HOW TO FIND A BUCK AT HIS SCRAPE

Why a Scrape is a Productive Site to Hunt

EDITOR'S NOTE: The information we don't know about scrape hunting can fill up volumes of textbooks. You can compare the amount of information we do understand about scrape hunting to a BB in a boxcar. Each year wildlife researchers gain more data about deer communication, behavior and signposting. However, the knowledge we learn as deer hunters often becomes twisted, leaving us misinformed. Much of what we know about scrape hunting comes from legends and traditions rather than scientific facts. Let's look at the latest research with Dr. Keith Causey, professor of wildlife science at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama about scrapes and scrape hunting and take advantage of it to harvest more bucks at these naturally occurring whitetail bulletin boards.

"We see scrapes appear at the time of year when the whitetail begins sexual activity, especially during the rut," Causey comments. "During most months of the year, bucks will bed down and hide during daylight hours. However, with the onset of the rut and the buck's heightened sexual drive, he will move frequently and will come to scrapes more often to gather and leave information during daylight hours. You have an increased probability of seeing a mature buck at a scrape during the rut than at any other time of the year."

To understand scrapes and their effectiveness in luring in a buck during the rut to help you harvest him, view the scrape as a bulletin board where deer leave love letters. Deer come to the scrape to find out who wants to go out with whom, where they'll meet, when they'll meet, who wants to fight and whether any other males want to court does that other bucks already have claimed. Other information left at the scrape may include the dominant buck's letting the subordinate bucks know, "I'm in the area, and I better not catch you trying to go out with any of my does." The subordinate bucks may leave messages for the does at the scrape that say, "Hey, the bully's not around. I'm close. If you come by here, look for me."

Many of us believe if we harvest a buck at a scrape, then we should not consider hunting that particular scrape again. We think if we take the buck at the scrape, we have canceled that scrape as a prime hunting spot. However, Causey says, "If you bag a subordinate buck at a scrape, then only one less buck will come to that scrape for information. The rest of the bucks living in that section of land will continue to come to that signpost for information. The scrape will remain active and viable as a hunting area where you can take bucks even after you've bagged one or more bucks from that site."
Unless you know for sure the number of the bucks and the size of each buck using a particular scrape, then you don't know if you've taken the dominant buck or the subordinate buck working the scrape. If you hunt in a state that permits you to bag more than one buck per season, you may want to hunt through the end of the season at the same scrape where you've harvested a buck.

"Many hunters overlook the idea that they can take two dominant bucks from the same scrape site," Causey observes. "During the rut, bucks expand their home ranges and move into territories they may not have frequented during any other time of the year. When dominant bucks expand their territories, they often begin to work the scrapes of other dominant bucks in an area. Two dominant bucks may work the same scrape, trying to attract estrous does in the same region. If you take the dominant buck that normally works a particular scrape, then you later may bag a second dominant buck -- an intruder trying to expand his home range -- at that same scrape. With this information, we now know scrapes often can produce more than one quality buck during a season, if you have a high number of quality bucks on the area you hunt."

TOMORROW: WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO HUNT A SCRAPE?