Just because bucks stop visiting scrapes for a several week period does not mean they do not cruise downwind to check them during rut. If it is near bedding it's going to get checked.
Does will go pee in a scrape during the rut.
Community scrape?
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Re: Community scrape?
I do plan on hangin a camera over it, just not a cell since i dont own any but itd be a deal where i hang it and leave it either untill i hunt or end of season. And yes you are correct its in the middle of the trail where it Y’s with a faint trail running parralel as well just that are looked rutty and a place to my inexperienced hill country mind had that feel of they cruise thru even with not checkin scrapes. Its thick to the east on the little bit of public before the line and over onto the private and to the north as well once over that crick and onto private so could be good during rut as well for cruisers. But yes the scrapes are best mid october to early November here as well. If i can catch it on a weekend late october with the right wind and after a night of rain. I might just put my cards on the table and set up near it to catch a buck or bucks coming to freshen it and check it out. Iv got more of that piece to scout tho since i ran out of daylight this past weekend.
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Re: Community scrape?
I know this reply is a bit late from when the thread was originally going but I will try and help with a couple of points. First off great find on the scrape! I would caution you in regards to hanging a camera too near the scrape site. I found a similar large community scrape a few years back and made the mistake of hanging a camera way too close, (within 10 yards) of the scrape. I had walked all around it trying to figure out why it was there, because it was on the end of a steep bluff overlooking a creek bottom with about a 20' drop. I also hung a setup about 40 yards away in a draw (water drainage) where I could see the scrape and also hunt the creek bottom. Needless to say I never saw anything at this spot and never got anything on camera. I had blown the area out and did not have any clue at that time about bedding, how to look for it and how it even played a part. So again, be real cautious about leaving too much scent around that area. As Tennhunter3 noted, do not cross trails in your setup, another mistake I made in the description above.
In the examples I read through in this thread, Tennhunter3 detailed where the buck will "J-hook" around the scrape to scent check it. I have personally witnessed and killed from this action of bucks. A couple years ago I killed my biggest buck to date as he had traveled along an SMZ (Streamside Management Zone) creek, paralleled a perennial scrape that I had noticed was being worked that morning on my way to my stand and positioned himself downwind of the scrape. He stopped after crossing a bow in the creek and raised his head and lip curled which gave me the opportunity at a shot. Last year I had a buck that performed a similar "J-hook" around a scrape, that I had noticed that afternoon when heading into that hunting location had a wet spot in it. He came out of bedding, circling downwind of the scrape and then proceeded directly to the scrape where I had hung a dripper sponge and juiced it when I arrived, which is how I noted the wet spot. Unfortunately the tree I was in had me skylined and the buck noticed me shifting to get a shot on him. I thought his attention was totally on the scrape but he won that one. Focusing back on the point the actions of a buck described by Tennhunter3 is exactly correct and should factor into your setup, as it will likely be your best chance at getting a shot at him on this scrape.
In the examples I read through in this thread, Tennhunter3 detailed where the buck will "J-hook" around the scrape to scent check it. I have personally witnessed and killed from this action of bucks. A couple years ago I killed my biggest buck to date as he had traveled along an SMZ (Streamside Management Zone) creek, paralleled a perennial scrape that I had noticed was being worked that morning on my way to my stand and positioned himself downwind of the scrape. He stopped after crossing a bow in the creek and raised his head and lip curled which gave me the opportunity at a shot. Last year I had a buck that performed a similar "J-hook" around a scrape, that I had noticed that afternoon when heading into that hunting location had a wet spot in it. He came out of bedding, circling downwind of the scrape and then proceeded directly to the scrape where I had hung a dripper sponge and juiced it when I arrived, which is how I noted the wet spot. Unfortunately the tree I was in had me skylined and the buck noticed me shifting to get a shot on him. I thought his attention was totally on the scrape but he won that one. Focusing back on the point the actions of a buck described by Tennhunter3 is exactly correct and should factor into your setup, as it will likely be your best chance at getting a shot at him on this scrape.
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Re: Community scrape?
Thanks for the additional info, and advice i will keep that in mind. I did make a mock community scrape near the natural one in July, and put a cam up on my mock i made, and i checked camera in august to make sure the cheap tasco was working, and got a borderline shooter(anywhere else but this spot itd be a definite shooter) its just a bear to get back to. Gonna check the cam once more on a rainy day this weekend or next. Then im stayin outta there till mid-late october.
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