Fresh scrapes are pure excitement. Primarily, if the pawed earth is large in size and there’s not a single leaf in the dirt. Brian Kitghtlinger did a great job of covering the four types of scrapes in his post last week, and here’s a step further. Many sponsors are urging you to use their products to score as the rut draws near, but here’s a strategy that has high success and is easy to embrace.
A Scrape Ignored
I do media work in South Dakota every year and do my best to squeeze in a day or two of deer hunting once the work is complete. On my last trip, I had just one day with no time to scout, so I headed to a location that had proven very productive in previous years. As I waded a small stream in the first light of dawn, I walked past a fresh scrape that had been refreshed from previous years. I was tempted to hunt there but moved another 50 yards to the far side of the creekbed to take advantage of a west wind. In the first hour of the day, I saw movement through the dense brush and found a mature 10-point and an 8-point at the scrape. The crossbow shot was obstructed, and as soon as the deer left, I moved closer, and within 30 minutes, a 6-point came to the same spot. The deer saw me sitting against a tree, and we had several minutes of eye contact until it relaxed and looked away, just enough time to fill my tag.
Night Scrapes
Over the years, I have hunted many scrapes with little success, primarily because I didn’t see them as places where bucks make one scrape and move on. The honey hole of scrapes is finding primary scrapes that are fresh and show a progression of movement. In this way, you can see that a buck is using this scrape line as a travel corridor. Dale Strubel is a senior hunter who shares his expertise in the following video. His advice is simple but effective and parallels my experience over 50 years in the deer woods.