Hunting Scrapes or Last year's Intersections?
 

As you can see from the attached map (with GPS points of rubs, scrapes, etc) the trees in the middle get a lot of rubbing and scraping activity. However I am not 100% where the bucks bed. I have seen an old buck walk out from the river ridge from the north and I have seen younger bucks crossing east/west in the center woods.

I have found active, large scrapes as shown on the map, BUT when I looked at last year's buck tracks during the rut in the snow there is an intersecting spot that may be good to set up on as well. So should I be setting up where all this sign is (scrapes vs intersections) or do you think bucks only stop by this area an night based on its location?

(see attached map)

If it were me I would be hunting along the stretch of rub 52 thru 54 on the ridge top. I wouldnt put any stock into the scrapes and rubs along the field edges as 90% of these were done at night time. Get back in and try to catch them before they get to fields and are on their feet during shooting hours. Just my thoughts but let us know how it works out for you.

Thanks for the input I appreciate it. I will give that a shot. Even though the sign is much less this may be their approach travel corridor and the rubbing area might be a place they simply like to make rubs at night.

agreed, unless your area is a no pressure type land all the field edge scrapes are seen by young bucks in shooting hours, mature bucks are most likely not going to visit untill beer 30

However the large primary scrapes are not on field edges they are back in woods a ways. As you may note on the map the width of that center group of trees is almost 1/2 mile.

Just to clarify, you would stay on the ridge top but try to be above rub 52 thru 54 (which is much lower down and out of site)?

Throw a game cam on the scrap and see when he is visiting the scrap and that would tell you if its worth hunting the scrap or intersections. I hunt intersections (where multiple trails merge into one) all the time mostly because that is where i have been most successful. How far are these scraps from the main trail? Most of the time scraps are within 15 yards off the trail... I have seen rubs off the trail a little ways but most scraps I have seen are near the trails.

I would want to hunt between the pine thicket and rub line. My guess is the buck is walking out of the thicket in the morning feeding in the field but passes by his rubs first to freshen some of them up but the other spot would be on scrap 60 how far is that sign post rub from scrap 60?

Scrape 60 and the sign post rub are very close (less than 20 yds). As you can see scrape 60 is right on an ATV trail in the open (as are about 10 smaller scrapes along that atv trail). The sign post rub is more in cover.

That north ridge has very lightly used trails and the rubs and scrapes are few. So would that be a south-wind only hunting spot?