is a true challenge.

Some hunters think it’s an accomplishment to find a few sheds a year. Others who have changed their method of hunting sheds are finding up to two dozen shed antlers a day. Some are doing it through hard work, on foot. Others are discovering how valuable dogs can be.

From mid-January through March, bucks and bulls will be shedding their antlers. Within each antler you find there is a wealth of information that can improve your hunting success for the next hunting season.

When it comes to training your dog to hunt for Shed Antlers, start early. Give them an antler for a short time period, making sure they don’t chew it to pieces; it’s not a play toy! Make the antlers something special for the dogs to associate with.
As for the actual training, the pups should ideally be six months of age or older,as well as introduced to the environment they’ll be hunting in.

Until they’re six months old, let them be themselves.
Teach them the basic commands: sit, stay, heel. Don’t be too hard on them. It’s OK if a pup makes mistakes this is their time to learn, and your time to bond with them.
After about six months to a year  it’s time to teach them to force fetch. Force fetching is using an act of stimulation to cue a dog to pick up an object on command and reliably return it to the person in charge. Click this link to find more detailed training info.

If you are an avid hunter that likes to keep inventory of bucks in your hunting area investing in a Shed Hunting Dog that can hunt sheds can be a rewarding addition to your hunting arsenal.