Forget the rub n scrape lines

[hot tamale]

I wanted to get your opinions and/or experiences here.

In my experiences throughout the last 25 years is that bucks dont bother with scrapes or rub lines during the rut, yet people sit on these rub/scrape lines and hunt.

I have found or believe that the bucks would waste too much time going from scrape to scrape checking for doe scent and then finding a doe that is ready to breed. I believe that bucks will skirt the outside edges of areas and scent check it instead of running the scrape lines.

if a buck travels on the downwind side of a field and scent checks it for a receptive does but finds none- he's off to the next field or congregation area of does. By doing this he will cover ground more rapidly and efficiently and find hot does faster.

They dont just wander aimlessly like many say they do, they are following some type of edge or geographic change. Whether it's the edge of a field, a ridge line, or whatever, they are not wandering aimlessly.

Do any of you hunt scrape lines during the full swing of the rut?
what are your thoughts on this?

[Bowriter]

I'm with you. Why go to a dance when the guys are already in the parked cars with the girls. Or something like that.

However, I don't hunt scrapes at all and rub lines only as a side effect.

[Woods Walker]

All scrapes and rubs tell you is that there are bucks in the area, which is good. I use them more as a scouting tool and to confirm what I already know. I don't specifically hunt them but I do factor them into the overall plan.

An oldtimer I knew many years ago (even older than Bowriter!!), an old Wisconsin cheesehead/bowhunter...yah hey dere...always said when I started going on about "primary scrapes, secondary scrapes, blah, blah, blah....

"Criminy! Don't ya worry 'bout dem scrapes. Ya wanta kill a buck do ya, hey? Well den, HUNT DA DOES!!"

He was right. When the rut starts the bucks will be where the does are. Simple as that.

[pgchambers]

My experience has taught me that deer are unpredictable, so we have to be flexible. My brother shot his buck last year on a scrape line on Nov. 5th, so to say that bucks do not hit the scrapes during the rut would be wrong in at least one case. We let our cameras work for us, and last year our camera told us two very big bucks were hitting the scrape we were watching almost daily. Thus we sat the stand overlooking that scrape when the wind was right, and it worked. Sometime in late November, the buck we didn't shoot started showing up more consistently a couple of miles away, so we too abandoned that set for the most part. Do I hunt scrapes in general? No. But I watch them, and I hang sets over the ones that are there year after year, so I can hunt one if I need to.

[Deebz]

The buck I shot with my bow last year I killed from a stand that is a point/edge stand. Lots of traffic of all types through there. I killed the buck early November, and he was literally working a scrape when I shot him... the fletching of my arrow was laying in the scrape after passing through the deer.

I think it's difficult to say "never" or "always" when hunting deer about anything concerning behavior....

[hot tamale]

I have always hunted the doe groups and I am a big believer of just using scrapes as a tool to get my blood pumping knowing there is a buck in the area. I usually set up on travel corridor highways, intersections that I know are in the general area of deer beds.
my greatest finding over the years is paying attention to the thermals and using them to my advantage.

[Woods Walker]

I have always hunted the doe groups and I am a big believer of just using scrapes as a tool to get my blood pumping knowing there is a buck in the area. I usually set up on travel corridor highways, intersections that I know are in the general area of deer beds.
my greatest finding over the years is paying attention to the thermals and using them to my advantage.

X-2!!

[Bowriter]

I have always tried to place my stands in places I thought I could kill a deer. if a rub or scrape was nearby, fine. But neither ever had any influece on where the stand went.

[Jslotter]

Last year I got a buck who came in to check and refresh his scrapes in the morning. The more scrapes I find in a smaller area, the better. The area I took him in, I could see about a dozen scrapes from the treestand. It was ridiculous. But some scrapes are hard to read, and hard to hunt. You got a good scrape line inside the woods, set up overlooking them, and never see a single deer check them. Those ones confuse me a little. Either way, scrapes are a good sign to see.

[hot tamale]

I've been reading some older deer hunting how to books lately since the original post.-- they all say to hunt the scrapes n rub lines. now these books are older (60's n 70's) but still, that's what they did back then.

I dont know, i just do what i think is right and when i get this gut feeling about where to set up my ambush, i am usually right (thank my lucky stars on that one).
Cant wait to get out again this year. I dont bow hunt anymore due to parkinsons ( i shake like a paint mixer in my hands if i exert too much strength) so i stick to gun hunting the best place ever!! Northern Wisconsin. Land of the big deer and home of the cheeseheads.