Keith Copeland of Louisiana had some success on a great buck recently by targeting the vicinity of a scrape where he had been getting some daylight activity.
Deer hunters love to debate on whether or not scrapes are worth hunting. Whichever side of the argument you fall on, there is no doubt that a heavily used scrape indicates that a lot of does and bucks are active in the area. In this hunt Keith was able to focus on the general area around a hot scrape and it paid off bigtime for him.
To hear from some of the most successful scrape hunters in the country, make sure you listen to episodes 175 and 286 of The Southern Outdoorsmen Podcast. Episode 175 features Troy Pottenger, who is known for consistently putting down giant whitetails in the northern Rockies. Episode 286 features Greg Skufca, author of Licking Branch Magic, a man who has perfected the art of mock scrapes. We promise you wont want to miss the information in those podcasts. Here is what Keith had to say:
Sat in a spot from daylight till 10 saw a spike. Moved to a different spot that I’ve gotten a few good pics of deer at. I was hunting in my turkey chair with a rifle. I would say this is a funnel, flow zone. There is a scrape close by that I’m pretty sure is a community scrape. I get buck pics on it year in and year out, along with a few does.
Approximately 200 yards to the E, S, &W there are large nasty cutovers. This block of woods is mixed pine and hardwood with pretty decent cover but in slots you can see deer coming from the ground. The wind was right in my face. I was there maybe twenty minutes when I could start smelling this buck. I could smell it so well I took a whiff of my hand to make sure I hadn’t touched my doe piss or something but clearly that wasn’t it.
I couldn’t see a deer at this point but my gun was up and the safety was off the smell of that buck was so stout. This has happened one other time to me before. You know without a doubt. Another minute goes by and out walks a doe slipping by.
I told myself to focus, and not far behind her I could see his horns coming through the trees. It’s flat in here. There are some subtle hills but I’m in flatter terrain at this spot. I follow him in the scope and when I recognize him I shoot and he falls.
I was tempted to sit on the scrape when I got those pics but one of the last episodes the man said something like you aren’t hunting the scrape to shoot the scrape basically you’ll do better hunting in the general vicinity and I was about 150 yards down wind of it. I’m not a scrape hunter by any means I was just running out of time due to work so I went where I had gotten some good deer in daylight. Paid off. But, all the shows help been listening maybe 3-4 years. Keep up the good work
- Keith Copeland
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