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Keep Scrape Cameras Going For Late Season Success

November 30, 2021/0 Comments/in Get Muddy /by John Fennell

By: Heath Wood

Don’t Touch That Camera

During October and November, many hunters use game cameras to monitor scrapes. The scrapes may be natural initially made from a nearby buck or a mock scrape. Either way, both make for great scouting tools when used in conjunction with a game camera.

The end of October is the period when scrapes began seeing increased activity from bucks and does. As November begins, so does the scrape activity until bucks begin desperately seeking does to breed. When bucks begin the seeking phase of the rut, it is as if the scrape activity gets turned off like that of a light switch. When scrape activity decreases, hunters often elect to take their cameras and move on to another area. However, if hunters leave cameras going on scrapes throughout the rut, bucks will return afterward, making a great scouting tool again for the late season.

Eight Bucks and One Kill

For the past two years, I have monitored scrapes with Muddy cellular cameras. I have recently been using the Muddy Manifest camera to know when and who is visiting scrapes. On October 20^th of 2021, I accidentally fell into the perfect game camera setup on a natural scrape. I had placed my Muddy Manifest on the edge of a CRP field, facing towards a barbed wire fence where deer often entered the field. On November 2^nd, 2021, I got a text on my phone saying I had a new photo available that had been taken on that camera setup. When I opened my command app to see what the picture would reveal, I was surprised to see a buck making a scrape; he was leaving his scent on the overhead licking branch in the left corner of the picture frame. That day, eight different bucks visited the same scrape, along with multiple does. The Manifest camera captured great photos for the next three days, showing bucks and does using the scrape. As predicted, a week or two later, the deer stopped using the scrape, and I began seeing more rut activity on other places of the farm.

One of the last pictures that I received from the Manifest camera was of a mature eight-pointer who was nose-down, trailing a doe in the photo. On November 18^th, 2021, I was in a Hawk Down & Out Blind when after encountering several different deer that morning, I caught the movement of a buck coming out of the timber at one hundred and eighty yards. After a glance through the binoculars, I knew this was potentially a shooter buck. I placed my 6.5 Creedmoor rifle into position, resting on the frame of the blind window. After finding the buck in my scope, I quickly made confirmation that the buck was the same buck that I had witnessed on camera a couple of weeks prior while chasing a doe. When the mature ten-pointer walked into a clear opening at one hundred and fifty yards, I grunted with my natural voice to get the buck to stop. I squeezed the trigger when the buck stopped, making a great shot on one of my targeted bucks.

The Second Rut

Although I was out of buck tags for my home state of Missouri, I left the Manifest camera in position over the same scrape from weeks prior. My curiosity wanted to see when deer would begin revisiting the scrape and if any other mature bucks would visit. Like clockwork, the day after Thanksgiving, does begin coming to the scrape, soon followed by two or three different bucks. I am anxious to see how long the scrape will be active during the second round of scrape usage.

Some may ask why does and bucks begin using the same scrapes for the second time. The first to the second week of December bucks and does go into what is referred to as the second rut. The second rut is when younger does who didn’t go into estrus during the November rut or does that didn’t get bred will come into heat. It is essential to note that the second rut that occurs later in the season is not as action-packed as the November rut. However, the second rut can be a great time to score on a mature buck if one still has an unfilled tag. When does do not get bred, they begin leaving their scent when they go into estrus again. At the same time, bucks often revisit scrapes to check in on those does who did not get bred. If one keeps their game cameras running in-between time, they will know the exact moment when the chase commences the second time. When scrape activity begins to spark interest again, it is vital to be in the stand hunting. Remember, only a few does did not get bred the first time. The action won’t last long, be in the stand and ready, and you could fill that buck tag before it expires for the year.

hunting tips thanksgiving buck | Muddy Outdoors

Hunting Tips for Taking a Thanksgiving Week Buck

November 22, 2016/0 Comments/in Get Muddy /by Muddy Outdoors

Hunting Tips for Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week is here and it could not have arrived at a more perfect time. Let’s be honest there is not one hunter here that would take bickering over politics and catching up with family over a cold November hunt! Luckily the time off work aligns perfectly with an incredible opportunity. The rut is winding down, but that does not mean mature buck movement is. In fact, this Thanksgiving week could be one of the best times to kill one of your hit-list bucks. This might just be the perfect excuse to miss that overcooked turkey at the in-laws! If you find the time to hunt, be sure to take a look at these hunting tips for taking a Thanksgiving week buck!

Whitetail 101 S1 E14, “Crunch Time” | Second Peak of Rut Hunting

During this week, mature bucks rather than little bucks are on their feet. Young bucks that you saw nearly every day of the first part of November are now slowing down, while mature bucks still have enough energy to seek and chase the last does coming into estrus. This is a period that is make or break. Opportunities with a mature buck will exist as cold temperatures finally make their way over the Midwest. Cold temperatures with a few does still yet to come in creates a recipe where a hit-list buck can be harvested.

This is the back end of the bell curve of the rut, does are still coming in, and mature bucks are out trying to find them. Rut hunting strategies for this week include sticking to the bedding areas, but also keeping an eye on late season food sources. As hunting transitions into December, food sources become the focus instead of bedding areas.

Trail Cameras Weekly “Week 8” | Hunting The Backside Of The Rut

Mature bucks will start focusing on late season food sources later as we approach December and colder temps, but do not get ahead of yourself. For now, the best hunting tips for hunting the backside of the rut means stick with your rut hunting strategies, remember you trail camera tips for the rut, check trail cameras often, and grind it out until the end of the season.

Mock scrapes and trail cameras | Muddy Outdoors

Mock Scrapes | How to Take Full Advantage of a Buck’s Weakness

Taking Advantage of Mock Scrapes With Trail Cameras

Deer season has arrived and with it the unmistakable frustration of not seeing deer during the first weeks of October. No, we are not talking about you only not seeing deer in the stand, but nearly everywhere, including on your trail cameras. This frustration comes at a high price as you will waste the first weeks of deer season playing a game of cat and mouse with of course no claws or teeth to catch the mouse…sounds frustrating right? It is without the proper guidance! The reason for this frustration is the loop many hunters (you included) get thrown into just before the season starts and it all starts with your trail cameras. Luckily mock scrapes are the answer to the problem that you have yet to realize or seek a solution for.

Trail Cameras Weekly | Week 1: Mock Scrapes

(Video)- Mock scrapes can be the solution to a problem hunters face this time of year. Bait sites need to be taken down, so hunters are looking for a good location to hang their trail cameras in order to gather intel about bucks. This is usually in the form of food plots or mock scrapes as both supplies attraction in order to draw the deer in front of the camera. For how to make a mock scrape, I simply find a good location where deer and more importantly bucks frequent, find a good sturdy licking branch 4-5 ft high, snap it off, clear out the ground with a stick about 2 ft wide, and put scent in the form of mock scrape starter on the ground.

The Problem

Here is the issue at hand, lack of intel driven with attraction. All summer long you have relied heavily on trail cameras, baits sites, and scouting crop fields to tell you what bucks you have and where they reside on your property. As the summer has recently progressed into fall and into deer season, bait sites needed to be removed and bean fields were drying up. You were left begging the question “how do I find my bucks now?”

Luckily sources of help and quality information are available on channels like Muddy TV. Bill Winke of Midwest Whitetail and the weekly web show “Whitetail 101” dives into this subject continuously throughout October. Bill is an expert at “finding bucks back again” after they have moved home ranges and adjusted on different food sources. The secret to Bill’s success is putting trail cameras in the right locations, with the right attraction, and the right settings. This will become your success point as well after reading through this article.

The Solution

Again the problem isn’t necessarily the changing times, it’s the behavioral changes in whitetails in addition to the legal ramifications (in some states) of having bait out on the property around your stands. This is an issue because it is in the best interest for you to have some sort of attraction in front of your trail camera to snap pictures of bucks and gain valuable intel. With bait or any “edible” attraction out of the question, we are left with one thing…scent.

The Weakness

During the early season and pre-rut, bucks have one weakness that can be taken advantage of. Their inquisition. Whitetails are curious creatures, they are also social and creatures of habit making this weakness even more deadly. Communicating and learning about other deer and the status of those deer continually throughout October and November takes place at a scrape. Bucks and does alike will visit scrapes throughout the season presenting two opportunities.

By creating mock scrapes the two opportunities can be fully extorted. The first opportunity is mock scrapes create the attraction needed to draw deer in front of your trail cameras. The second arrives once a buck has been located and somewhat patterned, as these mock scrapes suggest tree stand locations.

How to Make a Mock Scrape

Follow these simple steps to make an attractive and useful mock scrape.

Step 1: Find high traffic area located in the right seasonal location (around acorns, in a food plot, by crops)
Step 2: Find a tree with a good branch, or hang a branch in the location that is within shooting range of a potential tree stand site.
Step 3: Create or bend down a licking branch 4-5 feet high. Break the tip off just like a buck does when making or checking a scrape.
Step 4: Take a stick and clear out a 2ft circle under the licking branch.
Step 5: Apply mock scrape starter to the dirt or use human urine. Do not put urine on the licking branch, only apply forehead gland or preorbital gland scent products to the licking branch.
Step 6: Hang a trail camera over the location

Hanging Trail Cameras Over Mock Scrapes

Follow these simple steps to hang trail cameras correctly over mock scrapes.

Step 1: Find a tree opposite the mock scrape’s face. Do not put trail camera close or right on top of mock scrape as it could put unwanted scent and be seen by the bucks.
Step 2: Place trail camera around 10 yards from scrape.
Step 3: Set the delay to 1 minute as does and bucks will not spend a lot of time at a mock scrape sight, but instead will only pass through and investigate, or work the scrape quickly.
Step 4: Set the trail camera on a long video mode. For Muddy trail cameras, the 2 minute HD video is perfect for detecting bucks and watching both where they enter/exit and how they work the scrape.

This year if you are struggling to find out where to put your cameras or are struggling to capture your bucks again after summer, try using mock scrapes and trail cameras in combination. By placing mock scrapes in areas subject to deer traffic in different parts of the seasons (acorns early, green food sources later, funnels in the rut, and late season food sources) you will be able to continually attract bucks in front of your trail cameras. This will reveal valuable intel that otherwise would go unnoticed.

For other trail camera tips visit the following blog:

Trail Camera Setup Guide