Yesterday we decided to take the kids on a treasure hunt—for sheds.
Everyone got bundled and we headed up the trail, straining our eyes to discern between the white snow and possible ivory-hued antlers.
At first, the only treasures we discovered were deer tracks, droppings, and fallen logs; but as we tromped up a small hill, I sighted horns—not on the ground, but still firmly attached to the noggins of two muley bucks. I tried to shush the kids as we sneaked a little closer to get a picture; but Little Man was excited and hollering “Hiii, bucks!” from his prominent backpack perch, so they didn’t stick around for very long.
They say a buck sheds its antlers due to decreased testosterone levels. However, the combination of factors (age, overall health, weather) that influences those levels makes it hard to predict exactly when it will happen.
Since the deer in our area apparently hadn’t yet fully gone through “the change”, we thought we might as well start heading back. Then the hubs spotted another antler—this time on the ground, half covered with snow. It was a pretty nice one, most likely from one of last year’s muleys, as it was quite sun-bleached. We scouted around a bit to see if we could find its match, but no such luck.
Still, the treasure hunt was a success. The crisp air felt good to breathe, we were stoked to find a shed, and the kiddos enjoyed tracking and seeing deer. But the best part of all was that we made tracks together.
