The MeatEater

Anyone reading this could look at my daily step counts since early February and know exactly what I’ve been up to. For me, it’s partly a coping mechanism, and partly a thrill in itself to comb the whitetail woods in search of discarded headgear. Peak shed season falls perfectly between trapping season and turkey season, which gives my outdoor-obsessed brain something to cling to in the void. But shed hunting on public land is often a low-odds deal, no matter how hopeful I am when I walk out the door.

This is the reality for a lot of hunters, and it often forces you to think outside of the box if you want to find more antlers. If you’ve been struggling to find more bone, here are a few ways to make your shed hunting more productive on pressured ground.

Social media is plastered with dream shed hunting scenarios. Matched sets displayed on manicured lawns, mowed-down food plots, and generally unrealistic scenarios for the majority of workaday hunters. Whitetail candyland exists, but unless you’re willing to pay to play, you’ll have to focus your time on pressured ground.

Public land shed hunters, and even those with access to private land who share it with other rack junkies, need to understand this reality. Your success won’t mirror those on carefully curated ground with exclusive access, and neither will your efforts. Sure, I’ve found a handful of field sheds over the years. But if all you do is walk the ag, you’re destined for a net-negative experience. It’s not that bucks don’t drop in public fields, but the bulk of the competition is going to look there first. Unless you can get there as soon as that buck drops, you might go home empty-handed.

Instead of obvious spots, consider where pressured bucks like to hide and bust out your brush pants. All of my biggest sheds and sets have come from the gnarliest thickets and ridges where no one else wanted or thought to look.

I look at it this way: I know I have to cover a lot of ground, but only small, hard-to-walk pieces of that ground are likely to offer me any bone. It’s no different from trying to find a little concentration of deer during the fall hunting season after the pressure has been heavy for a month. They will spend a disproportionate amount of time in places people go the least.

When it comes to sheds, it’s easy to walk around those spots. If you shed hunt where the competition is fierce, you simply have to do what most people won’t. Even then, you’ll probably return with an empty pack.

Maybe I’m an outlier, but sheds alone are sometimes not enough motivation for me to get pricked by a hundred thorns or aggravate my sciatica. Don’t get me wrong, the sight of a tine peeking through the leaves always excites me. But when my only goal is to find an antler, I can’t always keep my head in the game.

My favorite way to shed hunt is more like winter scouting. It might be ground-truthing a potential bedding area that I pinned in onX back in November, or searching for dormant feed trees in remote hardwoods, but I always have a scouting goal in mind before I start walking.

That deeper sense of purpose and curiosity pushes me through areas I might otherwise try to avoid and keeps me from falling into what I call “bored reader syndrome.” That is, when your eyes are moving across a page, but your brain is absorbing exactly none of the information.

Combining winter scouting with a shed mission gives me two goals for every expedition. That lessens the blow if I don’t turn up any antlers, and makes the effort always seem worth it. It also allows me to pick apart deer ground with a plan, which usually helps me find those little islands of activity that might actually have some overlooked antlers in them. This scouting mindset also makes me more attentive, which is the missing piece for so many dejected shed hunters.

I actually didn’t have sheds in mind at all when I found my first antler of this year. I was stalking cottontails in a mature hedgerow in mid-February when I nearly stepped on a 4-point beauty that looked to be at least a week or two old. There’s no doubt in my mind that the majority of field walkers would have passed within a few yards of that shed and never seen it. Considering that I was on public land close to town, it’s pretty likely that some did. But I scored the prize, because I was laser-focused and moving at a snail’s pace.

This is something I can’t stress enough. It’s easy to think more miles equal more antlers. There is a correlation, but it’s like fishing a small stream–it’s fun to see what’s around the next bend, but if you don’t fish the closest pool with intention, you’ll miss out on fish. Wanderlust is fun, but it can cost you some golden opportunities.

Don’t just burn through 15 miles a day, but try to think critically about where bucks were most likely to drop their headgear. This goes beyond basic bedding and food sources, and into understanding how they might use the terrain and vegetation to their advantage.

Remember, if you’re 10 yards off, you might as well be 1000 off in the right cover. A lot of bone can hide in the right half-acre, especially if most folks are just focused on getting to the next ridge.

On this episode of In Pursuit, Rich Froning talks about what it really means to stay ready all year long. Not just getting in shape a few weeks before the season, but building the kind of strength, endurance, and resilience that carries you through long days in the mountains. Rich breaks down the training methodology behind Mayhem Hunt: why we train the way we do, how to build a durable engine, and why consistency throughout the year matters more than last-minute preparation.

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This week on the show I’m joined by the legendary DIY bowhunter Andy May to discuss the scouting philosophies and strategies that separate the elite whitetail hunter from the average.

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Baiting is one of the biggest hot-button issues in hunting. Regardless of species, everyone has an opinion. This is especially true for deer hunting, where antler inches can make toddlers out of grown men. Opponents of baiting often raise ethical or moral questions about the tactic itself and the risk of potential disease exposure involved with congregated deer herds. Those in favor of baiting compare it to food plots or similar strategies for attracting and holding deer at specific locations.

I live in Mississippi, where baiting is legal. Its restrictions are mainly limited to public lands. For whitetail hunting on private lands, it’s fair game. Talk to nearly any hunter from my state, and you can assume that they’re running corn. It’s just part of the hunting culture. Even though I’m a lifelong resident of this state, I don’t have a ton of experience with baiting. So, to get the lowdown on all things baiting, I spoke with the Element’s K.C. Smith.

K.C. is from Texas, the baiting capital of the whitetail world. He baits on his property there, and grew up in a place where baiting is the norm. K.C. offers a unique and authoritative perspective on baiting specifically because of his experience with it, but also because he’s known for killing big bucks on public ground with his bow (usually at ground level) all over the country.

If you’re unfamiliar with the tactic of baiting, K.C. defined it as “the strategic placement of corn, pellets, or anything to attract or hold deer on a certain property,” he said. Essentially, anything that’s used for the purpose of attracting and holding deer can be considered bait. This could include corn, mineral blocks, and, yes, even food plots.

While most people associate baiting with killing deer, it can also be used for camera intel. There are a lot of hunters, especially in states where you can’t hunt over bait, that use it before deer season starts to gather intel on their local deer herd. Yet, a lot of hunters don’t consider this actual baiting, even though they use this tactic to ultimately locate deer in hopes of killing one. It’s one of the many contradictions that hunters ignore. Bait can attract and hold deer in certain areas, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get a shot at that big buck.

Regardless of what a lot of hunters think, baiting doesn’t eliminate all the guesswork in deer hunting. It also doesn’t mean that hunters who bait lack the skills of hunters who don’t. Still, that won’t squash any of the misconceptions out there.

It’s easy to look at your neighbors or other hunters and blame baiting for all the big bucks they kill. Sure, someone might get lucky and have a monster stroll into a corn pile, but the same could happen in your food plot. I’ve been guilty of this thinking in the past, especially in seasons when I just couldn’t catch a break. But, bait piles just don’t guarantee big bucks as most people assume.

“It's tough to kill a big buck over a bait pile,” K.C. said. “If anything, it can make it harder, especially if you have good cover on your property. When deer find cover near corn or feed, they’ll bed nearby, making your access even more critical.”

He pointed out that big bucks still approach a feeder like they do other food sources by circling downwind. This is why a lot of hunters who run feeders get plenty of nighttime pictures of big bucks but never see them during shooting hours. It’s not as simple as sitting directly over a bait pile.

People who feed deer are lazy. That’s what a lot of people assume about hunters that run bait, but that’s hardly the case. “I know guys who spend 12-hour days throwing around 50-pound bags of corn,” K.C. said. “That’s a lot more work than people are used to.”

Obviously, those are large hunting operations, either for outfitters or landowners, but that’s more work hours than most people spend in a day at their nine-to-five. That time doesn’t account for everything else, like stand prep, camera work, and the hours spent hunting. Theoretically, you could dump a pile of corn on the ground and set up within rifle range of it, but that’s not the way most hunters use bait.

Not to say there aren’t plenty of people who use bait this way or even illegally, which K.C. pointed out. However, the person who illegally dumps a pile of corn where it’s prohibited isn’t the same person who baits within the legal boundaries of the law.

“If you want to keep tabs on deer during the year, there’s probably no better way to do it than with bait,” K.C. said. “I use it on properties where I want camera data and to understand what deer use the property.”

Where legal, putting cameras over bait can help you take inventory of the local deer herd. This is especially true for areas where food might be a limited resource, especially in places outside of ag country. Small parcels are another place where baiting can be super effective.

“In my area of Texas, there’s a ton of small parcels where people bait,” K.C. said. “It’s about the only way to attract deer to your property.”

In Texas and other states where baiting is legal, feeders can play a big role in deer sightings and movement. Though not always the case, you might not see as many deer if the surrounding properties bait but you don’t. In these instances, baiting can provide a focal point on the landscape, where you might otherwise not have something that naturally draws deer to or through your property.

Aside from trail camera data, K.C. pointed out that bait can also provide feed where food plots aren’t possible or on distant properties where you might only visit when it’s time to hunt.

Like any hunting tactic, you need a good strategy to be effective. If you’re unfamiliar with K.C. Smith and Tyler Jones, you should check them out on YouTube. They make a living bowhunting (and killing) big bucks on public ground all across the states. They’re some of the best DIY hunters out there. They know how to run-and-gun for big bucks, but they’re not above using bait where it’s legal.

Turns out that effectively hunting over bait isn’t really different from hunting over food plots, feed trees, or other food sources. The approach remains the same. Though there are a few things specific to baiting that you have to consider.

“You can certainly just put a pile of bait out, but timed feeders that fling out protein or corn help make sure that the feed doesn’t ruin from moisture,” K.C. said. “This allows people to feed during daylight hours and control how much they put out.”

Regarding feeder placement, K.C. said that finding spots just off natural travel corridors is a great starting place. The idea isn’t to hunt directly over the feeder but to set up somewhere downwind of it, preferably along a travel corridor. This could be 50 yards downwind or 500.

K.C. cited a hunt, which you can watch here on YouTube, where he killed a buck that had been visiting a feeder at night. Instead of sitting over the feeder and blindly hoping that deer would show, he picked the closest optimal bedding cover, which happened to be about 500 yards away, and decided to rattle in that area. He ended up rattling in that same buck they had on camera and shooting it.

It’s not the way most people imagine using bait to kill a big buck, but it's a similar approach that you would take to hunting over other food sources or how you might interpret trail camera data.

“It’s just like another tool in your belt,” K.C. said about baiting, “you just have to know how to use it.”

No matter where you land on baiting, there’s no getting around the fact that this strategy congregates large concentrations of deer within a small area. It’s not the congregating itself that is problematic, but when deer infected with EHD, CWD, or other diseases risk contaminating the rest of the herd.

Because feeders or other bait sites continually replace food in the same place, deer tend to feed in the same spots. Unlike food plots or even hot feed trees that have a shelf life each year, bait sites can increase disease transmission.

Brody Henderson guest hosts MeatEater Trivia with Spencer Neuharth, Janis Putelis, Randall Williams, Seth Morris, Alyssa Smith, and Cory Calkins.

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On this episode of the Bear Grease Podcast, host Clay Newcomb is joined by the OG Render crew—Brent Reaves, Dr. Misty Newcomb, Bear Newcomb, Gary “Believer” Newcomb, and Josh “Landbridge” Spielmaker. Clay shows off his new bear fur mittens for his upcoming Arctic expedition, and Brent and Bear detail their coin hunting with self bow exploits, along with a deep discussion of the Bear Grease loggers episode featuring Teddy Villines.

Thank you to our sponsor, Tecovas.

If you have comments on the show, send us a note to [email protected]

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) recently moved to confirm the delisting of the lesser prairie chicken, a rare and long-embattled species of upland bird. The action is the latest in a back-and-forth over whether the bird should be protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The species of prairie grouse, which is distinct from the greater prairie chicken, is native to the central and southern Great Plains. It has lost roughly 85% of its range due to large-scale habitat loss and fragmentation, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The steep decline of the species’ range prompted the FWS to list the species as threatened twice in the last twenty years. First, the agency listed them as threatened in 2015, though it was soon reversed by a judge. Then, the FWS listed the northern population segment as threatened and the southern segment as endangered in 2022 under the Biden Administration.

That listing was immediately challenged in court with a lawsuit brought forward by Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, as well as the Permian Basin Petroleum Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. A federal judge sided with those entities in August, citing a flaw in the decision to classify two different population segments. On Thursday, February 26, the FWS published a rule that confirmed the ruling, officially delisting the species.

Industry groups celebrated the decision, which they say will help aid ag production and energy development in the area, while some environmental groups, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, are panning the decision, arguing that the species could go extinct without federal protections.

However, Ron Leathers, Chief Conservation Officer for Pheasants Forever, says that the species’ delisting might not have such a negative impact on its survival. “Regulation alone has never recovered a species off the Endangered Species Act,” he told MeatEater. “I’m more concerned about whether we’re going make investments in the species and support the landowners that support them.”

Leathers added that voluntary conservation efforts and habitat restoration are particularly impactful for the species because of its unique habitat requirements. “These birds are different from pheasants and quail, where you can set aside moderately sized parcels and maintain populations,” he said. “Prairie chickens need big, intact landscapes, and that aligns really well with big, intact ranches. That’s one of the reasons we’re so heavily focused on supporting those private landowners; those birds will blink out if the ranches get broken up or sold out.”

From a practical standpoint, Leathers said that though lesser prairie chickens were delisted, he doesn’t expect state agencies to hold hunting seasons for them. Instead, he encourages folks interested in the rare birds to attend a spring lek viewing, which several private landowners and organizations hold.

“The opportunity is there to interact with the species,” he said. “Going and watching them dance on a lek is very unique and cool. And this particular species is indicative of big, large, intact, healthy landscapes. Helping those landscapes stay intact and the ranches to be profitable not only benefits chickens but everything else on the landscape.”

This week, Tony breaks down what's happening to nonresident hunting opportunities, and how important it is to consider going on an adventure now before it's too late.

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Janis Putelis answers your questions and breaks down his archery Manitoba black bear hunt captured in MeatEater's brand new "12 in '26" film series. He hunts over bait for the very first time to see what the fuss is all about. Presented by @Moultrie.Products and @onXHunt

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