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. Exactly what these scent cues tell other bucks can only be guessed at.