Here in MT I hunt river bottoms. Usually but not always the scrapes I find are on some sort of elevated terrain. In my area, there are slight ridges formed by the river from the old river channel. Probably thousands of years old. They run parallel to the river. Just few feet of difference. Anyway, the deer like to follow these "ridges". The scrapes are usually on top of them. Sometimes they are are the edge of them but still elevated. Always a licking branch. Back in NJ when i was just starting out, it was very similar. If there was high ground or a hump in the swamp, that's where the scrapes would be. If there was a little ridge that ran out into the swamp, that's where scrapes would be. Usually on the tip. If there was a big ridge, the scrapes were on the top. If there was an old logging road, there was a good chance there was a scrape line on it. Also there were scrapes on field edges. Still elevated. The Pine Barrens is noted for it's sandy soil. These ridges that I hunt here are just sand that was deposited years ago from floods etc. Not sure if it's the soil but from what I've noticed over the years is it's the change in elevation.