I'm not new to whitetail behavior or hunting, but I thought I'd throw this out here to get some different views on hunting over scrapes.

Recently a friend joined me for his first ever bow hunt. I put a stand in a high traffic funnel area bewteen two different types of cover and threw down a bait pile so he would see deer. He saw many, including several small 1-1/2 year old bucks. On the last day of the hunt there were three fresh (night before) scrapes layed down within 20 yards of the pile, one being only 5 yards behind the pile (25 yard shot from the stand). I usually have two stands for the season, one being my fake scrape "buck" stand, one being a general/baited stand over main trails. I did not see a deer all week whereas my buddy saw deer almost daily. Now that the scrapes are there, I'm thinking of hunting this stand through the rut, but am not really sure how to go about it.

Here's my plan: Drag rag estrous doe scent to the stand, scent rag in a tree close to the stand, and put some scent on the scrape. Then do some rattling and grunting, hoping to pull in a big boy. I understand hunting directly over a scrape, especially a natural one isn't the choicest of strategies, however this area has all the ingredients for an incredible doe staging area, wind direction for the stand, several main runs coming into an intersection 20 yards from the stand, fresh scrapes, and doe/small bucks coming into the pile/scrapes daily. Last year I hunted over a fake scrape with a drip bag with no success. The stand/bait pile/scrapes are in a mature oak section between swamp and scrub line, so placing a stand down wind between the scrape and bedding area would be impossible (they travel from the scrubby bush line to the oaks when leaving the bedding area).

So, what do you think? Thanks.