Ok.. so this is my second year bow hunting. Last year I did not have any scrapes on the property that I hunt on. This year they are EVERYWHERE.. of course none of my stands are by any of them. How do you choose what scrapes to hunt by and how close should I set my stand to them. I only have one stand that I really want to move. Thanks for the feedback
You would have to look at each scrape and determine the size of the track in each scrape. The bigger the track the more likely the deer that made it is bigger and will come back. Younger bucks will make a lot of scrapes and never check them again. Also location to bedding area is key, the closer to bedding there is a better chance that the deer will visit it during daylight hours. Pay close attention to the wind with the direction of the bedding area you don't want to bump them before you start.
One way is setup cams on them and see if they are active. Or pour some estrous in them and make them active
Like woodman said, location is key. The closer to the bedding the more likely they'll work it during the day. Did you see and scrapes that were larger than the rest? The larger ones are the community scrapes and will recieve daytime activity. Those scrapes will bring in most of the deer that live in that area. This time of year bucks will be checking them frequently for a hot doe.
Checking in the rain is a great time to do it! I'm heading to La Crescent area to hunt tomorrow... hoping the rain is done by dawn tomorrow. Neal
I prefer to hunt trails deer may use to check their scrape line rather than hunt right next to a scrape. Deer will likely approach a scrape from the down wind side with their nose on extra high alert which often = busted hunter
