Dennis Hensley with the 2015 sheds off Booner
I have to say this has been my best shed hunting season yet, but by far my toughest. I decided to start a lot earlier this year, January 20th, because I had a particular set of antlers in mind, from a buck I have named Booner. My journey to find this particular set of antlers actually begins with last years shed season, when I found my first set of Booner’s antlers. I scored them at a gross estimate of 166 inches with his spread. I was not fortunate enough to hunt Booner during this last hunting season and therefore I was hoping he had not been harvested and I would have a chance at finding another set of his antlers. I was pumped to see how they had grown. On Wednesday, February 10th my luck prevailed.
I arrived at my family’s farm about 2:30pm with a good friend of mine, Joel. I had been walking no longer than 30 minutes when I received a phone call from him, telling me he had just found his biggest antler to date and asked me if I was having any luck, which I hadn’t. We hung up, I walked a grassy slew next to the timber and about 50 yards in front of me there they lay. Booner’s antlers were side by side and laying roughly 200 yards from the spot I found his antlers last year. I am thrilled to say that Booner has exceeded my expectations for mass, tine length, character and amount of points.
This is now where my journey begins for this year’s hunting season. Last weekend I traveled to the Iowa Deer Classic, to see just how good these sheds are. They made the leader board as non-typical in 3rd place at 172 3/8. I believe Booner will push 200 inches next fall. He is my number one target buck and I have my work cut out for me! I cannot wait to start looking for him on my trail cam pictures this spring! Good luck to everyone this shed season!
