What would you do?

My stand location is on a pretty major travel corridor on our lease. I see a lot of deer that never go to the feeder. Usually there is a well developed scrape line on the edge of the small secluded pasture that I hunt. However, this year I can't find a single scrape around that pasture. I believe there are two really nice shooter bucks in my area. As of last Sunday, chasing has not started that I have witnessed. I even saw three bucks still running together. After last Sunday mornings hunt, I went and scouted a trail through the very thick woods north of my stand location and found a very fresh scrape line. I moved my camera onto that trail. There is not any blind in these woods and I would have to sit pretty close to the trail to get a shot through the trees (it is very thick timber). My question is this Should I:

A. Try to hunt the scrape line and sit on the ground risking the possibility of getting busted (one way in and one way out even if I try to play the wind). If I did get busted by a good shooter buck, would he leave the area?

B. Leave the thick woods a sanctuary, just hunt my stand. The scape line is less that 1/4 mile from my stand. Hope I get a chance once they start moving around a little more. Risk the possibility of the bucks traveling out of my area looking for does?

Ready.......Go!

I'm a firm believer in leaving safe areas alone so they become deer magnets. Only hunt the edges of them at best, keeping in mind you might want to be on a trail some distance away to time the presence of daylight being available for a shot.

Studies have found that bucks tend to hit their scrapes mostly at night. However, combine them with nearby rubs and you can piece together a strategy of when and where to be in order to get the chance for a shot. Here's why.

Bucks typically rub the side of small trees and bushes that are opposite of their direction of travel. This only makes sense when you think about it. Once you determine the direction of travel, try to determine if the deer was going to or from a bedding area or a feeding area. A buck that's heading towards a bedding area likely made the rub in the early morning, while a buck that was headed to feeding area would have likely made it late in the evening. The woods are often full of sign that explain deer movements if you're one who knows how to read them.

Of course all bets are off during the rut since bucks are on the move constantly and following the movement of does. Still, knowing where those safe zones are located can make all the difference. I watched three bucks, one of them a shooter, follow a doe Sunday morning across a pasture without showing any wariness at all. The doe was also taking her time after leaving a feeding area and headed toward a safe zone. If the shooter buck had appeared just a little closer to my safe range of accuracy, it might be at the processor right now.

Bucks will keep moving once they start. You might only see "That Buck" once when the chasing starts. Get on the ground and post up on where the does are.

Scout the trails going in and out of the sanctuary and find the big buck tracks. Hang a trail cam where you think you have found the trail to confirm he's using it. Set up at the exit and entrance points to the sanctuary. I would create some mock scrapes at the entrance and exit trails to get him to stop for a shot......

Leave the sanctuary alone and find where the does are hanging around nearby. Spend enough time there and he should eventually slip up.

Bring them to you...rattle.

Without question, game cameras have provided hunters with an excellent tool for creating a strategy that has the greatest potential for success. Sadly, many guys are only drawn to the antlers and pay no attention to what else their photos are telling them.

Here's a photo of a young buck that I captured with one of my cameras back in the early summer. The camera was positioned near the edge of a safe zone. The pasture that I mentioned in my earlier post is directly behind the buck. The deer I watched this past weekend walking slowly across this pasture at dawn were headed towards this same entry point.

I'm sorry guys but nothing bores me more quickly that discussing how best to wait for something to show up and eat. However, I'll talk all day with those who can tell me something about how to hunt them.

I shot a nice buck a couple of years ago using a doe decoy at a feeder and Tinks69. Haven't tried it again.