Springtime scrapeline?

[BringBackThe80s]

How common are active scrape lines in spring (after greenup)?

I took my son backpacking last weekend (April 4) along the cumberland trail and stayed well off of the CT at a creekside campsite deep in the forest. It's one I've known of for decades but that people very rarely used use. (We had to clear brush out of the site before setting our tent.) The next morning we walked the traces of the trail along a the creek at the bottom of a 150ft ravine at the head of a mountain cove. These days the trail is mainly used by wildlife.

Before going to bed, I saw that ~20 yards from our tent there was deer scrape with licking branch hanging above the trail. The next morning the scrape--in sight of our tent--had been freshened while we were sleeping. We then found 3 more fresh scrapes with licking branches in the next few hundred yards along the creekbottom game trail. We found a 4th without a licking branch.

In 30 years hunting the mountains, this is the first time I have found an active scrape line after January. Only once have I found a single scrape this time of year--but it was a single communal scrape the size ofba car hood, on a ridge point with a 270-degree view. That scrape stayed open year-round for three years after I first found it.

Anybody else have experience with springtime scrapelines?

 

[BSK]

How common are active scrape lines in spring (after greenup)?

Very. The different cycles of antler growth, hardening, casting, and beginning of regrowth are all driven by a buck's testosterone production. Often a buck's body will produce a little "surge" of testosterone to kick off different antler-growth-cycle functions. One of these classically occurs in spring, usually around mid-April. This little surge of testosterone triggers the buck's body to start growing velvet antlers. However, what it also does is makes bucks suddenly act "rutty." This is often manifest in scrapes suddenly being reopened at an odd time: mid-April. I can usually tell when the majority of bucks in an area start the velvet antler growth process in a given location by watching for these spring scrapes to open up.

 

[BringBackThe80s]

Very. The different cycles of antler growth, hardening, casting, and beginning of regrowth are all driven by a buck's testosterone production. Often a buck's body will produce a little "surge" of testosterone to kick off different antler-growth-cycle functions. One of these classically occurs in spring, usually around mid-April. This little surge of testosterone triggers the buck's body to start growing velvet antlers. However, what it also does is makes bucks suddenly act "rutty." This is often manifest in scrapes suddenly being reopened at an odd time: mid-April. I can usually tell well the majority of bucks in an area start the velvet antler growth process in a given location by watching for these spring scrapes to open up.

"Rutty" sounds like a good description for the buck in that creekbottom. I snore like a chainsaw, so I was shocked that he was brave or stupid enough to freshen a scrape ~20 yards from, and in sight of, a tent where I was sawing logs.

 

[Wonderland]

I had a picture just the other day of a buck hitting a licking branch and a few years ago while turkey hunting I watched a group of does work a scrape. So I'll say it's very common.

 

[mattandre]

How common are active scrape lines in spring (after greenup)?

I took my son backpacking last weekend (April 4) along the cumberland trail and stayed well off of the CT at a creekside campsite deep in the forest. It's one I've known of for decades but that people very rarely used use. (We had to clear brush out of the site before setting our tent.) The next morning we walked the traces of the trail along a the creek at the bottom of a 150ft ravine at the head of a mountain cove. These days the trail is mainly used by wildlife.

Before going to bed, I saw that ~20 yards from our tent there was deer scrape with licking branch hanging above the trail. The next morning the scrape--in sight of our tent--had been freshened while we were sleeping. We then found 3 more fresh scrapes with licking branches in the next few hundred yards along the creekbottom game trail. We found a 4th without a licking branch.

In 30 years hunting the mountains, this is the first time I have found an active scrape line after January. Only once have I found a single scrape this time of year--but it was a single communal scrape the size ofba car hood, on a ridge point with a 270-degree view. That scrape stayed open year-round for three years after I first found it.

Anybody else have experience with springtime scrapelines?

That's a really cool observation, especially having one freshened that close to camp overnight.

Spring scrapes do happen, but they're usually not part of a true rut scrape line. Most of what shows up after green-up seems more like communication/territorial behavior, especially around community scrapes or heavy travel routes like creek bottoms.

What you described makes sense-low pressure area, consistent deer movement, and a well-used corridor. I've seen a few scrapes reopen in March/April, but finding several together like that is pretty uncommon.

Sounds like you found a solid year-round travel route with a semi-permanent scrape area.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Have an oak tree we can see from our kitchen window that used to have a community scrape under it year after year. We would see deer use it occasionally this time of year.

 

[Volbuck777]

Watched two bucks scrape and hit a licking branch last week while turkey hunting.