CHAPMANVILLE, W.Va. — A lot of West Virginia deer hunters spend the down months of January, February, and some of the month of March wandering through the state’s hills and hollows hoping to spot shed antlers from the big buck they pursued last fall or plan to pursue for the coming season. Almost like a grown up Easter egg hunt, shed hunting has become almost as big a deal to many deer across the country as the hunt for the actual deer itself.
But there is another group of individuals who have taken the shed hunting exercise to another level. The United Kennel Club sanctions a series of competitions among what are considered shed tracking dogs.
“We travel all across the east and Midwest doing these events, but they stretch all across the country,” said Craig Boggs, President of Coal Country Shed Dogs in Chapmanville, W.Va.
There are three classifications of shed tracking dogs. The Champion Class are the most seasoned and experienced dogs. The Working Class is made up of beginner dogs in the shed hunting game. The Youth Class is for those handlers under 18 who are learning the ropes of the sport along with their animals.
The rules of competition are aimed at recreating the scenario shed hunters may find during the months whitetail deer drop their headgear. Since it’s likely a deer could drop them anywhere at any time, the course setups vary widely from competition to competition.
“The competition is based off of time and it’s a 50 by 100 yard area, the size of a football field. It’s in open fields, in the woods, in cut cornfields, or any type of environment a deer would be in,” said Boggs.
The boundaries of the 50 by 100 yard area are marked, but within that area and unmarked are six separate zones. Five of those zones have antlers strategically hidden. The sixth zone has no antler, but competitors don’t know which one is empty. Dogs are required to search out and retrieve five antlers in the competition. They have 15 minutes to find them and bring them to the handler. The fastest time is the winner.
“There is a scent applied to each horn. It’s called “Bone Clone” and it’s reapplied every third dog in a competition,” said Boggs. “Out of the five horns, three of them can be at least halfway covered and the other two can just be laying there.”
The competition tests the skill of the dog’s nose, speed, and training because the timer doesn’t stop until the antler is actually retrieved and placed into the hand of the handler by the dog. Most of the dogs in the competition are retrievers. Boggs has a chocolate lab and a black lab, but added it’s not unusual to have a variety of dogs engaged in the competition.
West Virginia boasts three shed dog clubs. Boggs is President of Coal Country Shed Dogs in Chapmanville. The other two clubs are Elk River Shed Dogs based in Glenville and Scout An Antler Shed Dogs in Philippi. At the recent National Championship event, Travis Meadows of Elk River Shed Dogs earned the national title in the working dog class.
A competition event is being held this weekend in Dawson, W.Va. in Greenbrier County and another event is set for the first weekend in May in Barbour County.
“These dogs absolutely love this stuff and it’s fun. It’s just you and your dog and how your dog is trained and how you train your dog to retrieve. I’s just a fun family event,” said Boggs.