I've got a couple nice bucks comin into and area where there are runs an 2 scrapes. My question for y'all is should I just wait untill the rut to try hunting it all day or is there something I can use to get them active dying light. The picture I have of them are at 1 and 2 in the morning! Andy tips will help me! Thanks guys!
Nothing you can do but wait for pre-rut urges to get them on their feet checking scrapes during daylight. I normally do not even step foot into the woods until the end of October for that reason.
Ive used a scrape dripper on a mock scrape before. Had bucks come in during daylight hours. Theory behind it is it only drips during the daytime. Not sure if its a cure all....but has worked for me before.
I really don't think the deer can be conditioned for daylight movement. If the scrape is close enough to the bedding area or if the rut is getting close enough, they are going to check it in the daylight anyway when the time is right. I don't think you can fool mother nature on this one.
Probably right. I just try to do things to put more odds in my favor. Like i said not sure if its a cure all but it has worked for me. Never saw a deer in that area until i put the dripper out. Then they started hitting it. This was well before the rut so...who knows!
I have found when you put a dripper out one put a black flash trailcam at the same time downwind if possible but the deer I have killed have been well down wind of the scrape 40-50 yards also scrapes in a wood lot get a lot more mature deer action then a field edge.
The best thing that you can do to help with daylight movement is to stay out until the time is right. If you have a completely unpressured area it may be totally different as far as daylight activity, but the overwhelming majority of places don't have that. I haven't gotten even close to a bedding area yet. I've been hunting fringes and am starting to see quite a bit more daylight activity in person and on my camera as well.
if you have a gunstand near by with a feeder, set the feeder to feed once in the morning. that should help a bit
Create a mock scrape in the area that you want the buck to come into and set up a trail cam on it. See what your results are after 3-5 days. Keep in mind that as we enter the last week in October the bucks will tend to be more active due to weather and stages of the rut and pre-rut. It is crucial to condition the scrape so that if you do have a buck tending the scrape that he thinks there is a so called "intruder" buck rather than a buck that just passed by. The little things like that can get into a bucks head and cause him to make a mistake, putting you at a greater chance of harvesting him. I have had great success with messing with scrapes in the past and hope that it continues to work this year.
Over hunting a spot can spoil daylight activity. Give a few things a try and if nothing seems to work then maybe give it a break for a little while.
