What is the Scrape in the pre-rut season?

Question

white tail deer, pre-rut rut

Answer 1

From Mossy Oak:

"For many years, hunters have believed that only a dominant buck urinated in the pawed-up earth of a scrape. But according to the professor, subordinate bucks and even does urinate in scrapes and leave data for other deer that pass through the area. "A subordinate buck often will sneak into a scrape and mark it with his urine, feces and pre-orbital and frontal glands if he believes he can do it without getting attacked by a dominant buck," Causey explains.

According to Causey, here are some other things biologists and scientists believe deer obtain from scrapes:

►Whitetails determine which other deer in the geographical area come to a scrape.
►Deer can tell how much time has passed since certain other deer visited a scrape.
►A buck can tell how he ranks in the pecking order of the herd.
►Deer can tell what kind of mood other deer in the area are in.
►Bucks can sort out which females come to a scrape, and what status those does have in the herd.
►Bucks can tell if a certain female will come into estrus soon, if she is already in heat or whether she will go out of heat soon. "

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

It's the males way of letting everyone know who he is by leaving scent. Then when the rut starts, everyone knows. It's sort of his keep-out other guys warning.