Last weekend was spent hanging out in Georgetown, and it really was a great time. Despite the inclement weather we have been having around the Lowcountry, we managed to eek out a dove shoot and do a little pond fishing between rainstorms. I also made sure to check my trail cam, and do a little bit of scouting for deer season while I was there, just to see what kind of activity is going on now that the season is underway. Much to my delight, I had a handful of great videos & photos on my trail cam, found here.
We always see deer right around this little area, so I knew it would be a great place to put my camera. This is also where I hunted at the start of the season and could hear plenty of activity in this patch of woods. Turns out, it wasn’t just squirrels and birds I was hearing, thank goodness.
Like I mentioned above, I saw plenty of sign while I was scouting as well. Do you remember my post that included scrapes and rubs? Well, I found quite a few, much to my delight. With the on and off rain all weekend, it was somewhat difficult to tell how fresh a few of them were, but others were blatantly obvious. Dirt that had been clawed (hoofed?) away since the last rain, and fresh urine (I know, I know. Ew. “Scent,” if you will). I by no means think a different buck made each one of these scrapes, but it is still comforting to see such activity before the rut even begins. We have seen countless does over the summer and into the start of fall, so hopefully that bodes well for our buck ratio!
This is what a buck looks like when he’s making all of these marks:
So, where do we go from here? I was talking with my dad about these scrapes and rubs that I found, and he gave me some advice. And, let’s be honest, he has a few years of deer hunting under his belt, so I am more than inclined to trust his judgment. He said that in his experience, hunting one scrape is typically a waste of time. Even though more than one buck will often use the same scrape, you never can be sure if they will return to that exact spot, or if they have moved on by the time you get it set up to hunt there.
On the other hand, a nice scrape or rub at the opening of a well-used game trail that opens up into a food plot might be a different story. I would say, at the very least, set up a camera nearby to check out what’s happening around there.
Even though the weather did not permit me to deer hunt over the weekend, I am still encouraged at how this season ahead looks. Once time slows back down after our wedding and the weather cools off a bit, I will be spending much more time in the deer stand. There are even a few spots I am looking to put a climber this year.