Early Scrapes

[phade]

I am starting to get daylight visits on field edge scrapes by 2 year olds. Got a series of pics sent to me this morning.

[DaveT1963]

It's not the scape Id be hunting, it's the licking branch. After years of cameras set up on them, they get visited by most bucks if near bedding..... time of day is best determined by camera IMHO. ID throw a hunt at it and set up a camera....... might give you some good days for later in season or next year?

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[DaveT1963]

It's not the scape Id be hunting, it's the licking branch. After years of cameras set up on them, they get visited by most bucks if near bedding..... time of day is best determined by camera IMHO. ID throw a hunt at it and set up a camera....... might give you some good days for later in season or next year?

[ Post made via Android ]

[Wlog]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to hang a camera and let it go for now.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

If you're going to put a camera by it and get your scent in there anyway, why not just take a camera with you and hunt it once and place the camera when you get down. If you're getting your scent in there anyway might as well give it one fresh sit. Also if it is indeed near his bed I wouldn't expect him to accept your scent in there checking it very often.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[JoeRE]

Hunting over a scrape is all about location location location like Bowhunter4life said. Hunting a scrape just cuz there is one is what has given scrapes a bad rap because most use is at night. Hunt a scrape only when you expect it to be used in daylight by a target buck, now or whenever. A fresh scrape right next to buck bedding is a prime setup IMO. If you have rain in the forecast in the next few days, bucks can't resist working scrapes right after a rain.

What would an indicator be that a scrape is being used during daylight? Obviously if you saw the buck make it you would know, just curious what else might suggest that. Such as proximity to bed or location.

[ Post made via Android ]

Location - next to bedding. A person could also hang a cam on it to find out but then you have to get in there to check the cam. Mostly, if a scrape is right next to bedding and on a likely travel route, I will figure it gets daylight use - or very close to daylight. I would like it within 200 yards of where the buck is bedded or so...but that distance would vary with terrain, hunting pressure.

Often a buck might bed watching the scrape....you might still be able to set up within bowshot of the scrape but that can be pretty tough....lots of times then I try a morning hunt right over the scrape, on a morning the buck will hopefully be out a little later and come back at first light. Cold front mornings, late pre-rut mornings, mornings after rain, moon mornings...

[Country]

Yea I'm in a tough spot. [glow=red]Part of me really wants to try it and the other part says stick to the plan..[/glow]

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I try to split my decisions 50/50 or close to it when it comes to circumstances like this. On one hunt, I might say "Try something new and hunt the scrape" and on another hunt I'll say "Stick to the original game plan." I feel like I'm not missing out on the possibility of a gut instinct being the right choice.

[BowHusker]

Hunting over a scrape is all about location location location like Bowhunter4life said. Hunting a scrape just cuz there is one is what has given scrapes a bad rap because most use is at night. Hunt a scrape only when you expect it to be used in daylight by a target buck, now or whenever. A fresh scrape right next to buck bedding is a prime setup IMO. If you have rain in the forecast in the next few days, bucks can't resist working scrapes right after a rain.

What would an indicator be that a scrape is being used during daylight? Obviously if you saw the buck make it you would know, just curious what else might suggest that. Such as proximity to bed or location.

[ Post made via Android ]

Location - next to bedding. A person could also hang a cam on it to find out but then you have to get in there to check the cam. Mostly, if a scrape is right next to bedding and on a likely travel route, I will figure it gets daylight use - or very close to daylight. I would like it within 200 yards of where the buck is bedded or so...but that distance would vary with terrain, hunting pressure.

Often a buck might bed watching the scrape....you might still be able to set up within bowshot of the scrape but that can be pretty tough....lots of times then I try a morning hunt right over the scrape, on a morning the buck will hopefully be out a little later and come back at first light. Cold front mornings, late pre-rut mornings, mornings after rain, moon mornings...

Thanks for the Intel! I think I need to get a hunting beast journal to start writing all this good info down in lol. After thinking about it, the first beast hunt I did with semi-success last year I saw what would have been my biggest bow buck to date get up from his bed and work a scrape about 20 yds from his bed so I can def see how these would be used in daylight.

I wish that hunt had a happy ending but it didn't. I usually keep my nerves under control but that deer had me shaking like a leaf and I miss judged the distance and hit him in the shoulder blade with my arrow. My dad and I tracked and looked for him for almost two weeks! I moved on from him and started hunting a different buck only to get a call from a farmer that they spotted him limping...almost 4 miles from where I shot him! Long story short we looked for another week but ended our search again. Then during rifle season someone found a really big buck laying dead just a little further from where we stopped searching. Pretty positive it was him but no way to prove it. Sorry, that last part got off topic a little bit but I learned alot from that hunt and just remembered he made a scrape after leaving his bed so the daylight scrape correlation to bedding makes sense to me.

[ Post made via Android ]

[mheichelbech]

How are often are you guys finding primary scrape areas?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[cedarsavage]

How are often are you guys finding primary scrape areas?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Not really often,I had one really hot spot in lower Michigan and a couple other lesser primary scrape areas can't say I've ever found one here in the up

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[phade]

I think it is important to define a primary scrape. When diving into scrape discussions, the terminology starts to be interchanged.

Some people call primary and community scrapes the same thing. Others do not.

I view primary scrapes different than community scrapes.

A primary scrape to is going to be one that bucks visit in relation to their bedding - either to or from food or doe bedding areas - OR smack in doe bedding areas.

A community scrape to me is going to be one located at a food source or other congregation area - such as an apple tree, or at a staging location before breaking out into an ag field.

I lump secondary or frustration scrapes as the same thing - while there may be some info to glean on a secondary, I don't think it is nearly as useful as a primary or community scrape.

We have a few scrape locations that have been around for years - one is a primary located right in the middle of doe bedding. It is largely idle until bucks start moving in to check does and then it gets hit routinely and hard in a short period of time (two-three weeks tops, with peak activity over a four-day period).

Another is a community scrape that is under a reliable-bearing fruit tree in a valley and happens to be where a bench running E-W turns and drops down N-S almost connecting two hills, falling short by about 10 yards. It creates heavy traffic. Bucks will use this scrape area year-round but the period of heavier use is Oct through early December.

These two are there year in and year out. One is active across the calendar in some fashion (albeit lighter use) and the other is there, but active within a specific timeframe.

[hunter10]

I often struggle in the bush to seperate a community scrape to a primary when in cover. I used to have access to a piece of ground with bedding thicket in the centre. Just outside of it was a massive scrape size of a car hood. I could argue it was both types of scrape. Any ways to really distinguish the 2?

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