9/20/07
Early season deer scrapes are not all the same
By Terry Madewell

TERRY MADEWELL/Manning Times

Finding the correct scrape and setting up your stand at the proper distance is crucial to take that big buck.

I know it’s a bit early, at least to my way of thinking, but I saw my first deer scrape this year in the woods last weekend. It was the same morning a buddy killed a nice buck that was beginning to get into the rut stage, based on his tarsal glands. We took a second buck that morning that showed no signs of rut activity at all. But based on what we’re seeing, warm weather or not, the deer are getting ready for the rut.

But the cool snap which finally hit last weekend may get things cranked up even more.

We typically associate scrapes that bucks make with the rut and breeding process. There’s certainly truth to that, but not all scrapes are breeding scrapes. They can and do have different meanings. You can see good deer sign and misinterpret it if you’re not really thinking about what you’re looking at.

This is one of the things we discussed last weekend, which type of scrape was it. This was a breeding type scrape because of the other sign that was associated with it.

These pawed places on the ground, made by whitetail deer can serve different purposes, but they have differences you can readily see. Different scrapes mean different things to the deer and can have a significant impact on hunter success.

Most hunters refer to scrapes as either a “breeding” scrape or a “line” scrape. To confuse one with the other can result in long, unproductive hours in a deer stand hunting the less potentially productive of the two areas.

One of the “hottest” signs a deer hunter can find is a recently activated breeding scrape. To a knowledgeable deer hunter, this indicates a buck is using the immediate area and is leaving his sign at the point of the scrape to let any doe in the area know he’s ready to pursue the mating process.

But, since not all scrapes are created equal, the hunter must go beyond simply seeing a scrape.

Typically, a breeding scrape will be under or near a tree since a buck will typically bite and chew on the twigs, sometimes even biting them off and dropping them into the cleared out scrape area. A buck will also urinate in a breeding scrape, again to leave his scent and actual physical sign to other deer in the area.

When you locate a spot as described above, you have found a “hotspot”. It doesn’t guarantee a deer will walk out and present you with a broadside shot at 30 yards, but it does indicate a deer is using the area and if he has left physical sign the odds of him coming back to check it soon are very good.

What should you do when you locate this type of scrape? First, and above all else, don’t mess with the scrape. Don’t walk in it, don’t break or pull on the twigs or pick them up out of the scrape and replace them. Any physical act you do leaves human scent in the area and human scent is at the top of danger signals to deer. Judge from a few feet away how active the scrape is.

Quickly select a good stand which affords good visibility of the scrape and the buck’s likely approach to it. If you’re using a gun, try to get 50 yards or further away. If you’re using a bow you’ll have to select a much closer stand.

At this point, it’s very much a waiting game. If you’ve selecting the stand properly and the deer doesn’t smell you, or catch any movement, odds are high he’ll check in at some time in the near future. All you can do is be in the stand and ready.

However, a common mistake is to locate a pawed out place in the ground and incorrectly identify it as a breeding scrape.

Actually, many of the scrapes are actually “line” or “boundary” scrapes. Certainly, these are indications deer have been in the area and odds are good they will be back to the same spot at some point. Line scrapes, though, may go unchecked for long periods by the bucks, especially during the rut, and can lead to many long, unproductive hours in the stand.

These line scrapes typically mark a particular buck’s boundary or range as the breeding season approaches and in a general sense mark his basic travel route as he moves around his home range. Generally, these scrapes are not as large nor are they kept cleaned out as well as breeding scrapes. The best use of a line scrape generally is not to actually hunt that specific spot, but to clue the hunter to the range of a particular deer, and to allow him to zero in on the breeding scrapes which typically will fall within the boundaries of the line scrapes. Sometimes the two types of scrapes will only be 50 to 100 yards apart while at other times they may be 1/2 mile apart. The key is to be able to identify each scrape as to what type it is and use that information to help determine where the deer has been, where he is traveling and most important, where he is likely to be in the very near future, checking for receptive does.

That’s where you stand the best opportunity to find a buck with his guard slightly down, giving you the small edge you need to be successful.

Just because we, and other hunters, are seeing the beginnings of this sign in mid-September, doesn’t mean the rut is imminent.

But it does show that the internal clocks in the whitetail deer are ticking down toward that time. We never have all the deer in estrus at the same time and some bucks get in the rut mode before others. We’re likely a few weeks away from the peak of the 2007 rut, but it is time to start paying attention to the tell-tale signs deer are beginning to leave in the woods.