I went back to check a ridge of oaks that I hunted twice last year. at that spot was a nice scrape. so I thought I would scout that spot today to see what was going on and JACKPOT! that same scrape was 6'x6' just tore up and was surrounded by rubs varying from 1/2" -4" trees. and these trees were shredded. you would have thought it was the end of October with this sign. my season doesn't start until oct. 1st. my question is : would you hunt a food source or this scrape on the opener. my gut says to hunt the scrape because the sign is showing me he spends a lot of time there. I'm going to try to get a camera in there if I get a rainy day. I do have another food source that also will produce results as well but no buck sign there yet. I have never had this aggressive scraping activity this early which is throwing me off. just looking for other opinions. thanks in advance.
Put a cam over that thing and see whats up. If deer are frequenting it during day light hours I don't see a reason not to hunt it in the early season.
Oaks are a food source this time of year and there is probably a territorial depute going on. I would hunt it but I would be wary about putting a camera on it. You could easily kill it with too much activity.
Put a camera nearby and see when the activity is. The biggest scrapes I see are often only hit at night
Most scrape activity that I find is nocturnal. Get a camera or two set up on trails leading to the scrape. they do a lot of "scouting" around the edges too. I'd only hunt it if the cameras said to. I'd hunt the oaks first.
the funny part is that the scrapes are in the oaks. this spot is very remote. it takes me over an hour up hill to get there. about 2 miles in. this oak ridge has a perpendicular point that sticks out off the ridge at the scrape location. my guess is that he or they are bedding out on that point. if I do take a camera in there it won't be until we have a downpour at twelve noon during the day. the bad part is that I won't have enough time to check cards before our opener. that will put way to much activity in there. so looks like i'll have to hunt it to change cards anyway. decisions! decisions!
I agree with this. You found a great place to setup and kill a buck if there are still acorns dropping when your season begins. Putting a camera in there is a good way to up the odds that the scrape is only hit at night. You have the info you need, come season slip in and kill something.
My guess is it's a young deer. They tend to ack aggressive until the older bigger bucks start in. You may try getting to those cards before hand. You would hate to find yourself confronted by a yearly or little basket head. Unless your fine with that. It's really just a 50/50 chance to be completely honest, but my money is its a immature buck doing all that work. The size of the tree doesn't necessarily equal the size of the buck rubbing it. I hope I'm wrong but it's just my luck that I would waist my time chasing a dream and find a little buck
on the 4" tree that is rubbed you can see where the brow tines cut all the way into the sap wood of the tree. they are about 5/16" or more deep. it took some serious power for that. some of the other trees are rerubs. some of the rubs are 4' high too. just has big buck sign all over the area. I have other cameras a little ways away from there and I have 5 or 6 different p&y bucks on camera. definitely a lot of competition in there. appreciate all the input guys, gives me things to consider. after 26 yrs of bowhunting I still get baffled sometimes.
A cam will be the ticket. If he's not active during daylight I'd go with the food source. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sounds like you got the best of both worlds scrape activity and Oaks hopefully with acorns on em...key is finding out where the buck making your sign is during shooting light. Cam would certainly give you more info. So typically if he's up at that scrape at night on his way back to bed you need to find his bed. Look for a pattern in his rub line to find his bedding area and slip in close to his bed real early one morning, like sit in the dark for 1-2 hours early, when the situation/wind is perfect...you only get like one chance at a hunt like that typically
on one side of the scrape a rub line goes out to the point of an adjacent ridge. on the other side of the scrape goes to a huge clearcut. I have a few stands already placed on the lower side of the clearcut. maybe i'll move some cameras to the upper side of the cut. if I can locate him coming out of the clearcut that would be huge. note: the rub line doesn't go to the clearcut. this is a very unique situation to figure out. I appreciate all the feedback. I look at all the responses from you guys and seems like they are all good tactics.
I would go in with the assumption that the bucks are bedding on that point. When you hunt it you need the wind blowing down the point otherwise they probably won't bed there. They want to bed on hill points with the wind blowing down the point over their back. I think the scrape sounds to be near bedding, these scrapes are great to hunt. The old cliche that scrape activity is nocturnal is not true, those scrapes near bedding are a great way to kill bucks. Field edge scrapes most get excited over are the nocturnal activity scrapes.
If you already know this, see a scrape like that and have acorns falling, I would keep my butt out of there until conditions are perfect to hunt it.
Sounds like a perfect location. Chances are this Oak stand is closer to the buck beds. I say take a gamble and get in there on opener.
If you choose to hang a cam, take a climber in there with you and hang it about 12' high aimed downward... that deer knows every square inch of that area now and the addition of a camera at 4' off the ground is just begging for him to vacate the area. WAY too many people have no clue about this... but trust me.
I thought about hanging my stand in there tomorrow in the rain. but maybe I shouldn't. sometimes the best time to kill a big one is the day you hang your stand. remember this spot is 2 miles in, uphill all the way. some of these deer have never seen people. they are very comfortable there. acorns are just starting to fall now. should be good by opener. i'll hang my camera the day I hunt it. or hopefully I won't have to with any luck! believe it or not this is public ground that is 10,000 acres and I'm the only one that bow hunts it. everyone around here is too in love with 100 acres of private land. here couple of the many big ones within 1/4 mile of that scrape. those are at the bottom of the clearcut. the scrape is on the oak ridge above the clearcut. the cut is about 75acres.
