When do you hunt your scrapes?

[philsanchez76]

Still a fairly new deer hunter (4th season) and trying to figure out timing on scrapes for the big boys. I know this is also area dependent so let me know what part of the state your hunting as well. Just started seeing scrapes pop up last week in davidson/Rutherford. Hunted a fresh one last night and just saw a spike. When do y'all focus on your scrapes? How long are they usually good to hunt until you transition to more of a traditional rut funnel location? Thx for any replies.

 

[BSK]

I never really hunt scrapes per se. I hunt terrain and habitat features which influence deer movement. Now often those features have scrapes because of the concentration of deer, but I'm not hunting that spot because of the scrapes. In fact, my stands are up and in place long before scraping (move ladder stands in August).

 

[Knothead]

Most scrape checking is done in the cover of darkness ( at least from what I've read over the years). I never hunt scrapes but I will put a camera over a hot one just to get an idea of what is visiting/refreshing them.

 

[westtntoms]

Most scrape checking is done in the cover of darkness ( at least from what I've read over the years). I never hunt scrapes but I will put a camera over a hot one just to get an idea of what is visiting/refreshing them.

that's interesting, i did not know that. I've never intentionally hung a stand to hunt a scrape (most are hung before scrapes appear), but i have been know to get excited when a scrape appeared nearby!

I'm sure BSK can chime in on this with his vast camera experiences as well....

 

[philsanchez76]

Interesting. Maybe it's that all of you experienced hunters actually don't really hunt scrapes much. Either way I am learning. The few decent bucks I've got on camera at these scrapes are only coming to them when wind is in their favor. Meaning so far it seems very hard to kill them there at this point.

 

[Knothead]

The wise old bucks don't always come directly to the scrape. They can scent check it from a distance and if they determine hot mama doe has been there and left her calling card, then they may show up. Otherwise, they'll just meander off to another scrape and engage in the process again at the next one. They don't get to be big bruisers by being stupid.

 

[BSK]

The vast majority of scrape usage is at night. The two exceptions are just before peak breeding kicks off, then just at the end of the 1st breeding cycle, when bucks are frantically searching for the last receptive does. With peak breeding in my area Nov. 10-20, the two peaks of daylight scrape visits are the first week of November and the first week of December.

 

[Stumpsitter]

I hunt terrain features mostly. It's tempting to hunt a scrape or scrape line chances are slim you'll catch a mature buck in them. If you can get about 100/150yards down wind (predominant wind) of them you'll probably have a better chance, you might even find a buck trail/ rubs there. The only time I have ever sat pretty much on a scrape is right after a rain. Like right when the rain stops. You might catch them coming to freshen it up. If you find those big scrapes (like the size of car hoods) that a community scrape, there will be numerous bucks using them. Good luck.

 

[deerfever]

I killed one dandy buck in a scrape one morning and have a buddy that killed a 154 inch deer in one several years back. Like others have said I don't necessarily hunt scrapes but sometimes the areas I hunt seem to be places that bucks make them for one reason or another.

 

[backyardtndeer]

I don't specifically hunt scrapes, however one of our stands has a scrape line visible every year. Sometimes I help the scraping activity along and sometimes it takes off on its own.

 

[Ski]

I've noticed three distinct types of scrapes. First is a food source scrape that is made at a food source, and dries up as the food source dries up. Second is a "here I am!" scrape that seems to be done in the moment of intimidation or show of force or just showing off for girls. It's likely never touched again. Third is a perennial scrape. These are the ones that look more like a pig wallow than a deer scrape, and they get hit year round, year after year. It's the community bulletin board. It's also the only type of scrape I'll hunt over or pay much attention to.

Looking over several years of trail cam info on several perennial scrapes, then cross referencing historical weather data from Weather Underground, I have noticed a few trends that are obviously more than coincidental. There are outliers & exceptions but it's heavily tilted, and increasingly so as the age structure increases. The younger bucks are the outliers. They hit scrapes anytime. But the old guys have specific patterns.

I've seen that older bucks hit scrapes when the weather transitions such as when the wind is shifting direction, temperature dropping sharply, or wind dies down completely for a stretch. Naturally several of those things coincide and happen simultaneously. So when I see that in the weather forecast and it's going to happen during daylight, you can bet I'll be hunting over that scrape on that day/time.

This buck is a perfect example because it's tomorrow's date last year. He's destroying a scrape at 12:30 noon. Now look at the screen shot of the the weather report for that day. What you see is the beginning of a temp spike coinciding with an abrupt change of wind. It changes from west to north and drops speed from 6mph to nothing. Normally I don't care much about scrapes in terms of hunting locations, but a good perennial scrape can be dynamite if the weather conditions are just right during daylight hours. Otherwise I agree that scrapes are usually hit during darkness.

 

[Ski]

Here's another example with another buck, same scrape. Same type thing where he shows up to scrape right the cusp of where temperature begins spiking, wind shifts direction, and wind speed just begins to pick up. In both example, the buck is scraping in broad daylight during a part of the day when the wind changing direction, speed, and temp changing. Not coincidentally it also happens in a "lull" when the wind is dead still for several hour span.

I've seen it play out just like this many, many times over several years. Every time a mature buck scrapes during daylight I can look at the weather for that day & time and see a correlation. Now weather changes all the time with no bucks scraping. So don't think I'm saying you can predict when to hunt a scrape. You might see a dozen weather changes like this in a row and never see a buck hit the scrape. BUT, and it's a very big BUT, when he does hit the scrape it will almost certainly be during one of the weather transitions. So while I cannot say for certain I know when to hunt a scrape, I can say I have a darn good idea of when not to.

 

[BSK]

That's fascinating stuff Ski!

 

[Ski]

One more example. That's a different 8pt buck. I'll try to find a pic of it. My brother shot it over the scrape the ATV is driving over with the buck draped over the front. Once again, temp beginning to spike at same time wind is in a lull and change of direction. Coincidence? Make up your own mind.

 

[Ski]

Here's the buck on the ATV, shot over the same scrape in the other pics.

 

[Ski]

That's fascinating stuff Ski!

Thank you. It really works hand in hand with your thread about over hunting stands, especially if the stand is over a scrape. I know lots of hunters like hunting scrapes. If you willy nilly hunt a scrape, you're dropping your scent all over it & ruining it. Scrapes are the one concentrated spot every single deer of every age class & sex hits. You can do a whole lot of damage to your hunting odds by blowing out a scrape stand. I learned that lesson the hard way, too many times. Eventually I decided to figure out if bucks were hitting it just randomly as the opportunity presented itself, or if there was a rhyme & reason. I never have figured out the rhyme or reason, but I did stumble onto a pattern that seems pretty concrete repeatable.

Another factor that I noticed is that they seem to hit them when the dominant wind direction of that day blows the scrape scent toward the buck's bedding area. I've considered maybe that they lie in bed and realize that their scent is not strong enough in the scrape so they go make a new deposit. But I really don't know why. It's just something that seems pretty consistent. Every time I think I've got these critters figured out, they make a fool of me.

 

[philsanchez76]

Wow this is some amazing information. Thanks y'all. I've definitely heard of bucks cruising downwind of these areas but I was thinking 40-50 yards or so. 100-150 yards downwind of these scrapes and I'd never even see these bucks! And I think the detail about them hitting the scrapes when the wind is blowing into their bedding is super interesting and so far seems to be exactly what my trail cams are revealing as well.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Every time I think I've got these critters figured out, they make a fool of me.

That's where watching them can teach us a lot.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Here's another example with another buck, same scrape. Same type thing where he shows up to scrape right the cusp of where temperature begins spiking, wind shifts direction, and wind speed just begins to pick up. In both example, the buck is scraping in broad daylight during a part of the day when the wind changing direction, speed, and temp changing. Not coincidentally it also happens in a "lull" when the wind is dead still for several hour span.

I've seen it play out just like this many, many times over several years. Every time a mature buck scrapes during daylight I can look at the weather for that day & time and see a correlation. Now weather changes all the time with no bucks scraping. So don't think I'm saying you can predict when to hunt a scrape. You might see a dozen weather changes like this in a row and never see a buck hit the scrape. BUT, and it's a very big BUT, when he does hit the scrape it will almost certainly be during one of the weather transitions. So while I cannot say for certain I know when to hunt a scrape, I can say I have a darn good idea of when not to.

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Very cool stuff, Ski

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

I have had great success over the years by hunting scrapes just before a front pushes out. I try to get in the stand an hour BEFORE the rain stops. After the rain bucks will work scrape lines to freshen them up. Particularly during our muzzleloader season.