Ambush

While on the subject of active scrapes and the territorial behavior of whitetail deer It is instructive to know that I placed a ground blind not too far from the location of the scrape monitored by a trail camera.

I hunted from that location Saturday late afternoon until shooting time at 6 PM.  I observed a fork horn buck visit and get up on his hind legs to make a grab for the licking branch.  I also watched a fawn of the year come and go and a flock of turkeys take flight to roost in the tamarack trees.  It was nice hunting from the blind as it was spitting rain (what else is new).  

The other thing I observed was that the shot situation needed some improvement - namely some offensive branches needed to  be removed and the blind itself shifted a couple of feet further out in the trail.  This should do it.  

And by the time I revisit it will have been out there for a month giving the critters plenty of time to get used to it.