Ok. Here is my situation. I put up a treestand on a small ridge bisected by an old logging road. I am at the top of the ridge facing northwest. The road runs southwest to northeast. The buck made a scrape to my right about 25 yards away.
I did some in season scouting last week after work and had kicked up two deer in that spot, thus it is why I picked the stand location.
Anyways. I hunted after work on Monday and saw no deer. It was warm and the scrape was covered in leaves.
I hunted Tuesday afternoon and saw that the deer had freshened up the scrape. Again, hunted till dark and no deer.
Today my dad went in the morning and saw that the whole area was trashed and scraped up. I decided to use some James Valley scent paste and dipped several sticks in and around my stand, including the branch overhanging the scrape itself. I did not hunt after work today due to some added work at home.
I am able to be in my stand hunting at 3:30 PM and hunt until 5:00 PM. That is set in stone. I cannot change that fact. I leave my classroom at 3:00 PM and no earlier. I cannot do it, unless the school caught on fire so to speak. So hunting earlier is not an option. I have all my stuff ready int the truck and do a quick sponge bath and dress in the woods. So I am hunt ready by 3:30 PM.
I may be able to hunt before work until 8:15 AM next week. I was wondering if anyone had that situation, what would they do?
Would you hunt the same hours in the same spot hoping that the deer will come by? Again, increased scraping.
Would you move your stand further in the woods in the hope of catching him on time?
Any suggestions are very welcomed.