Ryan says that he almost fell over when he pulled the first shed from the snow. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Reddekopp)
February 17, 2022
By Blake Garlock
Ryan Reddekopp drove out to the property where he does all his hunting in Northern Saskatchewan back in January. He had his snowmobile on the back of his truck, and he was headed out to feed the deer on the property. Along the way, he kept an eye out for any shed antlers he could see from the road.
“I was driving down a road that I know has a lot of deer activity along it,” says Ryan. “The road ran between two community pastures, so I could pick up any sheds that I saw lying along the road.”
There was a heavily used deer trail along the road, so Ryan kept his eyes on the trail and a ditch along the road the best he could. Then something caught his eye where the deer trail crossed the fence.
The blood on the antlers and their close proximity to the road suggest that this set had been just dropped. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Reddekopp) “Something just didn’t look right,” remembers Ryan. “I originally second-guessed it, but about 100 yards after passing the spot I backed up. Sure enough, I saw a shed sticking out of the snow.”
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The shed that was along the road wasn’t just any shed, it was a 94-inch right side. All Ryan could see was the brow tine and a little bit of the antler.
“When I pulled it out of the ground, I about fell over,” Ryan laughs. “That is the biggest shed I’ve ever seen in my life.”
This set is Ryan’s personal best shed find. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Reddekopp) Ryan was ecstatic about finding the huge side, but it got him wondering about where the buck’s left side could be. So, Ryan decided to head into the pastureland looking to complete the match set.
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“I crossed the fence and took a short, two-minute walk down the trail into the community pasture,” says Ryan. “I found the other side laying underneath a bush only 40 yards from the fence.”
Ryan had a fellow shed collector help him score the match set. Accounting for the rack to have an 18-inch spread when a buck was carrying it, the rack scored 201 3/8 inches. Ryan believes the deer could have had a wider spread, but he decided to use 18 inches to be conservative.
“It’s crazy,” says Ryan. “I couldn’t believe it!”
For more shed hunting stories, keep following along with North American Whitetail’s Just Dropped campaign through shed season.
