real scrapes.....

[tim]

so starting out bowhunting i didnt even know what scrapes were then as i progressed i started learning what they were, then i was intrigues more than anything. next i went by what all the literature said about them and had minimal action around them. i know there are different types of scrapes and so on. from my experiences the best scraping that i have seen that is consistantly hit year after year have been in my deep valleys , same spots until the licking branches are broke or dead then its a matter of small distances they show back up ..... then comes last year i gained access to a new hunting spot that i had wanted to hunt for a few years. i had seen a big buck run up the hill from the road so i investigated this spot (the year b4)from remembering that deer cross a few years ago. i climbed the steep bluff and instantly heard a deer run off i was still quite a ways down the hill, i walked over and sure enough a bed, no doubt a single big bed it had to be a buck imo. thats all i needed i was hanging there on a morning and hope to catch him b4 he gets back to bed. i ended up killing a nice buck right there last year but didnt realize the full picture as to why i was seeing all these bucks before i finally killed the one i did. after the shot i trailed the deer only to find no less than a dozen heavily worked scrapes just another 30 yards up the hill. now i hunt bluffs all the time and haave never seen scrapes this far down the hill and besides that so many all so close together . i have seen this many this close in my valley ..... so my question is for bluff hunters , have you seen this before. have i been missing something , i have scouted most of my places extensively and have never seen scrapes this far down the hill. quite honestly i thought i was too far down the hill initailly because i usually dont hang this far down but i was attempting to be very close to where i thought he was bedding and ended up below this line of scrapes which ultimately put me onto great buck movement around these scrapes. time of year was oct. 23-28th mornings only (not every day but a few).

[PLB]

I think that is the absolute best time to kill a mature buck over a scrape period. I have seen scraping like this Tim on the bottoms and on a sidehill logging road or bench. The couple years I saw this on the bottom there was probably 20 scrapes in a line and the trail cam pics of different bucks were unreal. Another guy was hunting that area and missed a giant 10 at 35 yards. He had stands set up on both sides of the scrape line for different winds. He saw a ton of bucks hunting there during the end of Oct. and several shooters too. I think its a great time to kill one over a scrape.

[dan]

I think scrape placment can be anywhere... I agree that they show up in the same spots, but I have seen them in valleys, up top, and where ever... I think what matters is that your finding the ones your hunting in areas where deer move in daylight. Close to bedding, or along daytime cruising roughts.

[Edcyclopedia]

Would a bedded buck from the top rely on the themals to drag "daytime" scent upwards, effectively scent checking while sleeping, especially pre-rut.?

[Brandon]

in my woods scrapes are a dime a dozen... everywhere.

i used to hunt scrapes for many years with VERY little to show for it. I do not hunt scrapes or scrape lines anymore at all. I include them into the bigger pciture, but they dont get me excited and Ill prob never sit over top one again.

Most scrap activity is at night, not saying you wont see anything... but I try to hunt where they hide, and hunt does/funnels during the rut.

[tim]

brandon i agree with your assessment. i dont specifcally hunt over scrapes as in the earlier years, if they happen to be in a spot i plan on hunting then that might factor into the hunt. on this hunt being well over a third of the way down the hill i didnt even realize i was right below such a massive scrape line. i access this set from the bottom and dont go to the top.the deer activity was definately directly related to these active scrapes during this time period. as the big bucks i was seing were staying below the scrape line and scent checking. in my valleys scrapes are a dime a dozen , up top not so much, in between even less. occasionally they are on logging roads but my logging roads are pretty steep not benchlike except for the ones 2/3 down the bluff.

[Stanley]

I have never killed a buck over a scrape. I could have but the bucks were smaller and I passed on them. My thoughts are if you are going to set over a scrape it should be before the dos come int heat. I also think they would work better in big woods.

[dan]

I killed several big bucks over scrapes including a couple of my biggest bow kills, but the scrapes were in staging areas in close proximity to the bucks bed.

[Crazinamatese]

I never pay attention to scrapes on field edges. Thats mostly nocturnal stuff. Along with scrapes on logging roads running on ridge lines. Never seen any action on them either. Where I used to hunt, I would look for good scrapes during spring scouting inside the thick briar thickets in ravines or up in the draws. Tough areas, but they were in there and were the best scrapes to hunt over...

[Schultzy]

Would a bedded buck from the top rely on the themals to drag "daytime" scent upwards, effectively scent checking while sleeping, especially pre-rut.?

I believe so.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I've had hit and miss luck on scrapes. The only time I've killed over a scrape is when i was hunting a "primary" scrape (nickname from Eberhardts). I've seen these areas over the years, but never really put the pieces together until i started using Dan's teachings. These primary scrape areas were just areas where you would find a bunch of scrapes in a relatively close area; However, there was usually daytime activity near them because they were close to staging areas/beds like Dan was talking about above.

[Autumn Ninja]

The only time I've killed over a scrape is when i was hunting a "primary" scrape (nickname from Eberhardts).

Really, when did he come up with this? I've known (from my dad) what primary, secondary, satellite and community scrapes were for over 30 years now....had no idea he (Eberhardts) had been writing stuff for that long.

[Edcyclopedia]

The only time I've killed over a scrape is when i was hunting a "primary" scrape (nickname from Eberhardts).

Really, when did he come up with this? I've known (from my dad) what primary, secondary, satellite and community scrapes were for over 30 years now....had no idea he (Eberhardts) had been writing stuff for that long.

LOL - Not only did he feed you he taught you deer hunting, you're lucky.
My father had me to do his chores

[MOBIGBUCKS]

The only time I've killed over a scrape is when i was hunting a "primary" scrape (nickname from Eberhardts).

Really, when did he come up with this? I've known (from my dad) what primary, secondary, satellite and community scrapes were for over 30 years now....had no idea he (Eberhardts) had been writing stuff for that long.

Don't know if he has been writing that long. Just a term I have seen them using to describe a cluster of scrapes like I've been hunting. I have no idea who coined the term "primary scrape."

[BigHills BuckHunter]

I hunt in hill country and the most active scrape which I have seen is a community scrape which has been worked since I started bowhunting in 04. This scrape is in the bottom of a ravine which funnels out to a field in the bottom. I think having the scrape in the bottom makes sense. In the evening once the thermals switch scent will be funneled right down to where the scrape or ravine is. The scrape is placed properly because where its at there are two other valleys that meet this main ravine and I would think like I said before right after dark scent will be funneling right to that spot. Maybe Im wrong thats just what makes sense to me.

On this community scrape my brother passed up a 2.5 yr old 8 pointer, I have passed up a nice 10 and my cousin shot that deer out of the same stand overlooking that scrape a week later. Also a bunch of yearlings passed. This spring I put another stand in there which is closer to where buck bedding is. Need a NW wind though.