I went out yesterday to hang a few more stands and scout around some more.... and came across 5 scrapes in one area, along with numerous rubs... The area is holding alot of deer due to the acorns that are dropping in that area, but I have never seen any scrapes this early in the season, especially with the heat being like it has... Anyone else seeing Scrapes yet...??

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I have seen deer do this well before the rut. I think it had to do with sheading velvet. That is what it looked like to me, I might be completely wrong.

I have seen deer do this well before the rut. I think it had to do with sheading velvet. That is what it looked like to me, I might be completely wrong.

I think there are a couple possibilities here. Adult bucks will begin to make rubs and scrapes as soon as their velvet is removed. It will be mainly used to visually mark territory and leave scent in their area. It is a far cry from the rutting activity that will take place in the weeks to come, but it is still there nonetheless. Also, mature does, 4-5 yrs old are the first to begin to come into season. For most of them it will be the end of Oct/ beginning of Nov,(here in the northeast)triggering the pre-rut, but occasionally some older does come into season the prior month. This will trigger bucks to begin making scraped and rubs as soon as they realize this.