When Is A Scrape Dead?

[Mike Belt]

My opinion....

The initial scrape serves as an olfactory attractant as well as a visual attractant. Once made or visited by another buck that bare spot on the ground loses much of it's revelance and all bucks involved remember that location. It's disappointing to return to them only to find them "untouched" and covered with leaves. Are the bucks not moving? Have they vacated the area? Are they locked down elsewhere with a hot doe? Possibly but not necessarily. At least 2/3 of my scrape pics as well as eyewitness accounts show the bucks (and does) going straight for the over hanging branch never re-opening the actual scrape. If you base current deer activity on scrapes that you find and their condition all may not be lost just because the ground is no longer bare.

 

[Griswold]

for the last two weeks the scrapes ive been walking by don't have any leaves in them, they are being worked every night

 

[redblood]

for the last two weeks the scrapes ive been walking by don't have any leaves in them, they are being worked every night

a good scrape is worked constantly by a variety of different bucks and does, even in the peak rut

 

[jaybird62]

I view most scrapes as an immediate, impromptu opportunity for a buck to leave his calling card for a doe and then hide in thick coved down wind to wait. When they leave that spot they have no need to reopen it. That's different from a community scrape where bucks and does rework the same scrape. I've found some of these that are the size of a car hood or larger. We'd had a pear tree in SC on our lease where every year the bucks would scrape the ground bare the entire circumference of the tree's drip line. Didn't hurt that they ate the pears, too.

 

[Grandslam11]

The scrapes on my land appeared to be dead this past weekend. The prior week, I had 5-10 with bare ground showing. This past week, all were covered in leaves.... Im hoping this weekend, things will be turned on again.

 

[bowriter]

9 out of 10 scrapes are dead as soon as they are made. Both BSK and I have spent some time studying scrapes and I would bet if we were to be asked this question, 90% of you wouldn't believe what we would say. Probably, scrapes are the single most misunderstood aspect of deer hunting and deer activity.

It has absolutely nothing to do with either a buck or doe leaving a rut oriented calling card. It is more of a post board at the bank for every deer to announce they visited. It has little to do with rut but is more of a communal log book.

However, the above paragraph applies sonly to the large, open communal scrape. The rest, for the most part, mean a deer or turkey has been there.

I wrote a 2750 word article on scrapes and what they really mean and do but lucky you, I won't post it here...cause I can't find it.

 

[southernhunter]

Over ther years I have read or watch many study's on the subject. Conclusion imo is no one really knows. At best there just a educated guess. So many factors can come into play with deer scrape activity and continue use of scrapes such as hunting pressure ,buck to doe ratio. Land size, location of the land state to state . Weather and the list just goes on and on. Property one I hunt has good scape/rub activity every year. Another Property just down the road has little to no scape/rub activity year to year though 3 of my better mature bucks came off that property. I have hunted both pieces of land for 12 years and it's proven to be the same every year. So in conclusion my theory on scrape/ rub activity is this : I like to see them and they help me stay motivated but in the end I just hunt. I don't let them influence where I hunt. Consistent trail cam pics , Food sources coupled actually deer sightings do that.

 

[jb3]

I like seeing them on our lease. It means that we have deer on it at some time or another. I just don't hunt them. If I hunt some type of sign, I'll hunt a signpost (rub) by a logging road. Did so last weekend. Had consistent sign it was being used and watched a 4 ptr cross the road, rub the tree and continue on.

 

[Mike Belt]

I don't advocate hunting over scrapes (not to be confused with a hot, fresh scrapeline; see hunting scrapeline post) and I seldom do although there's a certain positive feeling about them in my vicinity. I don't remember taking but a couple of bucks at a scrape in over 30 years of hunting. This post is more for pointing out the unimportance of a bare spot on the ground as opposed to the licking branches overhead. If all scrapes made were immediately covered with leaves and never reopened how many would hunters discover in their scouting forays? Probably very few. If only those licking branches are being "worked" how many would hunters notice? Probably none at all even though they are possibly being worked frequently.

 

[southernhunter]

I don't advocate hunting over scrapes (not to be confused with a hot, fresh scrapeline; see hunting scrapeline post) and I seldom do although there's a certain positive feeling about them in my vicinity. I don't remember taking but a couple of bucks at a scrape in over 30 years of hunting. This post is more for pointing out the unimportance of a bare spot on the ground as opposed to the licking branches overhead. If all scrapes made were immediately covered with leaves and never reopened how many would hunters discover in their scouting forays? Probably very few. If only those licking branches are being "worked" how many would hunters notice? Probably none at all even though they are possibly being worked frequently.

I'd never understood this until I started putting cams on scrapes. Got several pics of scrape branches being worked with out any scrape rework. Good info and post mike.

 

[TboneD]

Coming from someone who's yet to use a trailcam, thanks, Mike (and southernhunter) for the observation. It's good to know you can't assume that a scrape is no longer relevant (at least to the deer) just because it hasn't been freshened.

 

[bowriter]

I don't advocate hunting over scrapes (not to be confused with a hot, fresh scrapeline; see hunting scrapeline post) and I seldom do although there's a certain positive feeling about them in my vicinity. I don't remember taking but a couple of bucks at a scrape in over 30 years of hunting. This post is more for pointing out the unimportance of a bare spot on the ground as opposed to the licking branches overhead. If all scrapes made were immediately covered with leaves and never reopened how many would hunters discover in their scouting forays? Probably very few. If only those licking branches are being "worked" how many would hunters notice? Probably none at all even though they are possibly being worked frequently.

Aha-Dead on about the licking branch. And they work without a scrape underneath as well. I have seen a few that were branches only and almost always willow.

 

[HOOK]

Interesting.... I have also noticed for the last 4 years there are 3 scrapes on my place that are revitalized every season! All these years and I never knew about annual scrapes....

 

[bowriter]

Hook those scrapes can often be started by you. I have had several of my mock scrapes become traditional or annual scrapes. The strange thing is, those scrapes often are used all year. It is just that during the spring and summer, the action is so slight that it is often overlooked.

For two years, I studied scrapes, made many of my own and started many of them during turkey season. They would get "picked up" and after that, the deer kept them going. I found about 20% of the mock scrapes I started got "picked up" and about 10% of them became traditional. I used nothing but my own urine.

The most important aspect was location and then it had to have a licking branch. During those two years, so many of the "facts" about scrapes got wiped out. I would guess 90% of the hunters really have no idea what a scrape is for.

I spent a lot of time studying both scrapes and rubs and creating my own. There are areas or places that have scrapes and rubs every year. The reason was simply the location. I had a friend that cut down a cedar tree, removed the branches and "planted" a 10' post about 6" in circumference in the middle of a food plot. Within a week, it became a communal rubbing post. This was simply because of the location. The bucks wanted a rub in the right place. They could let each other know, they were also visiting that food plot. Does too, rub on them. Rubs transmit as much or more information from scent that from sight. Different types of rubs mean different things and are used in different ways.

I probably put over 1,000 hours into studying rubs and scrapes. I learned a heck of a lot about what is really going on with them.

 

[mercman]

I found a huge scrape about 30 yards from my stand one week before ML opened, two large branches twisted down. The scrape has never been freshened but I've seen and have pictures of bucks and does working the branches.

 

[bowriter]

The licking branches are far more important than the scrape-to a deer.

 

[BSK]

for the last two weeks the scrapes ive been walking by don't have any leaves in them, they are being worked every night

a good scrape is worked constantly by a variety of different bucks and does, even in the peak rut

Not necessarily true. Often, during peak breeding, bucks do not rework scrapes, even though they are visiting them. I can usually tell when peak breeding is occurring on a property by watching scrapes. Traditional scrapes often go untouched for about 5-10 days during peak breeding, even though trail-cameras will show bucks are still visiting them.

 

[southernhunter]

This week I watched as a small doe. Worked a licking branch then went to the rub next to it and began to lick it for several minutes

 

[BSK]

I think much of the misconception is that scrapes are just scrapes. In reality, they are a seasonal form of communication used at a licking branch that is active all year. The act of scraping the ground and peeing over the hocks is just a behavior that is exhibited near the rut. But that over-head limb is used all year.