geography
I've seen bucks carrying antlers as late as early March down here in 'bama, just to give you an idea of how different regions go. Over the years I've picked up quite a collection of sheds, from some very fresh ones with soft tissue still attached, to ones that have laid for at least a full season. The only pair I've got came from a deer v. car MVA, both antlers landed about 20 yds away on the embankment.
I find most of them scouting turkeys in spring, or during the actual season. A high percentage are near green food sources, either food plots or honeysuckle. My work had me marking boundary in Feb/March, and alot of the boundary line ran down fencerows. The fencerows had honeysuckle.
Somewhere I've recently seen a deer feeder that was configured in such a way that when a big buck stuck his head in the trough, there was a cord or wire lattice arrangement up above that would snag antlers. I'd check with local law about feeding, and I sure wouldn't want to entangle a buck and harm or kill him either.
There are also folks training dogs to recover sheds. I was working with one of my Labs, till a tragedy took him.