As the leaves begin to fall, bucks start gearing up for the upcoming rut. Vulnerable would be an understatement when it comes to explaining the position bucks put themselves in at this time.
The first signs of winter are upon us, and deer are preparing for the rut. Bucks start their ritual of marking and patrolling their territory as winter approaches. Hunters can take advantage of this additional movement by locating scrapes and creating your own, you can make harvesting a buck this year a little easier.
What is a scrape anyway? A scrape is much like a mailbox for deer. It shows all the other deer who is living there, it marks territory, and is a spot for other deer to leave a message. Deer use urine rather than numbers on a mailbox to identify individual ownership. They check the scrape nearly every day as we do our mail. They leave and receive information about others, while designating territory. For this reason, a scrape can be a gold mine to the experienced hunter.
I saw scrapes for years before I realized their true potential. I viewed them as nothing more than a territorial marker. I felt the only information you can get out of them is that a buck is in the area. How wrong I was! Not only bucks, but does leave scent in the scrapes as well. I didn't know this until I actually saw it happen.
I was sitting along a ridge a few years back and a doe made its way toward me. It was stopping every 100 yards or so and peeing. As it got closer to me, it approached a scrape on the corner of the wood line, it stopped, and urinated in the scrape. Not long after, I spotted a buck coming down the same trail that she had, and it was stopping everywhere that she did. He would paw at the ground, pee and rub his antlers on nearby trees. I realized that he was running a scrape line, and she had done the same thing. As he approached, I grunted a few times. He bristled up and came right to me in an attempt to chase off the supposed intruder. At 15 yards, he passed behind a tree and gave me the chance to draw my bow. I made good on the opportunity and made a perfect shot on the buck.
This hunt changed my thinking about scrapes. I realized that the does were also leaving their information in the scrape along with bucks. I also found after getting a trail camera, that many bucks will use the same scrape. I'm not sure why this occurs if it's only a territorial marker. I feel now that it's a mix of both a marker of territory, and a communal signpost. It's much like people punching in at work to verify that they are there. The one thing that I know for sure is that you have a better opportunity of harvesting a buck when there are scrapes around.
Finding scrapes isn't all that hard. Bucks tend to mark where there is food, like apples, around. They want others to know that they are going to be in the area. Smaller bucks are to avoid the area, while does will know where to find the big deer that's marking the area the most. Field edges, deer trails intersecting logging roads and ridges, are other places to find scrapes. One of my favorite places to look is on the edges of swamps. Bucks tend to tear these places up. If you just cannot locate some, you have the option of making your own.
A mock scrape is the term used to describe a scrape that you have made. Some people simply use a stick and swipe away the leaves. This works sometimes, but not every time. The reason for this is a lack of scent. There are many products on the market that allow you to scent up a man-made scrape. I recommend choosing an area where you have seen them before. When marking a scrape, you need to scent the ground with urine and licking branch with pre-orbital scent. The licking branch will be directly over the scrape. There are several scents on the market for this purpose, and freshen the scrape at least once a week until there are signs of deer activity. They should keep it open after they have located it.
Another method is a scent drip-per. They are filled with urine and placed six feet or more above the scrape. You may use mock or real scrapes with this method. The scent will drip away causing bucks to visit during daylight.
Good wishes, and focus on scrapes during the pre-rut.