phil@thesidehill
5 year old buck +
My mock scrapes on the edges of the plot are starting to get abused by some bucks. my property doesnt hold bucks. I get sporadic spring/summer pics. I have several doe groups that frequent my property all year, so once the boys start focusing on the ladies i get lots of buck traffic. most years i dont get my first fall pics of mature bucks until around Oct 20th +/- a couple of days and those pics are usually at night. It isnt until around October 25th +/- a couple days that i get my first bonafide daytime pics or sightings of mature bucks. The last 10 days have seen alot of 1 and 2 yr olds hitting the scrapes. I had a good wind today to slip in pull cards around 11AM. I sprayed down liberally and made a quick trip to the cams.
both cams are on scrapes on the edges of the same small plot. Both scrape set ups are scrapes that i have made or encouraged deer to use by tying down branches/limbs/saplings to the right height. both setups have been in use for several years now.
One scrape set up is at the entrance/exit trail into the plot that i made through hinge cutting. this one puts deer right in my lap (18 yds) off my left shoulder (right handed shooter). I dont even have to stand to shoot, and it requires very little movement at all for me to get a shot off and deer are generally looking up the hill away from me when they come in, plus the scrape helps focus their attention away from me.
The second scrape is on an AO bush that sits in a bottle neck within the shape of the plot. I had to tie down the one branch this year because the deer mangled it so much last year that they broke the lowest portion off which kept the overhanging branch out of reach. this is the third branch on this bush that i have had to tie down to get in the sweet spot.
Both scrapes are withing in my effective range with a bow, although the AO scrape is just on the outer limit of my range, so i prefer not to have to take that shot. While i'm a firm believer that scrape hunting can be iffy at best, it really depends on the type, location of the scrape, and time of year. I dont hunt this stand because of the scrapes, they are merely there for the cameras and to serve as a potential distraction and to potentially position a buck for a shot. I hunt this stand because the does will be in and around the area when the bucks are seeking/chasing and breeding...during daylight, so ultimately the bucks will be there too.
here is the best one i have on cam this year. i got pics of him back in Aug that posted in the trail cam section. this is the first scrape set up at the entry/exit of my hinge cut trail. he didnt seem to pay much attention to this scrape.
here he is a few mins later at the AO scrape across the plot. he worked this one over pretty thoroughly.
he's digging with the front left leg
looks like a little rub urination going on here.
both cams are on scrapes on the edges of the same small plot. Both scrape set ups are scrapes that i have made or encouraged deer to use by tying down branches/limbs/saplings to the right height. both setups have been in use for several years now.
One scrape set up is at the entrance/exit trail into the plot that i made through hinge cutting. this one puts deer right in my lap (18 yds) off my left shoulder (right handed shooter). I dont even have to stand to shoot, and it requires very little movement at all for me to get a shot off and deer are generally looking up the hill away from me when they come in, plus the scrape helps focus their attention away from me.
The second scrape is on an AO bush that sits in a bottle neck within the shape of the plot. I had to tie down the one branch this year because the deer mangled it so much last year that they broke the lowest portion off which kept the overhanging branch out of reach. this is the third branch on this bush that i have had to tie down to get in the sweet spot.
Both scrapes are withing in my effective range with a bow, although the AO scrape is just on the outer limit of my range, so i prefer not to have to take that shot. While i'm a firm believer that scrape hunting can be iffy at best, it really depends on the type, location of the scrape, and time of year. I dont hunt this stand because of the scrapes, they are merely there for the cameras and to serve as a potential distraction and to potentially position a buck for a shot. I hunt this stand because the does will be in and around the area when the bucks are seeking/chasing and breeding...during daylight, so ultimately the bucks will be there too.
here is the best one i have on cam this year. i got pics of him back in Aug that posted in the trail cam section. this is the first scrape set up at the entry/exit of my hinge cut trail. he didnt seem to pay much attention to this scrape.
here he is a few mins later at the AO scrape across the plot. he worked this one over pretty thoroughly.
he's digging with the front left leg
looks like a little rub urination going on here.
