Licking branch design, with a rope?

[dreaming bucks]

Ya, I think it does say that in part two....I just thought this might be a good technique to try near your treestand, just to get the buck to stop, to get a good shot at him.

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[JoeRE]

That's interesting. I hang a camera over a primary scrape to get an inventory of what deer are around - generally along a field edge well away from where I hunt.

I am not surprised that the Wensels got a bunch of does checking out the ropes in the summer, I have noticed does use licking branches just as much as bucks through early October.

I have seen bucks use all sorts of weird stuff as licking branches. Everyone who is thinking about doing this should read part 2 of the Wensel article, it gives some tips on making the "licking branch" more effective.

[Black Squirrel]

When I worked at Cabelas last summer, there was a sales rep for a certain trail cam, that had alot of pics of nice bucks and one thing I noticed was there was a rope hanging down on all of them. When I asked him about it he said "good observation", but would not go into detail about what he was doing. It's got to be something along the lines of this post.

[dan]

I was hired to scout a property last spring and the guy had a lot of these rope scrapes up, and told me he had been told to put them up by a certain well know michigan hunting/property consultant. He said he had to sign a contract that did not allow him to discuss details of the rope scrapes.... All of his seemed active, but he had a very high deer population.
I also noticed that all his ropes had a large not on the hanging end.

[dreaming bucks]

I was hired to scout a property last spring and the guy had a lot of these rope scrapes up, and told me he had been told to put them up by a certain well know michigan hunting/property consultant. He said he had to sign a contract that did not allow him to discuss details of the rope scrapes.... All of his seemed active, but he had a very high deer population.
[glow=red]I also noticed that all his ropes had a large not on the hanging end[/glow].

I'm not positive, but I think some guys do that so the rope doesn't just unravel itself. I guess some also put a zip tie up about one inch from the bottom.....

[yungbuck]

always creative on the beast...

[gjs4]

yes it works...the keys are the location, height and the bare ground....no scent needs to be added.

I was wondering about the height thing also. How high off the ground is a good height, 4 ft? and when you say bare ground, are you saying that you make a mock scrape & rake the ground down to bare ground?

Yes on both

I laugh at all the scent comments here (below).....some people just dont get it or have too much money

[gjs4]

I was hired to scout a property last spring and the guy had a lot of these rope scrapes up, and told me he had been told to put them up by a certain well know michigan hunting/property consultant. He said he had to sign a contract that did not allow him to discuss details of the rope scrapes.... All of his seemed active, but he had a very high deer population.
I also noticed that all his ropes had a large not on the hanging end.

Odd- went there too- knots werent part of it, actually stated the contrary

[jonsimoneau]

I got to see some of these rope setups last spring while I was at Barry's place. Pretty cool. Seems like a great way to gather pictures of bucks. Probably the biggest value during hunting season is the ability to get a shot at a relaxed buck that is distracted by the rope/scent. To me, stoping deer naturally is the biggest advantage of scent. I constantly do it during the rut. Works best if you have a preset location. Make a BIG mock scrape right where you want the deer to stop for a shot. Nearly every buck that comes through will stop right where you want. I even do this in new locations that I've never hunted. For example, this past season I went in to a new area with a stand on my back. The area had been previously scouted last spring and I had a tree picked out. It was a natural funnel near a known bedding area. Before climbing my tree, I picked up a stout branch about 6 feet long and made a scrape about 4 foot in diameter. Then I literally peed in it from as far away as I could to minimize ground scent. You know. The "distance pee" trick. That evening a 150 inch 5x5 came out of the bedding area and walked right where I wanted him too. When he got to the scrape I had made just 3 hours earlier he stopped and gave me a perfect broadside shot. Unfortunately in an unbelievable stroke of bad luck I did not get good arrow flight or good penetration and I did not recover him. I probably clipped a limb or something. He's still alive. I got a trail camera picture of him 5 days later with a visible wound on his side. I also saw him again about a month ago. So the buck got away but the plan worked. I don't use mock scrapes or scents to try to attract deer. But they work great for making a lone buck stop right where you want him. I imagine the ropes can do the same thing.

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[mbucks27]

I have never tried the rope method but i do have a spot that has an active year round scrape and there is a vine hanging down which would be similar to a rope i guess. The deer absoloutely love this thing here are the pics i got last time i checked my cam a few weeks ago.











I have put a ton of scent on this vine over the past two years and the one i use is James valley Lethal Weapon. Its like blended up gel like mixture. I just open the jar and dip the vine in so i don't leave any scent on the vine. Seems to work well for me. Might be a better "more natural" idea to try and cut a vine from somewhere and tie it up instead of a man made rope.

John