Hey guys and gals...
So on my Facebook page, The Everyday Outdoorsman, I'm doing a 5 part article on hunting scrapes. This is info based on personal experience, wildlife biologists, and deer breeders. As with anything, I'm not saying it's the gospel, but it is info I use to regularly kill deer and hunt my honey holes. I'll post 'em up on this thread as I go. Let me know what you all think and share your experiences hunting scrapes! I'd love to hear what you guys out west see regarding these too!
SCRAPE HUNTING 101
PART 1 of 5- Football Scrapes
If you only follow advice from 1 day of this 5 part series...pick today's!
Below is a picture of a small scrape I watched a young 8 pointer make on October 20th, 2015. These small scrapes are roughly the size of a football, bare to the ground, and seemingly pop up everywhere overnight! I like to refer to these as 'Football Scrapes'. In my opinion and experience, there is no more useful tool for a whitetail hunter than Football Scrapes...
Generally, I find these scrapes in early to mid October. It's important to properly identify these scrapes before hunting based on the valuable information they give us.
Football Scrapes will ALWAYS:
-Be bare to the ground
-Be on or near trails
-Be numerous in an area
Football Scrapes will NEVER:
-Be freshened up by a buck or doe
-Be larger than 1-2 feet in diameter, regardless of the deer that makes them
Football Scrapes may or may not have an overhanging "licking branch". They also may or may not have tracks, scat, or other sign in them.
---Why these are valuable to hunters---
Plain and simple, Football Scrapes are the evidence of a doe in your area that is 28-32 days from her estrous cycle. (28-32 days is the cycle of a whitetail doe). A whitetail buck has a special organ in the inside of his mouth which can tell him the EXACT status of a particular doe's estrous cycle. This is called the vomeronasal organ. Bucks always keep tabs on a doe's status. If a buck has antlers on his head he can and wants to breed. When a buck observes a doe coming into the pre-estrous cycle, he INSTINCTIVLEY reacts by making football scrapes. Like many mammals, whitetail does in a given population will cycle together. When that cycle hits....boom....the RUT!
By finding these football scrapes, you can precisely time the dates of the rut in your area. When you find these scrapes, mark your calendar and hunt 28-32 days later. If you hunt days 28-32 I guarantee you will hit the rut. Other factors such as hunting pressure, weather, moon phase, ect will determine deer activity during daylight hours, but, the rut WILL be on.
Continuing, count an additional 28-32 days (56-64 days from football scrape day) and you will hit the "Secondary Rut" . This is when most yearling does and does which were not bred come into rut. The secondary rut generally sees less pressure than the primary.
---How to capitalize---
We all have those giant bucks on camera that are 100% nocturnal. These bucks will most likely become vulnerable during the rut IF not pressured. I cannot stress enough not to pressure a mature buck. By knowing the prime rut dates, you can avoid hunting your honey hole for 4 weeks and let the area settle. A buck who hasn't been hunted for 4 weeks is much easier to kill than a buck who smells you in his area every weekend. Find football scrapes, date the rut, plan your days off, and LEAVE THE AREA ALONE!
Being able to precisely time the best hunting dates will allow you maximize time off work. It will make your hunting time exponentially more productive. You'll see and kill more bucks than if hunting in a shotgun schedule pattern.---
I've spent the last 4 years hunting based off of football scrapes and here are my results-
2012- Football scrapes, 10/24- killed buck 11/24 (1 hunt) 124" buck
2013- Football scrapes, 10/12- killed buck 11/10 (1 hunt in stand) 135" buck
2014- Football scrapes, 10/1- killed buck 10/30 (1 hunt) 130" buck
2015- Football scrapes, 10/20- killed buck 11/20 (2 hunts) 187" buck
Less time on stand, more deer seen, and bigger bucks killed! IT WORKS!
If you are skeptical, use this season as a test. Mark down the day you find these scrapes and count ahead. Hunt the 28-32 day period and check your own results!
Tomorrow- Core Area Scrapes!
So on my Facebook page, The Everyday Outdoorsman, I'm doing a 5 part article on hunting scrapes. This is info based on personal experience, wildlife biologists, and deer breeders. As with anything, I'm not saying it's the gospel, but it is info I use to regularly kill deer and hunt my honey holes. I'll post 'em up on this thread as I go. Let me know what you all think and share your experiences hunting scrapes! I'd love to hear what you guys out west see regarding these too!
SCRAPE HUNTING 101
PART 1 of 5- Football Scrapes
If you only follow advice from 1 day of this 5 part series...pick today's!
Below is a picture of a small scrape I watched a young 8 pointer make on October 20th, 2015. These small scrapes are roughly the size of a football, bare to the ground, and seemingly pop up everywhere overnight! I like to refer to these as 'Football Scrapes'. In my opinion and experience, there is no more useful tool for a whitetail hunter than Football Scrapes...
Generally, I find these scrapes in early to mid October. It's important to properly identify these scrapes before hunting based on the valuable information they give us.
Football Scrapes will ALWAYS:
-Be bare to the ground
-Be on or near trails
-Be numerous in an area
Football Scrapes will NEVER:
-Be freshened up by a buck or doe
-Be larger than 1-2 feet in diameter, regardless of the deer that makes them
Football Scrapes may or may not have an overhanging "licking branch". They also may or may not have tracks, scat, or other sign in them.
---Why these are valuable to hunters---
Plain and simple, Football Scrapes are the evidence of a doe in your area that is 28-32 days from her estrous cycle. (28-32 days is the cycle of a whitetail doe). A whitetail buck has a special organ in the inside of his mouth which can tell him the EXACT status of a particular doe's estrous cycle. This is called the vomeronasal organ. Bucks always keep tabs on a doe's status. If a buck has antlers on his head he can and wants to breed. When a buck observes a doe coming into the pre-estrous cycle, he INSTINCTIVLEY reacts by making football scrapes. Like many mammals, whitetail does in a given population will cycle together. When that cycle hits....boom....the RUT!
By finding these football scrapes, you can precisely time the dates of the rut in your area. When you find these scrapes, mark your calendar and hunt 28-32 days later. If you hunt days 28-32 I guarantee you will hit the rut. Other factors such as hunting pressure, weather, moon phase, ect will determine deer activity during daylight hours, but, the rut WILL be on.
Continuing, count an additional 28-32 days (56-64 days from football scrape day) and you will hit the "Secondary Rut" . This is when most yearling does and does which were not bred come into rut. The secondary rut generally sees less pressure than the primary.
---How to capitalize---
We all have those giant bucks on camera that are 100% nocturnal. These bucks will most likely become vulnerable during the rut IF not pressured. I cannot stress enough not to pressure a mature buck. By knowing the prime rut dates, you can avoid hunting your honey hole for 4 weeks and let the area settle. A buck who hasn't been hunted for 4 weeks is much easier to kill than a buck who smells you in his area every weekend. Find football scrapes, date the rut, plan your days off, and LEAVE THE AREA ALONE!
Being able to precisely time the best hunting dates will allow you maximize time off work. It will make your hunting time exponentially more productive. You'll see and kill more bucks than if hunting in a shotgun schedule pattern.---
I've spent the last 4 years hunting based off of football scrapes and here are my results-
2012- Football scrapes, 10/24- killed buck 11/24 (1 hunt) 124" buck
2013- Football scrapes, 10/12- killed buck 11/10 (1 hunt in stand) 135" buck
2014- Football scrapes, 10/1- killed buck 10/30 (1 hunt) 130" buck
2015- Football scrapes, 10/20- killed buck 11/20 (2 hunts) 187" buck
Less time on stand, more deer seen, and bigger bucks killed! IT WORKS!
If you are skeptical, use this season as a test. Mark down the day you find these scrapes and count ahead. Hunt the 28-32 day period and check your own results!
Tomorrow- Core Area Scrapes!
