Today I did some scouting in an area of my hunting lease that no one hunts. The area is split by an old grown up logging road and could be characterized as a mature pine thicket. I counted 15 scrapes along the road (right on the edge of the road and the thicket) in a 250 yard span and a few rubs here and there.

Two of the scrapes obviously had existed for a long time and were much fresher and larger than the others. They were only 4 feet apart. It appeared that these two scrapes had licking branches above them. One of them had fresh hoof marks.

I have always hunted funnels and food sources and don't know much about hunting scrapes. Would you think the bucks are crossing the road in different places or actually moving along the road? I have heard that scrape hunting is difficult because they are usually checked at night.

Anyone have advice on scrape hunting and pitfalls to watch out for? Thank you.