Bucks Bedded In Scrapes

[daveynewman]

that's wild I have never heard of them doing that until reading this. the knowledge we gain from everyone on this sight is remarkable

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[Jackson Marsh]

Great post Joe.

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[DeerDylan]

I remember finding belly hairs in a scrape before and it just confused me....

Seaz you bring up a good point. The first example I posted had more daylight use than the others. Not coincidentally it was the most secure location, it is basically part of a bedding area used year round by does and during the rut by bucks - in daylight anyway. My camera covered one of the day buck bedding locations that happened to be a scrape as well.

The second and third examples were more open and exposed to human intrusion and almost entirely night bedding locations. The scrapes did see some morning and evening use by bucks but not much daylight bedding.

All these terms we hunters use - primary scrapes, day beds, night beds, rut beds, blah blah...we have to keep in mind to a buck these simple terms of ours usually cover a wider range of uses and behaviors.

[glow=red]We humans like to label things and walk away thinking we know everything about it. If a buck could talk, I think he could write a book about all the uses of just one scrape in the woods. There's always something more to learn.[/glow]

Oh yeah for sure! Interesting stuff Joe. Thanks for doing this!

[oneflag]

Wow, the light just came on! This explains why I have seen a few scrapes over the years packed down with a little hair in them. Great post and picture’s, thank you.

[moog5050]

Great point Joe. We observed the same thing first time this year. Had several different bucks bed next to a scrape from late Octy. to mid-Nov. that we used for inventory. Stopped using the bed after that.

[hunter_mike]

Very cool! Thanks for posting that.

I have a pic of a small buck in a bachelor group bedded in my mock scrape but it only happened one time with one buck and I thought it was a coincidence.

I think looking at a bunch of different scrapes and putting some thought into the "why" of their locations can tell a good story of how the local bucks are using that area. It was only in the past year and a half that I realized that scrapes are all over the place. (Thanks stash59) Now my eye is trained to look at every low hanging branch in the area. These days when I am scouting, I pretty much don't even look for bedding unless I am finding some scrapes that seem to be associated with the potential buck bedding nearby.

[rfickes87]

JoeRE

Very cool read, thanks for sharing! If I may ask a question...

When you say in Example 2: "This scrape is located down in the bottoms where a couple small valleys meet. A classic thermal hub scrape on a buck travel route basically. Doe bedding on the ridges around, any food quite a distance away again."

What is a thermal hub scrape? could you post a picture of an example on a map of what you mean? Since joining the beast "thermals" are often discussed and i understand the general concept per Dan's videos but I'm always still trying to learn more.

I hunt alot of steep hillsides on big pieces of public. I often find scrapes on these hillsides along old logging roads that the deer travel bc the hillsides are too steep to walk. Is this similar to what you're describing?

[droptine84]

Very Interesting Thanks for sharing.

[Aaron1987]

I've seen this a few times in our trail camera pulls also.

I've also noticed it on trail intersections. Very interesting post.

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[JoeRE]

JoeRE

Very cool read, thanks for sharing! If I may ask a question...

When you say in Example 2: "This scrape is located down in the bottoms where a couple small valleys meet. A classic thermal hub scrape on a buck travel route basically. Doe bedding on the ridges around, any food quite a distance away again."

What is a thermal hub scrape? could you post a picture of an example on a map of what you mean? Since joining the beast "thermals" are often discussed and i understand the general concept per Dan's videos but I'm always still trying to learn more.

I hunt alot of steep hillsides on big pieces of public. I often find scrapes on these hillsides along old logging roads that the deer travel bc the hillsides are too steep to walk. Is this similar to what you're describing?

This thread explains it well and where I learned about it myself several years ago:

http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19217&start=30

I would see this activity all the time in big hills, but never understood it until reading Autumn Ninja's thread. Wish he was still around....or maybe he is just lurking these days. One of the great hunters on here on here from years ago.

[cbay]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Never saw that where we have had cameras down on food plots at the property.
Thinking about the bucks and their rutting activity makes me believe they may need to lay down, digest some food and rest for a bit before continuing to look for another doe on their circuit.
Bedding right in the scrape,,, maybe there is something to that communication wise or maybe just a cozy and safe place to lay?
If it happens with consistency then i would think there is some communication going on. Maybe a dominance thing? Or wanting to be seen and/or smelled (located) by a receptive doe?

[Hatchetman]

Very Interesting!

I've seen does plop down in a scrape a couple of times during the daylight (always big, older ones it seemed) but never a buck.
Although maybe some bucks would have, but a 3.5 yr. old to me gets a green light most times, so they wouldn't of made it! Lol.

I only set 1 cam over a particular, yearly scrape on the farm that gets good activity, but I never gotten a laying buck pic.

Seeing this seems to be kind of a rarity. I'm wondering what factors contribute this behavior?

Things like...

Over all deer population in your area?
Buck doe ratio?
Hunting pressure on the land?

Seeing it seems in your pics it mainly 2.5 & 3.5's
Do you ever get any 4.5 or older doing this?

Seems like a ballzy move in daylight for any age buck seeing the limited immediate cover like a windfall or log to break them up and if they even took into consideration wind direction in their decision to lay there that day or was excessive testosterone a ruling factor?

Very cool to see what goes on in the deer world in other areas.
Thanks for sharing.

[JoeRE]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Never saw that where we have had cameras down on food plots at the property.
Thinking about the bucks and their rutting activity makes me believe they may need to lay down, digest some food and rest for a bit before continuing to look for another doe on their circuit.
Bedding right in the scrape,,, maybe there is something to that communication wise or maybe just a cozy and safe place to lay?
If it happens with consistency then i would think there is some communication going on. Maybe a dominance thing? Or wanting to be seen and/or smelled (located) by a receptive doe?

Yea the most interesting bit to me is that only a small number of scrapes are like this, but the ones that are all have multiple bucks bed in them over several weeks. Its no more than 1 in 10 community scrapes seems like. Stan is right about bucks seeking out locations to lie down where they smelled other deer lie down but there's more to it as well. There is something in common with how bucks perceive these locations.

Hatchetman your observations are interesting, I have never gotten a picture of a doe bedded in or next to a scrape. I have heard others describe watching a doe do this as she enters estrus, apparently waiting for a buck, but I have never gotten it on camera to date. That's out of 10s of 1000s of images of both bucks and does working scrapes. I believe you guys, just must be different circumstances.

Yes, most of the bucks are 2 and 3 year olds. Maybe yearlings are scared to do this generally (did get a couple) - and older bucks are too wary to bed in these locations. There is pretty good age structure in the herd, and a decent buck to doe ratio of around 1:1.5 but all of this is on public land that sees moderate pressure. I seek out areas with few other bowhunters but I routinely get hikers and small game hunters on camera as well. Most Iowa bowhunters are pretty lazy because they can be and still shoot 3 year olds.

[Stanley]

[quote="JoeRE"]Seaz you bring up a good point. The first example I posted had more daylight use than the others. Not coincidentally it was the most secure location, it is basically part of a bedding area used year round by does and during the rut by bucks - in daylight anyway. My camera covered one of the day buck bedding locations that happened to be a scrape as well.

The second and third examples were more open and exposed to human intrusion and almost entirely night bedding locations. The scrapes did see some morning and evening use by bucks but not much daylight bedding.

All these terms we hunters use - primary scrapes, day beds, night beds, rut beds, blah blah...we have to keep in mind to a buck these simple terms of ours usually cover a wider range of uses and behaviors.

We humans like to label things and walk away thinking we know everything about it. If a buck could talk, I think he could write a book about all the uses of just one scrape in the woods. There's always something more to learn.[/quote]

I agree 100% Joe I think core area is an overused term. There is no specific circle that hold deer in an area. Just an area a deer uses at times. Just because some TV celebrity uses the term doesn't mean its etched in stone. This is a great thread Joe.

[thwack16]

I have seen this on a camera several years ago. I've also seen beds in close proximity to scrapes.

My explanation is that it's the way that the bucks is seeking estrous does while he is resting and is able to keep himself safe. He believes that the does will use those scrapes as they work into estrous so he's plopped down to monitor it while also letting his body catch up.