FOREST RIVER, N.D. >> If this was a baseball game, the regular starters would have been absent, only to be replaced by three rookie fill-ins who came off the bench to take their place.

It wasn’t a baseball game, though; it was a “shed hunt,” a search for antlers that whitetail bucks shed every winter on a prime piece of hunting land along the Forest River near the border of Grand Forks and Walsh counties.

Most years, brothers Philip Schanilec of Apple Valley, Minn., and Ben Schanilec of Minto, N.D., along with spouses and friends, scour this family property early in the spring looking for antlers that bucks lose when hormone levels drop after the rut, or mating season.

It’s a social occasion that’s typically followed by a wild game feed put on by Brian Schanilec of Forest River, the brothers’ dad. Brian, an avid hunter known for his cooking prowess, owns Forest River Bean Co. and several hunting properties in the area.

In recent years, though, family commitments sometimes have taken priority over shed hunting for the two Schanilec brothers.

“I haven’t been up there in probably three years now for shed hunting, but my brother has taken friends out,” Philip Schanilec said in a phone interview. “Living in the Cities now with two kids, it’s a grind to make the trip, but we’ll get back up there one day.

“It’s fun stuff.”

First-time shed hunter

Among the newbies in the field on this brisk March day was Kelly Schanilec, the boys’ mother. While new to shed hunting, it didn’t take her long to catch on to the program.

She definitely had a good eye, once she got the hang of what to look for. Think of blocking out everything on the landscape that doesn’t look like an antler and you get the idea.

Find the first one, Kelly says, and the others become easier to spot.

“I love being outside doing these kinds of things,” she said. “It can be a great family experience.”

While Brian Schanilec was the host of this shed-hunting excursion, which provided an opportunity to tromp through rows of mixed conifers and a deer-attracting food plot, he prefers to showcase his culinary talents rather than his antler-spotting prowess during his sons’ springtime shed hunts.

Ben lives nearby, but a new baby and other family commitments kept him away on this Saturday shed-hunting excursion.

“This is their annual deal but none of them can make it,” Brian said. “It’s a two-, three-hour deal, and then afterwards, we have a little meal at my house with two or three different types of wild game.

“That’s kind of our tradition.”

Getting started

Prime shed hunting time begins when about 90% of the snow is gone and before vegetation turns green, the brothers say. The antlers become more difficult to spot after green-up.

Another key is focusing on wintering areas, places where the deer spend a majority of their time and are most likely to drop their antlers.

They’ll find 25 to 30 sheds on a good day in years with higher deer numbers. More recently, 15 to 20 would be a good day, the brothers say.

The brothers have a knack for picking those perfect spring days with little wind and a high temperature of 49 degrees or so, Brian Schanilec says.

Finding shed antlers also saves on tire repairs when replanting his food plots, Brian says.

“I’ve popped tires before” by driving over antlers, he said.

Tougher winters with deeper snow, which force the deer to congregate in smaller areas, often provide the best shed hunting opportunities — or worst tire-popping risks — once the snow melts.

“This year was a very mild winter, so I saw deer spread out all over here all winter,” Brian said.

Productive hunt

Philip Schanilec couldn’t make the trip for last weekend’s shed hunt, but he still got involved by putting together a map, highlighting spots where the brothers have had their best luck finding antlers over the years.

The shed hunters found 14 sheds during their two-hour excursion. Not bad for a trio of rookies.

“Some people do the shed hunting experience to gain knowledge of certain deer on their property,” Philip said. “We moreso do it as a time to be outdoors. It’s getting a little bit warmer out, you get to be outside after a cold winter and it gets you excited for deer season already, starting in February or March.”

In keeping with tradition, the elk Brian prepared for a post-shed hunt feast was spectacular. And if the day was any indication, the Schanilec brothers will have a new shed-hunting partner in years to come.

That would be their mom.

“This was so much fun,” Kelly Schanilec said. “I want to go again.”