Scrapes

Well October finally made it. Many bow hunters have been loosing sleep waiting for this time of year to come. The colors are on the trees and the temps are showing signs of giving way to summer's heat.
With October also comes a shortening of daylight. These shorter days along with cooler temps will have most bucks chomping at the bit waiting for the first does to come into estrus. In an attempt to let every doe in the area know he is available for service, he will begin rubbing and scraping. Plastering these advertising billboards all over his core area in an attempt to bring the first doe in estrus into his territory to him. Did I say bring the doe to him? Yes I did but we will get to that in a moment.
Most every hunter knows scrapes can be a good place to think about hunting. Not all scrapes are created equal though. Often a buck will scrape and never revisit that location while others he will freshen during the entire rut. What makes one better over the other and how do we know which is which. I'm not sure there is really any hard quick answer to that. One thing that many writers and experienced hunters seem to agree on, is the fact that the hottest spots will most likely have clusters of scrapes in one small area. As said before, this area will usually be close to the bucks core area.
Heavy concentrations of droppings will be found near by. The other dead giveaway, the scrapes will always seem fresh. Often a dominant buck may only visit these at night. If he does visit them during daylight he will almost always approach them from down wind. Setting up shop to close to these scrapes can often get a hunter busted. Try backing off and hanging a stand 30-40 yards down wind of these scrapes.
Then there are the does, a big buck will most likely set up his core area close to or near by the does. That's the whole reason he makes these love signs, letting a hot doe know he is there. Another method of hunting hot scrapes is to run a drag past them to your hunting spot. Because the estrus cycle is pretty short, in many cases if a male companion hasn't come around the hot doe will visit his scrapes. Generally she will only visit the ones closest to his core area in an attempt to find him there. Often, mating will happen right at the scrape. In the event she doesn't find him there, she will urinate in the scrape letting him know she is ready. When the buck visits he will begin to trail the doe. Keep in mind this works best when there are hot does in the area. A lil bit of your favorite Doe-in-Heat on a drag can be just the trick to bring that big guy into bow or gun range.
Keep in mind, the idea here is to find the biggest concentration of scrapes in a small area. One or two here and there probably are not worth your time. Many hunters have found a couple scrapes and hunt them never to see the buck that made them. Begin looking in areas where you have seen many or know does often frequent, a buck will do the same. When you find the hot spots don't be afraid to pull out the bag of tricks to get him show him self. Try hunting down wind of the scrapes, run a drag from them to your stand, rattling and grunting or setting up a mock scrape are all good tactics to use when the rut begins. Scrape hunting can be very rewarding and you should spend the time to find the right ones to hunt over.....