Daily, I watched local mutts stop and raise their hind leg at our post. Every time I let my own dog out of his kennel, the first thing he did was run to the mailbox. He sniffed around it for a while and then marked the post with his own scent. In no way did this canine scent post serve as a means for male and female dogs to get together. It was used only by males to keep track of other males, possibly even to maintain a sense of order in the local dominance hierarchy.
Scrapes serve much the same function between bucks.
Scrapes serve much the same function to deer as a fire hydrant or mail box does in the dog world. Scrapes serve much the same function to deer as a fire hydrant or mail box does in the dog world. It is believed that scrapes communicate many different forms of information and provide a means for bucks to keep tabs on other bucks. A buck working a scrape leaves identifying scent in two ways. They also urinate over their hock glands which leaves scent in the scrape itself.