Scrapes

[nhdeerchaser]

Welcome hway!

In my opinion, it probably is'nt worth hunting. That is probably a pre-rut scrape, and I doubt the deer that made it will come back to check it this early in the season.

Mike

[kykevin]

I think you can ask 10 people their opion on scrapes and get 10 answers. But I agree a scrape this early in the year was prob just a bored buck and most likely not active.

[buckhunter21]

Research has shown that 85% of scrapes are visited at night under the cover of darkness, but this shouldn't shy you away from hunting them.  An overall good strategy is to place your stand downwind of the scrape from where the deer will be approaching...Don't be afraid to put some deer urine in there, even in the pre-rut....Just make sure it's not doe-in-estrous scent, which may cause more harm than good since deer know it's not quite that time yet.  Just regular buck or doe urine should suffice...and then keep it fresh.  I'm not sure where this one is located, but usually scrapes along field edges are visited more at night than ones actually in the woods themselves....Something to note. 

[ranwin33]

And you'll get all kinds of different answers here as well.
 
Check the scrape for a few days, see if it's getting hit frequently or hardly at all.  Let that make your decision for you.

[Woods Walker]

Sure it'll work. Just as you said, many different deer can visit a scrape. That, and unless you SEE the urine come from the animal they claim is in the bottle, you have no way to know what kind of commercial urine it is anyway. Odds are it's probably from several deer, and maybe even a deer farm worker or two!
 
I'd even use some of my own urine. At least you KNOW that's fresh. I do this all the time.

[Croz73PA]

I agree.  Mixing the urine sholdnt have any negative effect on the attractiveness.  The smell of any fresh urine makes deer curious from what I've seen. 

[Bryan78]

Is it common for a Deer to defecate on a scrape?  I found a scrape with a pile on it.  The reason I am asking is that I thought about buying some of those Primos Deer DROPings bags and use them.  Has anyone tried it with any success?

[Goose]

I have not tried that product but I have seen droppings in scrapes often.

[buckhunter21]

I've seen them in the stores.  I wonder what they're made out of?  Like Goose said, I've seen droppings in scrapes before so it may be worth a shot.  It probably goes along with calls, scents, etc....They don't work all the time, but just another tool to use! 

[BucknA]

I would have to think that if there are droppings in the scrape, that the scrape is not being used as often as it should be, as an active scrape would be cleared of all debris. Of course if the scat is nice & shiny, chances are it was just deposited.

One thing I did just witness during the past scraping period though, was a mature doe urinating about 30 yds from my stand. I know the exact location she relieved herself, to the inch. What was interesting, was that the next morning, I hunted from the same exact stand & noticed that where the doe had urinated, there was now a fresh scrape, that I'm sure had been created the night before. Being that this was early Nov., I got pretty excited. Eventually that morning I spotted a mature buck w/ his nose to the ground app. 50 yds. away. I gently touched the rattle bag & "BOOM" he was there at 20 yds., completly in my shooting lane, broadside. I would like to tell you that the 130" - 8 pointer is at my local taxidermist, but a high hit made for a tracking scenario that didn't pan out in the end. I feel that this buck survived, & I hope to see him again this upcoming season.

The lesson I learned is that all scrapes may not be just a social network, but seems as though they can be made for different reasons. This may explain why some scrapes appear to be random. Maybe they are not random at all. If the doe urine has a slight hint of estrus, I would have to imagine the bucks would go batty, pawing the ground like a raging bull. By the way, I saw 13 different bucks that day. I was there from dawn till dusk, but none of the others were shooters.

I don't think that the scat was intentionally deposited by the deer, but a great sign that deer are visiting your scrape & possibly a good reason to hunt near it.