Father and daughter find good shed antlers

Tyler Peterson messaged that his “buddy, Jason Garon took his 14-year-old daughter shed hunting this weekend. She definitely has an eye for antlers. I’d say their first walk was a success!”

I would say so. Skulls with antlers attached are a treasure.

They were hunting sheds in Lake County.

White-tailed bucks shed their antlers annually, a bell curve that peaks around mid-February. The best time to hunt sheds is February and March.

In Illinois, sheds may be collected on private land with permission. It’s prohibited at all forest preserves and park districts I know. In Illinois, shed hunting is prohibited at state parks, nature preserves or where specifically prohibited, but allowed on Fish and Wildlife Areas, Conservation Areas, and Boat Access Areas, if open to the public.

SOTW, the celebration of shed antlers found around Chicago outdoors, runs when worthy and depending on what is going on in the wild world.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), X (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or Bluesky (@BowmanOutside.bsky.social).