Lets talk scrapes

[Fgirtyman]

I had a coyote piss in a scrape I was hunting over. Son of a gun.

Beat you Plebe! Bear pissing in a scrape!

 

[Plebe]

Beat you Plebe! Bear pissing in a scrape!

Not a fan of those. They really gobble up the fawns and I'm never sure if they are looking at me like a bigger slower menu special.

 

[Fgirtyman]

Not a fan of those. They really gobble up the fawns and I'm never sure if they are looking at me like a bigger slower menu special.

I even had a young couple with a blanket and picnic basket set up near a scrape. I had to clear my throat loud enough so they heard me…they looked up packed up and left. Lol

 

[mschultz373]

Question: do deer in southeast scrape year round, like community scrapes? I have so far only found scrapes leading up to and during the rut. I’ve been trying to keep my eyes peeled…. But I wonder if the community scrapes don’t open up down here because of the low deer density.

 

[Dmathews87]

Question: do deer in southeast scrape year round, like community scrapes? I have so far only found scrapes leading up to and during the rut. I’ve been trying to keep my eyes peeled…. But I wonder if the community scrapes don’t open up down here because of the low deer density.

I've never observed year round scraping,but this year i did see fresh scrapes well past Feb which was interesting..

 

[woodsdog2]

A primary scrape with a licking branch or several licking branches around it in an area that funnels deer movement due to terrain will be “related to” by the deer all throughout the year. Not as intense as leading up to and during the rut but it’s a communication hub and deer also “play” with my vertical grape vine licking branch scrapes. I have a video of a fawn in July making the vertical licking branch move and then the fawn does a dance under the swinging licking branch. Darndest cutest thing I’ve ever seen!!!

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Question: do deer in southeast scrape year round, like community scrapes? I have so far only found scrapes leading up to and during the rut. I’ve been trying to keep my eyes peeled…. But I wonder if the community scrapes don’t open up down here because of the low deer density.

My observation is that the primary or community scrapes will be visited regularly by deer throughout the year but generally the focus will just be on the licking branch and not the scrape. Generally, the scrape will not be opened up and refreshed until early November.

 

[mschultz373]

And these primary scrapes are in thick cover? When we talk about thick cover, can we flesh out exactly what we mean? I only ask bc in some places I hunt there’s so much thickness in the understory that i can barely stand upright and walk thru it - I will find heavy trails and small rubs in these areas, but I don’t think larger bucks use those areas because they can’t get their racks thru them.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

And these primary scrapes are in thick cover? When we talk about thick cover, can we flesh out exactly what we mean? I only ask bc in some places I hunt there’s so much thickness in the understory that i can barely stand upright and walk thru it - I will find heavy trails and small rubs in these areas, but I don’t think larger bucks use those areas because they can’t get their racks thru them.

Generally speaking, yes, they will be in thick cover. They will be in places where people don't go. These are spots where a big buck will feel comfortable walking around in broad daylight. Below are two pictures from last year about this time when I went in and dialed in the spot. One picture is me in the tree at about 27 feet in my saddle overlooking the scrape (one of 4 big ones in there) and with several good pockets to get shots from along the scrape lane. Another photo is the view from height. You can see how thick these sorts of spots will be this time of year. When the foliage drops the spots will open up some, but they will never be spots that any self-respecting gun hunter would be caught dead hunting. That is the key.

The last picture is the same spot from this past fall showing how the scrapes lay out along an L shaped lane. This spot is 1.2 miles from any place you can park.

 

[mschultz373]

That is super helpful! Thank you.

I have tended to avoid the piney areas in the place I hunt - partially because parts of the pines can be so thick as to be unhuntable, literally you can't get in there and hang anywhere. But the pics you posted give me an idea what to look for.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

That is super helpful! Thank you.

I have tended to avoid the piney areas in the place I hunt - partially because parts of the pines can be so thick as to be unhuntable, literally you can't get in there and hang anywhere. But the pics you posted give me an idea what to look for.

Start by following all the edges where the really nasty thick stuff joins to the thick stuff. Look is areas where most of the pines are not big enough to hunt out of. Most thick stuff is not homogenous. There will be little relatively open pockets and lanes here and there is a lot of that sort of terrain.

 

[Topdog]

And these primary scrapes are in thick cover? When we talk about thick cover, can we flesh out exactly what we mean? I only ask bc in some places I hunt there’s so much thickness in the understory that i can barely stand upright and walk thru it - I will find heavy trails and small rubs in these areas, but I don’t think larger bucks use those areas because they can’t get their racks thru them.

That’s a popular misconception, the places a big racked buck will push his rack through is mind boggling to say the least, I have no idea how they do it but they do, and all the time.

 

[Topdog]

The guys above have about nailed it on what I find with my “true“ community scrapes, I’ll just add 99% of the scrapes I see in my travels are not community scrapes and what I call perimeter scrapes or boundary scrapes, a real… working community scrape is a rare find in the woods I hunt.