Once scrapes are located, the easiest piece of the puzzle to figure out is, if they are active. A mature buck will freshen his scrape during the pre-rut several times a day. Look for fresh dirt being turned-up in scrapes, this is sure sign that the scrape is being worked often. Also look for leafs in the scrape. If there aren t any leaves in the scrape, chances are the scrape is being worked.
All scrapes have an over hanging branch that has been broken off.
This licking branch is used to leave pre-orbital scent on. The licking branch is a vital part of any scrape. The scent that is left by the pre-orbital glad tells every deer in the area whose scrape is whose. The size of the scrape will be an important key to the size of the buck that working a particular scrape. Larger scrapes mean large bucks and generally small scrapes mean first year bucks.