Scrapes
- Thread starter hoyt30
- Start date
I haven't found any scrapes or rubs yet, but I am in an big area and it all is new to me. I am bow hunting and scouting trying to figure it out.
Good luck
BSK
Well-Known Member
I have seen a few, but not the big explosion of scrapes others have reported.
For me it all depends on where it's at. A scrape inside a food source is most generally hit at night so I don't mess with them. A scrape inside thick staging or bedding areas get hit generally during daylight and are outstanding places to hunt.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I really focus on the traditional scrapes. They see the most action, usually because they are in high traffic areas.
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
After first frost they really turnlose in my hunting area, never fails!
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
Where is it at? Pin location
Asking for a friend
LolBSK
Well-Known Member
BSK
Well-Known Member
Interesting Ski.
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
I like to find the first scrape with a prominent licking branch off of bedding, multiple licking branches is even better IMO. If the scrapes are out in a feeding area they're not productive to hunt IMO. This is a good example below.
Attachments
Last edited:
BSK
Well-Known Member
Honestly, I never hunt scrapes per se. I hunt areas that happen to have scrapes because of the reason those scrapes exist: the spot is a high-traffic area for bucks.
He's been doing that since he shed velvet. I was initially confused thinking he was just a very big 3yr old but his behavior was much more in line with a much older buck. Upon finding pics of him from previous years I can safely assign a 5yr age to him, which matches his behavior, but his body looks like a picture perfect 3yr old.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Shed Hunter
Well-Known Member
When you say you start them, are you referring to the "scrape" on the ground or are you saying you find licking branches/create them and start new scrapes every year?
I don't make true mock scrapes anymore. I start scrape cams in August on old traditional scrapes made by deer. Scrapes that have likely been in those locations as long as the licking branch has existed. If the ground hasn't been cleared, I always do so myself, and then I pee in it. I can't see any reason to ever make a true mock scrape. I'm not saying they aren't effective, but my intuition would have me believe if there's meant to be a traditional scrape in the area, it will have already existed-likely for many years.
There are a few things that will ruin a traditional scrape as I've learned this year. A fallen tree caused one location to no longer be the path of least resistance and a large amount of predators randomly entering the area of one (likely a dead deer from EHD nearby I would guess)
BSK
Well-Known Member
I do like you, I scrape the leaves away from a traditional scrape and pee in it, but I don't do this until early October. Scraping earlier than that is quite rare on my place.
I will only make true mock scrapes when I find a location that is perfect for a traditional scrape, but one has never been made there. I'll then create that scrape and see what happens. Sometimes bucks take it over and sometimes they don't. I used to make far more mock scrapes than I do now, simply because we have been drawing so many older bucks to the property over the last few years that if a location is right for a scrape, bucks will naturally make one. In a good herd health year, the number of scrapes we find on the place is insane. It's hundreds. In a poor health year (drought, acorn failure), the number of scrapes will be dramatically muted. However - and the reason why is a mystery - rubbing behavior in my area is far more profoundly affected by herd health than scraping behavior. In a poor health year, rubbing almost ceases. In 2022, with the full summer drought and total acorn crop failure in my area, we found a grand total of 6 rubs on 500 acres. That's in contrast to back when we were still running our rub research, and we had years where we recorded a rub density on the property of 6,000 rubs per square mile.
I have ABSOLUTELY seen that happen. A tree falls nearby and that scrape stops being a traditional scrape.
I make a lot of them. I also cut away other potential licking branches so mine gets all the attention. And I maintain them indefinitely. Some of my best used scrapes were made by me and are a decade or more old.
One thing to consider is private vs public lands. On public lands generally if it's a good spot for a scrape there will naturally be one. But on private land where habitat is being manipulated, there are lots of opportunities to create new scrapes and dictate where they'll be. Anytime you add food plots, new trails, water holes, mineral sites, bedding thickets, etc. there is a new spot for a scrape. I prefer to have that scrape where I can hunt it, rather than a random buck starting it at the most convenient branch to him when the urge strikes.
This vid is a scrape I made more than a decade ago and it's still the most used scrape on the property. He opened it up this year as soon as he shed velvet, still has velvet hanging from his horns. You can't really see it well but there's a ratchet strap on that branch that I use to adjust the height. Whenever the ends get too short that the licking branch is too high, I ratchet it down a few clicks back into place. I also cut every other branch from that tree and any other branch that could be used anywhere near it. That scrape began being used immediately after I made it and has been a 24/7/365 hub of communication ever since. They use it year round day or night. I've got lots of examples of similar mock scrapes. Might make a new thread about mock scrapes.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Ski, good point about the habitat changes. Every time we make a major habitat change, we often dramatically alter travel patterns. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing, establishing new hunting locations but accidentally "ruining" traditional patterns.
