Scrapes already.........

[bmc]

My dad and I went out to hang a stand this morning and as we were walking along an old ATV trail between 2 of our food plots, we saw a good sized FRESH buck scrape on the ground, with an over hanging branch that had been worked.

We wrote it of as a fluke, but w/in the next 70 yds we saw 2 more.

Then we got out to our east food plot and the "yearly" scrape under a white oak had been worked a bit too.

I know it's not uncommon to see some scrapes this early in the year, especially around food plots, but we were suprised to see this many.

We start seeing scrapes on our food plots first every fall, usually around Oct. 15th.

We are in the Grand Rapids area.

Looking forward to putting some time in the treestand, after I hammer a Wyoming antelope.

Brian

[Bear55]

I have a spot that gets tore up every Sept before bow opener. I think it is more common than we realize.

[Meat-Run]

Yup that sounds about right, last year I had 15 scrapes not long after Labor day.

MR

[slimngrizzly]

Testosterone is rising!

[Bear55]

I think a lot of it is related to older bucks shreading their velvet and then busting open some scrapes when they get that first taste of hard horn and know fall is very near.

[Finlander]

I would put a trail camera on those scrapes to see what is there!

[96trigger]

I saw a big one when I went to check my cameras last weekend. Was a little surprised to see it so early after shedding their velvet.

[goblueM]

Last couple years I start to see bunches of scrapes in mid-Sept, and this is in Virginia, much farther south than MN. I agree with Bear, may be more common that we think

[Mercman1]

Acorn scratching? maybee.... In my area acorns are dropping and have been for about 3 weeks... Just a thought

[Powerstroke]

Deer use some scrapes year round. It sounds like you've got some scrape lines going already, but all things considered, the season is here and I've seen some young bucks harrassing does. Obviously its nothing serious, mostly scent checking and stuff, but its easy to see the little ones making a mark.

[bigbucks]

Don't know if I did it right, but I made 6 mock scrapes last night. I picked out licking branches on field edge near stands trimmed the other branches around the selected branch & rough up the ground with the rake. I had some stands that I hadn't had a chance to check & trim yet, so I in the area along two of them.

On another note, deer are definitely hitting the corn already & should be pretty much off the beans. The corn is PLENTY dry & hard for them to eat it. I can't believe the amount knocked down in some fields. I know much of it's by coons, but still. Found a 50-60 yard stretch where the first 8 rows were all flat.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Don't know if I did it right, but I made 6 mock scrapes last night. I picked out licking branches on field edge near stands trimmed the other branches around the selected branch & rough up the ground with the rake. I had some stands that I hadn't had a chance to check & trim yet, so I in the area along two of them.

You can't really screw it up as long as you got some scent on there too. Either deer urine or human urine works. Just need something to get a rise out of the deer.

[deerminator]

Heck, I'm going to set my new buck decoy up Saturday evening in the soybeans. I've read some articles saying it will be much more effective during the rut stages, obviously, but that early season is a good time to give it a try too. Bucks are starting to check things out and size each other up.

[B. Amish]

i've found scrapes starting in august some years. many times i've found the first ones in early september. some years i don't find much until the last part of october.

usually... when i do find scrapes early, it correlates with a high number of bucks on camera and a few older ones.

and yes, they'll scrape year round. just not as noticeable as the fall.

[rbs]

The early scrapes that I have found over the years seem to be a one time deal...never to be refreshed again that season. Just what I have noticed.

[bmc]

B.Amish, you make an interesting point about # of bucks on trail cams and early scrapes.

My brother arrowed the king of our hunting area last fall, so I was wondering if the bucks are a little more fired up now that he's on the wall.

We haven't been seeing many bucks on the camera at all, in fact the biggest one we've seen all summer is a 5 ptr. Not sure what to think about this situation, but I'm gonna hang a trail cam on the that ATV trail tomorrow to see what is working that area.

Brian