Which way would you go in?
07-12-2008, 02:12 PM
#31
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Horse Country, VA
Posts: 937
RE: Which way would you go in?
ORIGINAL: davidmil
Bullhockey... you don't have any deer making scrapes at this time of year. Do you really hunt?
Bullhockey... you don't have any deer making scrapes at this time of year. Do you really hunt?
The feces was there, and licking branch chewed on probably yesterday, so how are you going to call bullhockey to both of us who saw it? I didnt have the camera with me, as it was 100 degrees and the machete and binocs were enough to carry, but I will take a picture of the scrape with fresh steaming plops...just for you DavidMil.
The scrapes are within 30-40 yards of bedding along a field. We got a chance to see some promising deer sign, trails, and tracks...and also lost yet another camera to some numbnut theif.
I look foward to watching you put that foot with bullhockey all over the sole...right in your mouth!
07-12-2008, 02:38 PM
#32
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Southeast, VA
Posts: 2,119
RE: Which way would you go in?
Hoyt, (by the way what is Horse County near?)
Here's an interesting article by a whitetail deer expert from D & DH magazine. I read it recently and have been using some if the "theories" myself this off season. While I have not seen signs of fresh active scraping I do believe bucks still do a lot of territroy marking throught the year with their orbital glands(forehead) on branchesand just plain urinating in areas they frequent they might not be tearing up the ground and trees yet(probably because of lower testosterone levels this time of year) but they are still marking. The article states that the mock scrapes made during the off season had a nearly 60% hit rate during the off season and 83% of them developed into full fledge scrapes in the fall. Pretty good odds eh. Any male animal marks his territory in some way and they do it all the time throughout the year,why would a deer be any different?? And if you can program them or help them to form habits in certain areas it is possible you might create a buck staging area where you can catch one working scrapes & rubs during the season that you created in the off season.
Springtime Signposts
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[/align][/align]Whitetails use chemical signals for communication more than visual signs and vocalizations. Glandular secretions and body odors serve better in forested cover because they can be memorized and left on objects in the woods. They can identify the maker, permit scent-matching marks and produce long-lasting messages that continue to work in the maker’s absence.
Bucks produce highly visible signposts in the form of rubs and scrapes during the breeding season. They mark overhead tree branches at other times of the year, too. But these signposts are displayed much more subtly. In fact, most marking generally goes unnoticed during the nonbreeding season because few visual signs accompany the scent-marking.(<<<<ding ding, we have a winner)
About 20 years ago, I learned bucks could easily be induced to scent-mark overhead branches and make scrapes at given locations. All that was necessary was to provide an overhead branch in the right place.
In 1988, I hung 100 limbs at likely scrape sites throughout Upper Michigan’s square-mile Cusino deer enclosure and used them to study various aspects of deer marking behavior. Sixty percent of the limbs were scent-marked before scraping started in early October. Most (83 percent) sites that were scent-marked during spring and summer developed into full-fledged scrapes during autumn.
Bucks marked the limb-tips most judiciously during May, October, and November. Although they displayed the full scrape sequence, complete with ground-pawing and urination, in autumn, they seldom pawed the sites in spring. Generally, the only evidence left in May was a few hairs stuck to the limb tip and a greasy appearance of the rubbed limb tip.
Wherever deer have separate winter and summer ranges, as occurs on Northern range, I believe scent-marking in spring helps bucks reclaim their familiar summering grounds. It also probably intimidates pregnant does, causing them to seek other areas for fawn-rearing.
Whatever its cause and function, springtime scent-marking at scrapes is a good indication that some of the local bucks survived the previous hunting season and winter. Use of automatic cameras at these sites will help to identify the markers and readers — and I’ll wager you capture far more images of bucks than does.
— John J. Ozoga, D&DH Research Editor
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Here's an interesting article by a whitetail deer expert from D & DH magazine. I read it recently and have been using some if the "theories" myself this off season. While I have not seen signs of fresh active scraping I do believe bucks still do a lot of territroy marking throught the year with their orbital glands(forehead) on branchesand just plain urinating in areas they frequent they might not be tearing up the ground and trees yet(probably because of lower testosterone levels this time of year) but they are still marking. The article states that the mock scrapes made during the off season had a nearly 60% hit rate during the off season and 83% of them developed into full fledge scrapes in the fall. Pretty good odds eh. Any male animal marks his territory in some way and they do it all the time throughout the year,why would a deer be any different?? And if you can program them or help them to form habits in certain areas it is possible you might create a buck staging area where you can catch one working scrapes & rubs during the season that you created in the off season.
Springtime Signposts
[/align]
[/align][/align]Whitetails use chemical signals for communication more than visual signs and vocalizations. Glandular secretions and body odors serve better in forested cover because they can be memorized and left on objects in the woods. They can identify the maker, permit scent-matching marks and produce long-lasting messages that continue to work in the maker’s absence.
Bucks produce highly visible signposts in the form of rubs and scrapes during the breeding season. They mark overhead tree branches at other times of the year, too. But these signposts are displayed much more subtly. In fact, most marking generally goes unnoticed during the nonbreeding season because few visual signs accompany the scent-marking.(<<<<ding ding, we have a winner)
About 20 years ago, I learned bucks could easily be induced to scent-mark overhead branches and make scrapes at given locations. All that was necessary was to provide an overhead branch in the right place.
In 1988, I hung 100 limbs at likely scrape sites throughout Upper Michigan’s square-mile Cusino deer enclosure and used them to study various aspects of deer marking behavior. Sixty percent of the limbs were scent-marked before scraping started in early October. Most (83 percent) sites that were scent-marked during spring and summer developed into full-fledged scrapes during autumn.
Bucks marked the limb-tips most judiciously during May, October, and November. Although they displayed the full scrape sequence, complete with ground-pawing and urination, in autumn, they seldom pawed the sites in spring. Generally, the only evidence left in May was a few hairs stuck to the limb tip and a greasy appearance of the rubbed limb tip.
Wherever deer have separate winter and summer ranges, as occurs on Northern range, I believe scent-marking in spring helps bucks reclaim their familiar summering grounds. It also probably intimidates pregnant does, causing them to seek other areas for fawn-rearing.
Whatever its cause and function, springtime scent-marking at scrapes is a good indication that some of the local bucks survived the previous hunting season and winter. Use of automatic cameras at these sites will help to identify the markers and readers — and I’ll wager you capture far more images of bucks than does.
— John J. Ozoga, D&DH Research Editor
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07-12-2008, 04:14 PM
#33
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Horse Country, VA
Posts: 937
RE: Which way would you go in?
ORIGINAL: NEW61375
Hoyt, (by the way what is Horse County near?)
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Hoyt, (by the way what is Horse County near?)
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