Since most big game seasons are over and turkey season is on the horizon, there’s still another season and it’s called shed hunting. And by doing so, there’s a lot to be learned about antler sheds and the deer that dropped them.

Here are some tips from the pros at Realtree Camouflage to make the shed hunt more interesting and enjoyable.

*Finding a shed is a strong sign that a particular buck survived the gauntlet of hunters in his neighborhood.

*You can learn the health of the buck by studying the base of its antlers. Healthy bucks will have basses that are rounded and convex. Injured or nutritionally stressed bucks often have bases that are irregular, oblong and or concave.

*You can learn a little more about a buck’s health by assessing the relative weight of the antlers. In general, healthy bucks have antlers that are well mineralized and dense. These antlers feel relatively heavy for their size as compared to nutritionally stressed bucks whose antlers often are more porous and thus feel light for their size. There’s not a particular weight an antler should reach, rather it’s clear if you’ve held many antlers and one feels unusually light or heavy.

*The timing of shed antler drops in the North where mature bucks cast their antlers are earlier than normal compared to young bucks. In the South, bucks cast them later than young bucks. Bucks that drop their antlers much earlier than normal are likely suffering from an injury or nutritional stress. A buck that holds them longer is likely exhibiting a sign of good health, and they’re dropped in April or May. Bucks dropping them in December or early January is nearly always a sign of trouble.

*One thing that can’t be learned from a shed antler is a buck’s age.

With no forecasts for snow, spring is a good time to go afield and look for sheds.

SHAD

According to posts on the Delaware River Shad Fishing Reports site, shad are in the Delaware River and a few hardy anglers are hooking up with them. One recent post said shad were hitting at the Belvedere boat launch area while another angler reported he went two for three while bank fishing. Another angler fished the Lambertville stretch by boat were the water temp was 46-48, but he struck out while another nearby boat angler had several hook-ups.

As of last Saturday, river conditions were clear and with last weekend’s warm-up, more catches could be reported.

TROUT SEASON

In last week’s column I mistakenly wrote that the trout opener was April 6 when it should have read April 5. On that day, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said anglers have a total of 14,000 golden rainbow trout (often referred to as Palominos), each have an average weight of 1.5 pounds to pursue. Additional ones will be stocked postseason.

Of the 3.2 million total trout stocked or will be stocked statewide for 2025 season are 2.4 million Rainbow Trout, 693,000 Brown Trout, and 125,000 Brook Trout.