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Buck Scrape research
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<blockquote data-quote="BSK" data-source="post: 5272142" data-attributes="member: 17"><p>One of the reasons I started looking at scrape data was to see if it mirrored the VASTLY different hunting experiences we have on a primarily hardwood property depending upon the acorn crop. We will see one type of buck activity pattern in poor acorn years, and a very different pattern in good acorn years. The last two years have been perfect examples. 2020 was a very poor acorn year and 2021 was an exceptional acorn year. In 2020, although morning hunting was good, afternoon hunting was superior. However, in 2021, almost all of the older buck sightings were in the morning, with almost no older buck sightings in the afternoon. In addition, as hunters we often get the feeling the rut is much earlier in a good acorn year than in a bad acorn year. And although looking at buck visits to scrapes certainly doesn't show the whole picture of buck movement, it is a "controlled" measuring stick.</p><p></p><p>In addition, other research projects on buck scraping activity have suggested two primary conclusions: 1) most scraping occurs at night, with peak daylight scrape visits occurring in the first and last hour of daylight; and 2) for acorn-driven deer herds (herds where acorns are the primary source of high-quality fall food), bucks create and work scrapes more frequently in a good acorn year than in a poor acorn year. The theory behind this is that bucks with access to plentiful acorns have more excess energy to burn hence conduct more scraping activity.</p><p></p><p>Another reason 2020 and 2021 are a great comparison is because both years had an almost identical buck population and age structure. Looking at the scrape visits for all bucks between the two years, a period existed in the good acorn year prior to peak breeding (October 15-28) when bucks in the good acorn year (2021) were visiting scrapes far more frequently than in the poor year (2020). See the graph below. However, outside of that one pre-rut period, the two years were fairly similar after about November 5th. The second graph is the same timeframe, but is only scrape visit data for "older" bucks (those 2 1/2 and older). This second graph also shows the big pre-rut surge, but then fairly equal scraping activity after that period. The third graph is only mature buck (4 1/2 and older) scrape visits. For some unknown reason, mature buck visits to scrapes were much more muted in a poor acorn year (2020) than the good acorn year (2021), as well as focused just around the breeding period. The effect of lesser quality food? No idea.</p><p></p><p>Of interest in the mature buck scrape visit graph is that valley in the data centered around Nov. 12. Because this data is a 5-day running mean, that drop to zero visits means no mature bucks visited scrapes in the five days centered on Nov. 12. We strongly suspect this is very close to our local peak of breeding. The data for the same period in 2020 is also quite low.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BSK, post: 5272142, member: 17"] One of the reasons I started looking at scrape data was to see if it mirrored the VASTLY different hunting experiences we have on a primarily hardwood property depending upon the acorn crop. We will see one type of buck activity pattern in poor acorn years, and a very different pattern in good acorn years. The last two years have been perfect examples. 2020 was a very poor acorn year and 2021 was an exceptional acorn year. In 2020, although morning hunting was good, afternoon hunting was superior. However, in 2021, almost all of the older buck sightings were in the morning, with almost no older buck sightings in the afternoon. In addition, as hunters we often get the feeling the rut is much earlier in a good acorn year than in a bad acorn year. And although looking at buck visits to scrapes certainly doesn't show the whole picture of buck movement, it is a "controlled" measuring stick. In addition, other research projects on buck scraping activity have suggested two primary conclusions: 1) most scraping occurs at night, with peak daylight scrape visits occurring in the first and last hour of daylight; and 2) for acorn-driven deer herds (herds where acorns are the primary source of high-quality fall food), bucks create and work scrapes more frequently in a good acorn year than in a poor acorn year. The theory behind this is that bucks with access to plentiful acorns have more excess energy to burn hence conduct more scraping activity. Another reason 2020 and 2021 are a great comparison is because both years had an almost identical buck population and age structure. Looking at the scrape visits for all bucks between the two years, a period existed in the good acorn year prior to peak breeding (October 15-28) when bucks in the good acorn year (2021) were visiting scrapes far more frequently than in the poor year (2020). See the graph below. However, outside of that one pre-rut period, the two years were fairly similar after about November 5th. The second graph is the same timeframe, but is only scrape visit data for "older" bucks (those 2 1/2 and older). This second graph also shows the big pre-rut surge, but then fairly equal scraping activity after that period. The third graph is only mature buck (4 1/2 and older) scrape visits. For some unknown reason, mature buck visits to scrapes were much more muted in a poor acorn year (2020) than the good acorn year (2021), as well as focused just around the breeding period. The effect of lesser quality food? No idea. Of interest in the mature buck scrape visit graph is that valley in the data centered around Nov. 12. Because this data is a 5-day running mean, that drop to zero visits means no mature bucks visited scrapes in the five days centered on Nov. 12. We strongly suspect this is very close to our local peak of breeding. The data for the same period in 2020 is also quite low. [/QUOTE]
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