 Making
Scrapes, Crabby Style
Dennis
createed an active scrape at the Zone in early October. This is step by
step, with pictures, of what he did, why he did it, what he used and what
happened.
To Scrapes...
Day #10: (Nov
14)
MORNING:
Temp
was 25, felt like 10 below to me. My toes got overrun with cold chills
after an hour on stand. I hung in until 8:45. A doe with 2 yearlings had
walked by at 7:30 but a few steps out of range.
Dennis
saw a buck work the scrape at the Zone. The Duck slept in.
AFTERNOON:
The Duck and I went to Hoss Cat Hill, he sat the stand on the hill and
I went to the Double Bull. We both zipped. Dennis saw a doe and a fawn
at the 9-pt stand.
Day #9: (Nov
13) "The Absolute Peak Of The Rut." Dennis Crabtree
MORNING:
At
Hoss Cat Hill the one-spike walked by at daylight. Two does followed by
a buck came out of the field and went in the woods 70 yards from me. Another
doe trotted along the woods edge behind me with a buck on it's tail. They
cut into the woods out of range. Later a doe walked down the edge and looked
down the old road I am hunting. Then it cut into the woods a little out
of range. A young buck came through last.
Dennis
returned to the 9-pt stand and zipped ... kind of. At 7:45 he hadn't seen
anything so he checked the area and stood up to use his urine container.
At the sound of his zipper ... immediately, a doe 25 yards away in thick
saplings spun and ran away. Just to her left was the big 8-pt from Monday.
Dennis "threw my binoculars up to see if they stopped out there. I didn't
see them and panned downhill and picked up another buck, real narrow but
real high, at least 18 inches and only 10 inches wide. The deer had not
seen him and minutes later Dennis yelped with his turkey call to hopefully
give the deer a sense of security.
The
Duck hunted Wild Bill. He was deerless.
AFTERNOON:
I saw the big bomber himself, the Hoss Cat Buck. He was standing on a hilltop
300 yards away, imaged against the oncoming night sky. He checked things
out and then crossed the field 150 yards from me. I couldn't get a count
of the points, but there were plenty. The rack was wide, wide and heavy
(I could see it in low light at 300 yards). From hIs side view the main
beams nearly reached his nose. Our plan is to go home tomorrow morning,
but it ain't happening now.
Dennis
zipped, the no deer kind.
The
Duck saw a doe pee in a scrape at Scrape City.
Day #8: (Nov
12)
MORNING:
We
were rained out in the morning.
AFTERNOON:
I went back to Hoss Cat Hill at 2:00. No deer moved where I hunted but
I saw a few deer in the field walking to my truck.
Dennis
hunted the hollow below the Zone and saw 2 does and 2 yearlings. One doe
stopped 12 yards from him but he passed.
Duck
hunted Wild Bill and saw one spike and an unidentified deer in the holler.
Day #7: (Nov
11)
MORNING:
Dennis
went to the Zone. At 8:14 a nice doe and 2 youngsters ran up and stopped
behind the tree, and looked back. Dennis looked too and saw 3 bucks chasing
a doe back and forth. Finally they went into the pines and the doe under
Dennis went into the pines too. Then two more deer came from the pines
and walked toward the Duck's stand.
Time
passed and Dennis took out his Woodhaven grunt call and did a slow buck
click. Out popped a 110 class 8-point. He went straight to the scrape and
worked the limb for 10 seconds and left to the South.
Ten
minutes later Dennis saw deer legs in the woods and another buck went to
the scrape. Dennis "clicked" him and he left the way the 8-pt came from.
9:30
- a buck chased a doe out of the pines and past the scrape. Then a red
fox approached the scrape smelled it. That was it.
D.
Duck heard deer movement in he leaves as he went in. At 7:30 3 does
came up and blew 3 times. Then they bedded down 100 yards away.
Next
another deer snorted. 20 minutes later 2 does ran by flagging.
8:30
two does bedded down 50 yards away. Next a doe ran through flagging. That
was it.
RH:
At Scrape City a buck came and worked the scrape before there was light
enough for a shot. Three flocks of wild turkeys came through. Only one
group came close enough that I thought I might get a shot. But they passed
me 10 yards too far.
AFTERNOON:
It started raining on the way to my Double Bull blind at Hoss Cat Hill.
It kept it up. The Duck hunted on the hill top where we used the NorthStarr
ladder. We both zipped. And to tell the truth if a shot opportunity happened
I would not have taken it. Rain and blood trails don't mix. It wipes out
the trail. But if the rain would have stopped the deer would have moved
right away and I'd be good to go too.
Day #6: (Nov
10)
MORNING:
Dennis hunted Scrape City. Nothing happened until 9:00 when a doe came
running through the woods and dropped out of sight in the holler below.
A buck followed her trail. Two minutes passed and the doe ran up and stopped
15 yards behind the treestand. She walked by the scrape and went over the
hill toward the Wild Bill stand. The scrape hadn't been hit last night.
The
Duck zipped.
At
7:12 a young buck came up out of the ditch 8 yards from my Double Bull
blind. It ate honeysuckle for several minutes as the light got better.
Something in the field 15 yards behind me got its attention. Watching the
field as it went the buck walked out of my view. Shortly I heard a crash
and the buck ran away.
It
got light enough to take pictures and a doe came down the trail I am hunting.
It stopped by a log -- I had intentions of shooting the doe but took a
pic first. A cardinal landed on the log in front of the buck and it turned
it's head. One lone spike antler caught my eye and thwarted my plans for
a doe harvest. The one-spike turned toward me, passed the blind and entered
the ditch where the previous buck had come up.
  
A 3rd buck appeared in the
woods in front of the blind. It looked to have only one forked antler.
When I looked at the picture (left below) there is a short antler on the
right. This buck saw the blind and got buggery. It snorted twice and then
walked away.
The last buck was a small
racked buck. It walked by me and trotted across the field.
  
At 10:00 I called it a morning.
I checked the Double Bull and noticed that the leaves and limbs I had placed
on the roof -- to break up the blind's outline -- had blown off. I put
them back and cut some more. I'll be back this afternoon, I'm due an adult
buck.
AFTERNOON:
The Duck and I hunted Hoss Cat Hill. He saw the buck with one long antler
that I took a pic of this morning (see below). It came out of the woods
and went to the open field for 10 minutes and came back to Don's trail
12 yards away.
Dennis
saw a big 8-point uphill. He grunted at it but it didn't respond. Then
a young doe with a young buck in tow came through. Dennis got ready for
the big 8 to come on down. But it didn't.
At
5:05 the one-spike buck came through by my Double Bull blind, he took his
time and browsed on honeysuckle and autumn olive leaves. That was it for
today.
Day #5: (Nov
9)
MORNING:
Bucks trailed Dennis saw 2 does from the stand. Afterward he moved a treestand
and checked Scrape City, it was hit again. I slept in and did web stuff.
The Duck sawed logs, if you know what I mean. Dennis 2 saw a booner 10
yards from the stand when he went to Scrape City (at 8:30).
MID
DAY - The New Wild Bill Stand
 Dennis
wanted to put a stand on a deer travel corridor where he had found 3 big
sheds. One was a matched set of 150 class and a 10 point that was equal.
Here is what we did and how and why we did it. Setting
Up Wild Bill...
AFTERNOON:
At the Zone Dennis saw a big doe at 5:10. Afterward he heard a lot of buck
and doe chasing activity up on the hill.
The
Duck heard chasing activity too. He hunted the new Wild Bill stand on a
bench.
I returned
to Hoss Cat Hill and my Double Bull. At 4:45 a big doe walked through the
area. After sunset I heard chasing in the thicket below me. Then I saw
a deer's nose take shape in the woods ahead of me. It walked straight toward
my blind, not on alert but really taking it's time. Daylight faded as it
came and when it was 10 yards away I couldn't see my pins clearly so I
couldn't shoot.
Day #4: (Nov
8)
MORNING:
Dennis settled into the 9-pt stand and five minutes later a sixer came
through with his nose on the ground. A 7-pt was next but trailed in a different
direction. Then a big 8-pt came straight at Dennis but veered off to the
left around a log and stopped 30 yards away. Dennis wanted to shoot but
limbs were in the way. The buck went wide and came toward Dennis again.
He stopped 30 yards out, but was quartering wrong and Dennis didn't shoot.
The
Duck saw 3 does being chased by a buck. Later he passed on a big doe at
12 yards. I didn't hunt, I did internet catch up stuff.
AFTERNOON:
Dennis saw a doe family of three. Don saw several deer in the distance.
I zipped at Hoss Cat Hill.
Day #3: (Nov
7)
MORNING:
A Big Day
Pip:
At 7:05am Pip saw a doe followed by a another deer that acted like a buck.
Pip couldn't see it's rack due to the trees and brush. The doe came up
to Pip and the buck came up by his stand, a 4-point. walked out.
Later he saw 2 yearlings.
Dennis
saw 2 geese.
Robert:
Between 7 and 7:30 a I noticed a huge doe standing at the edge of the field
just in front of the trail I am hunting. Over and over the doe looked back
behind it. I was totally ready for a buck to appear at any second. But
the doe turned along the edge and afterward I saw the doe and a moving
around buck in the field.
Dennis
Crabtree 2 (Dennis's son)
- Going to the stand he heard deer chasing in the woods. Once in the treestand
a young buck chased a doe behind the stand. In from to the left 3 does
came out of the holler and passed through. He heard a buck chasing and
grunting out of sight. He tipped his Primos original Can over and the buck
ran up behind him and stopped 10 at yards. Dennis 2 shot and spined the
buck. It dropped right there.
The Crabtrees: Bradin,
Dennis 2 and Kambra and Dennis's 8 point.
Don
Beckwith - At 7:20 a doe came off the hill and to a trail by his stand.
The Duck shot the doe straight down and it ran a short ways and everything
was quiet. Ten minutes later he heard a big commotion from the doe's
direction and 8 does and a young buck came out of the thick brush and walked
by the Duck.
At
8:30 he got down. There was no blood so he circled and found a puddle of
blood. The trail was all right from there. It led downhill to the doe.
Crabby (Dennis Crabtree),
the Duck (Don Beckwith) and Kambra Crabtree.
AFTERNOON
HUNT: A buck and two does were on the hill by the Duck's stand. I zipped.
Dennis and the Duck set up Dennis's Double Bull and the Duck shot in his
new Innerloc expandable broadhead while Dennis moved a treestand closer
to a trail.
Day #2: (Nov
6)
MORNING:
After daylight the young buck I saw yesterday, followed by an almost identical
buck, came through the area. After 7:30 I saw a sixer coming down the edge
of the field. It stepped into the woods 60 yards from me and I had trouble
keeping it in sight.
Surprise,
a buck stepped into my shooting lane 15 yards away. Rats, it took a couple
of hops into the brush. And then marked trees and walked around in the
nearby briars and brush for 5 minutes. He had long main beams, very round
in shape, and several times but they were thin compared to the beams. It
saw something move and reacted instinctively, but it did not spook. That
means it doesn't know I was there.
The
Duck zipped. Dennis saw a deer he couldn't identify because of the thick
brush. He is hunting a scrape and it was not hit since yesterday. Pip saw
a bomber 8 and a doe. Richard saw a spike and 2 does.
AFTERNOON:
I went to Hoss Cat Hill early and set my Double Bull in the briars, close
to a grown over, unused farm road and the edge of the field. A bunch of
deer came through the area at last light and at first dark. Tomorrow I
need to trim a few briars and twigs and I'll be good to go here. Maybe
I'll get lucky and get a pic of the unusual buck I saw this morning.
Dennis
had a spike and a forky fight by his stand. The forky pinned the spike's
neck to the ground and worked the spike over. The Duck zipped. A nice 8-point
ran a long ridge and went by both Richard and Pip.
For
dinner we all went to Bob Evans. Everybody ate chili. It's good stuff.
Day #1: (Nov
5)
The
Duck and I sat out this morning's hunt. Yesterday Richard Pippenger got
a huge doe and he and his dad "Pip" met us for lunch at Bob Evans. Pip
ate so much it was really embarrassing. ;-)
Then
we went with Dennis to our first area to hunt and the Duck set up a Climbing
Pole (from NorthStarr Treestands).
Now he's good to go for the afternoon hunt.
 
The Duck's area has scads
of thick brush and honeysuckle and plenty of deer trails.
AFTERNOON HUNT: The
Duck saw 2 does and a young buck. I hunted a tall tree inside the edge
of the woods adjacent to a large hay field. (Pic on Left)
I hunted Hoss Cat Hill and
saw 2 does and 3 unidentified deer walked through my area at last light.
Earlier this young buck below walked right under me. He scent marked several
tree branches as he came through.
 
 
Pip saw 10 deer, one was
a young buck. Two bedded near him. Richard saw 6 after shooting light.
Rob from PA missed a buck. Lisa Price and Dennis zipper. Dennis pulled
his stand and will move it tomorrow. |
