There are a number of locations on our property where you can predict the arrival of a deer scrape almost to the day. Last Saturday doggo and I were out hunting ringnecks when we decided to check several of those spots for any activity.
Sure 'nuff, and right on time, at the bottom of this photo (arrow) is a recently started scrape. At the top of the photo is a horizontal branch of an oak tree just to the left of the photo frame. This is called a licking branch. Licking branches are located directly above a scrape.
If
you encounter a whiff of deer pee redolent in the autumn air look
carefully beneath any shoulder height tree branches close by. You may
locate a bare patch of dirt in the turf that is trampled with deer hoof
prints. This is called a scrape.
Bucks
create scrapes by using their hoofs to dig at the ground. Once the
soil is stirred up, they urinate on the scrape. Bucks don’t pee the way
we do. We try to keep it off of us. Bucks actually try to pee on
their own hind legs. The object is to hit their tarsal glands in an
effort to leave their scent on the scrape. Every deer has its own
unique bouquet and the tarsal glands hold concentrated amounts of that
spoor. About the licking branch - a tree branch
will hang above the cleared out soil. Bucks will rub their forehead
glands on it and will also lick it with their tongue.
The
earliest of scrapes that begin to appear in October are few and far
between and used principally to communicate as bucks begin to leave
their bachelor groups and stake-out their territory. It is akin to
posting a no trespassing sign on a property line.
Scrapes
serve much the same function in the whitetail world as a mailbox post
or a fire hydrant does for dogs. Scrapes are meant to show dominance
over a territory but are normally used by more than one buck.
Very soon the scrape will be used to communicate breeding readiness.
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