Mature bucks and scrapes
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Limbhanger
04-Oct-21
Do mature bucks make the first scrapes? Because they know what’s coming, Any buck in the right frame of mind? (Your answer) why do you think this way? Trail cameras, years of observation, etc. thanks for your input.
From: lv2bohunt
04-Oct-21
I hunt scrapes a lot and from what I’ve seen both in person and on cameras is younger bucks scrape earlier. Where I hunt the mature bucks will usually only use the big community scrapes regularly when they are cruising for does. Most other scrapes are made once and then may not be visited again. I hang cameras on lots of scrapes and normally only hunt the big scrapes where multiple bucks and does come nearly everyday.
From: redquebec
04-Oct-21
"mature bucks will usually only use the big community scrapes regularly when they are cruising for does."
That's been my experience here in KY. There are biological studies on the whitetail that support this observation. Nothing is absolute. I don't hunt scrapes...BUT I will absolutely hunt a huge communal scrape.
From: Zbone
04-Oct-21
Gotta luv communal/primary/hub or what ever ya want to call them scrapes, are great... If ya get a chance Rothhaar and Wensel have great books on scrape hunting...
From: Lost Arra
05-Oct-21
This weekend I watched two yearling bucks (spike and forkie) do some sparring. More like a pillow fight. Then one attempted to make a scrape, more like a scratching. He then tried to lick a branch above his head but he wasn't tall enough to reach it. I'm not sure they knew what or why they were doing it but they were trying.
From: SBH
05-Oct-21
I have pics of does and bucks in scrapes and hitting licking branches all year long. I believe it's a community thing that they use year round when you find a good one. They do make smaller ones and one time use ones when they are all worked up but a community scrape is a whole different ballgame. Kinda like the place where they all go to check in and see who's around.
From: SBH
05-Oct-21
Pic above is a doe hitting a licking branch over a scrape we built. Date is wrong but not off by much.
From: SBH
05-Oct-21
They really like this one. It gets lots of action.
They really like this one. It gets lots of action.
We have our cameras out from June tell Jan.
From: Thornton
05-Oct-21
Drury Brothers did a study years ago and theirs showed does and young bucks made most of them if I remember right.
From: Zbone
06-Oct-21
Hmmmm... Have literally dozens of videos of licking branches then turned into scrapes, and although the does with almost always stop to inspect the branch or rope and sometimes smell the scrape, cant think of a time one doe actually scraped... Same with button bucks, they'll do a lot of smelling and inspecting but no scraping... Yearling bucks are a different story though...
From: lv2bohunt
06-Oct-21
Never have seen a doe scrape in one but have seen plenty of does pee in a scrape
From: txhunter58
10-Oct-21
Good thread