jcs3344 Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 I was wondering about scrapes. I have always heard that the bigger bucks rub their velvet off before the smaller bucks. My question is do big bucks scrape before smaller bucks or after ? ? If i answered my own question i would say that smaller bucks scrape before mature bucks, due to in the field observation. This year i have already seen a few scrapes on the ground and my hunter buddy has already seen a 6 and a 4 pointer make a scrape while he was hunting. i would think that the big boys will wait until it gets alittle colder before the move around and start "rutting" activity. Whats everyones views on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Personally I don't put a whole lot of stock in scrapes. We've seen a bunch of them already this year. Mostly border scrapes. I think that it shows that bucks are in the area, but as far as how big, and how often they are showing up, who knows. Use them as evidence in a total buck hunting package, take a lot of other things into consideration like rublines, presence of does, food sources, bedding areas, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckslayer Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Around rut they may mean more, but right now in most areas, they will be community scrapes visited by tons of deer "just for fun" not necessarily the big boys. Thats been my personal experience. I don't really pay much attention to them until right before the rut. Like Tominator said, pay more attention to food sources and bedding areas, and trails between in the early season.. and consider the scrapes as general evidence.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherk's Guide Service Posted October 2, 2008 Report Share Posted October 2, 2008 Scrapes are always a good sign but I don't care to hunt over them even during the rut. A good way to find out what kind of bucks are making the scrapes is to look around at the rubs in the area. If you are seeing large rubs or even rubs on small trees but they are beat-up badly, it's probably a good making the scrapes. Another way to tell is the size of the tracks in the scrape. Tracks close to three inches wide and near four inches long are probably from a mature buck. The best way though is to set-up a trail camera to scout the scrape. I promise you, evenutally a buck will check it out again. Just be patient, it may be more than a week before you get a picture. Most often several bucks will visit scrapes. In my overall opinion, I bet there is a decent buck in your area making those scrapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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