Old scapes?
 

Hey guys Im hunting in a newwoods this year and while scouting I didnt see all that many rubs witch leads me to believe the rut has not started yet. For which in midwest Indiana it should be at its peak I thought. Any way I saw about a half dozenfresh rubs on tiny trees and several old rubs maybe from last year. Should I keep hunting here or move on. Also I think the deer bed down in the middle of these woods. For opening day I set up a little farther north of the woods on field ridgeline and saw 3 deer running towards the woods mentioned above. So todayI hunted the morning and the afternoon I moved my stand to where I has seen them running too.

RE: Old scapes?
 

Deer will tend to revisit old scrapes from year to year, they don't always rub the same trees though. If you feel confident in your spot stick with it, I would get in early and sit all day though, i personally don't think the rut has started yet but hopefully on the next full moon. The bucks have been doing a lot of cruising through the middle of the day here in southern indiana. Hopefully this helps you a little.

RE: Old scapes?
 

After placing my stand in my new area walking out of the woods@ around dark.There were 4 deer out in the field andone doe was sent toinvestigate thestrange noises I was making. While the other 3 were standing about 30yds from where my stand wasan hour ago. I knew I should have hunted there one more day! Although Im confident in my new spot especially since I will have not hunted therein 4 days. Deer activity should be back to normal.

Should I get a trail dipper and place it over the scrapes to attract the buck back? Thinking there is another buck in the area. Also the majority of the srapes I found were about 100yds away in thick terrian. So should I make a mock scrape?

Thanks!

RE: Old scapes?
 

After placing my stand in my new area walking out of the woods@ around dark.There were 4 deer out in the field andone doe was sent toinvestigate thestrange noises I was making. While the other 3 were standing about 30yds from where my stand wasan hour ago. I knew I should have hunted there one more day! Although Im confident in my new spot especially since I will have not hunted therein 4 days. Deer activity should be back to normal.

Should I get a trail dipper and place it over the scrapes to attract the buck back? Thinking there is another buck in the area. Also the majority of the srapes I found were about 100yds away in thick terrian. So should I make a mock scrape?

Thanks!

RE: Old scapes?
 

We have spots that different bucks scrape the same spot year after year. I don't know if they learn that location from seeing the previous buck's spot - or if the smell still lingers a year later or what the deal is.

We just know that we've killed several of the deer that used that scrape the year before.