Chats with Mike: Max Evan Schmidt

If you had asked me about shed hunting a few weeks ago, I would have assumed we were talking about rotting pieces of pioneer carpentry that folks love to photograph or scrap out for projects. I was disabused of that notion when I learned about one of Max Schmidt's favorite forms of recreation: scouting for cast-off deer antlers, called "sheds." It turns out it's not an uncommon thing to do, but I'd never met anyone who did it until I met Max.

Dayton High School student Max Schmidt began shed hunting at 12, after a hike with his mother, Virginia. He is part of a hunting family and was looking forward to finding a shed of his own. Finding that first shed started a mad hobby that shows no sign of decline anytime soon.

Both white tailed and mule deer, the most common types of deer found in this corner of the world, shed their antler growth once a year from January to March.

This time of year is not only significant as the season for casting off antlers, but it is also when Max Schmidt enters a new round of friendly competition with his mother. On January 1, mother and son begin a tally to see who can find the most sheds. This year, the count is 14-10, with Virginia in the lead.

"It's just fun to find them," said Max. "And they're a fun conversation piece."

This is the case when visiting the Schmidt home. Under a window in the living room sits an antique wooden box, an old egg incubator that functions as the family's repository for antler sheds. It's a tangled mess, but Max has an uncanny ability to pick through them and locate sheds that have any kind of a story behind them.

"This is the one my Mom saw fall off a deer up on the hill while it was feeding," he says, snatching one up. He then plucks a matching pair of sheds out of the box, holds them up, and says, "These are the ones me and my sister found."

As an uninitiated deer fancier, I now see the difference between the two deer species. Mule deer racks are bifurcated, forking in two directions as they grow, splitting again to create more "tines" or points. White tailed deer antler points all grow off of one central curving beam.

It turns out that shed hunting is sort of like fishing. Even if you don't find any, you can still have a good time outdoors. Sometimes Max and his mom go backpacking with no shed hunting in mind. However, when Max plans to go into the hills for antlers, he always carries gear specific for the hunt, including water, snacks, a lighter or fire starter, a water filtration kit, a knife, some rope, a saw, a headlamp, first aid supplies, a pair of binoculars, and his 9mm pistol which he earned last year.

"You pretty much want to take all this stuff because you never know what you'll run into," said Max. Once, on a trip up the Wolf Fork of the Touchet River, Max heard something suspicious before catching sight of two bear cubs scampering up a tall pine.

"We didn't stick around to wait for the mamma bear to show up," he said. "We just got out of there."

Two years ago, Max almost ran into another bear while scouting along the South Touchet River.

"We were at the top of a ridge above this ravine, and I was making my way down when I heard something crashing through the brush and trees," Max said. "My mom was a little distance away, so she wasn't with me right then. At first, I couldn't see what was making the noise, but then this huge black bear just appeared and started running up the opposite side from where I was. It kind of freaked me out."

Max yelled, "Bear!" and his mother came running, sidearm at the ready. Talk about mother bears. The trip ended happily with the discovery of matched elk sheds in excellent condition. They are prominently displayed in the house.

A shed hunt with the pair can last from one hour to a full day, although most are two or three hours. A week ago, as of this writing, Max found seven sheds, the most he's seen at one time. Most of their trips are in the Blue Mountain foothills surrounding the Touchet Valley, but they have enjoyed trips to Hell's Canyon as well.

There is an etiquette around these hunts. Max and his mom are always careful to obtain permission from private landowners if they're not scouting on public land. It is also unlawful to take a "dead-head," which are antlers from a dead animal not naturally shed.

And what does Max do with all the sheds he finds?

"I just hold them," he said.

He's not interested in selling them to people. More elk antlers are hanging out in the shop, along with hunting trophies. For Max, the joy is in finding, collecting, and exploring new places. It's all for the fun of it. How many antlers does he have? He doesn't know. And what is he going to do when he runs out of room to collect antlers?

"Uh, I'm not sure," he said.

Perhaps a small museum in the backyard called the Shed Shed?