Anybody make mock scrapes ?

[Bucky]

Schultz - do you use pre-orbital scents or just ground scent? Interesting tactic...

[headgear]

I might have to give this a try, I have giant buck behind my house but I only have 5 acres to hunt and all the private land around me is locked up with other hunters. I can't scout or hunt where he is bedding so this might be my best shot. Schultzy and other I am also interested in what scents you use. It's probably a long shot because I can't really strategically place the scrape close to bedding but it might be better than doing nothing.

[Schultzy]

Bucky and Headgear,

I use both. The licking branch stuff Is called BF Gland. Most Important of the 2 I think. The stuff on the ground Is either Pre/Post or Rut scent made from BF. Depends on the time of the rut on what ground stuff I'll use. There's so many Important factors that go Into making a mock scrape. I use a dripper to keep the scrape fresh so I don't have to check It very often, less human scent and Intrusion that way. I also use rubber gloves when at these scrapes and also wear rubber boots.

Here's a link to the stuff I use. One thing about Synthetic Scents Is It will never get old unlike real stuff that comes from deer In the bottles that you buy.

http://buckfeverusa.com/

[Hodag Hunter]

Thanks for the tips Schultzy....I'm going to try this in my backyard also. Will at least be cool seeing the bucks on camera for my son.....always jacks him up.

During the pre-rut have nice bucks that come thru the area checking on the does that hang around full time. Cameras catch about 75%-80% night activity with some days actual daylight buck traveling.

Try to pattern when the bucks will move thru during the day.........crap shoot.

[dan]

Schultzy is right... Wether or not you see bucks on scrapes in daylight has to do with the scrapes location. It needs to be near bedding or during pre-rut along an area where they cruise.
No doubt mock scrapes "can" work... But its not my style of hunting. I would use them as a tool to take inventory and personally woulde not mess around with anything near the bedding areas ( where bucks move in daylight ) until I arrive to kill the Beast.
I also think that most older bucks get wise to things like mock scrapes and most of the deer that you see on them are between 1 1/2 and 3 1/2... I certainly would not want to put all my eggs in that basket. Obviously there are exceptions. But I don't think anything kills truly mature deer more consistantly that catching them totally by surprise.

[PLB]

I see Blood Brothers Outdoors is on Buckfever Scents Prostaff?? Interesting....

[Hodag Hunter]

I would/am treat the scrape the same as a bait station. Just a place to catch pictures from a trail camera. Big advantage I can see here in WI can be done now vs having to wait for the actual hunting season to start.

Wouldn't place a scrape too close to a bed.....same as a bait station.

[dan]

I have killed some nice bucks over staging area scrapes ( NATURAL SCRAPES ) and one situation has worked really well for me, and that is to find a scrape where two or more buck bedding areas are within close proximity of each other and there is a primary scrape between the them or where the staging over laps...

[Hodag Hunter]

I have killed some nice bucks over staging area scrapes ( NATURAL SCRAPES ) and one situation has worked really well for me, and that is to find a scrape where two or more buck bedding areas are within close proximity of each other and there is a primary scrape between the them or where the staging over laps...

Would say your right, but wouldn't want to put a camera in that location.....only hunt it.

[magicman54494]

... I certainly would not want to put all my eggs in that basket. Obviously there are exceptions.

I was thinking about this and one exception comes to mind. I have a spot that I just don't know how to set up on it. A mock scrape might be the answer to steer the deer to a spot where I can access without him knowing and still be close enough to hammer him before the end of shooting hours. In this spot there are a few connected islands and other deer bedding there. Any way I look at it my best option would be to set up 150 yds away on the edge of an oak woods and hope he gets there before dark. With a scrape I could steer him to a point on one of those islands where I can access without bumping other deer and draw him in that direction (which he probably would'nt go without the scrape). I really don't have anything to lose by trying because my odds are so poor anyway. I could start by hunting the oak woods and if that don't work I could move in on him. If nothing else I could at least get a photo of him so I'd know if he's a shooter. One thing nice about having a bunch of stand setups is I could try something new like this and still have many options if it don't pan out.

Questions for the guys already using mock scrapes:
If you were to try what I outlined above would you start the scrape well before season or would you wait until after not being able to kill him from the distant oak woods?
When do you think would be the best time to hunt the scrape? In the early season or during pre rut? Would you hunt it right away after setting it up (next day) or would you give it time first?

[magicman54494]

I have killed some nice bucks over staging area scrapes ( NATURAL SCRAPES ) and one situation has worked really well for me, and that is to find a scrape where two or more buck bedding areas are within close proximity of each other and there is a primary scrape between the them or where the staging over laps...

When did you hunt them?
As soon as you find them in early season, or pre rut (seeking stage), or during the rut, or post rut?

[headgear]

I really don't have anything to lose by trying because my odds are so poor anyway.

This is me too, my backyard buck I want to try this on is most likely impossible to kill in my funnel of a back yard so I say what the and give these mock scrapes a try. At the very least it will be a fun science experiment. All of my prime spots are bedding areas, this buck is probably far larger then anything I would see in those bedding areas but he is almost an afterthought because my odds to kill him are so so low.

[dan]

I have killed some nice bucks over staging area scrapes ( NATURAL SCRAPES ) and one situation has worked really well for me, and that is to find a scrape where two or more buck bedding areas are within close proximity of each other and there is a primary scrape between the them or where the staging over laps...

When did you hunt them?
As soon as you find them in early season, or pre rut (seeking stage), or during the rut, or post rut?

The 400 pound slob buck was a "scrape" buck, and he shared that scrape with a few other bucks. That was early to mid October I believe... I also shot a 160's class older buck on a scrape near his and anothers bed on opening day in mid september. there were more too.. As far as when I hunted them, both those scrapes were being used prior to season and in both those cases I glassed the bucks from a distance prior to hunting them. The "slob buck" had a bed that could not be hunted till the exact right wind which is why I waited so long into the season...
Scrapes are probably more productive during pre-rut, but if you can get them using your "fake scrape" early season can be awesome too.

[DEERSLAYER]

I have used mock scrapes with some success, but a tactic I have been wanting to try that I haven't got around to for one reason or another is to use a licking branch from another scrape many miles away. Far enough away the buck you are after will not recognize the scent. There is a guy on Michigan Out of Doors Big Buck night virtually every year with a nice buck and he is always telling everybody how well it works and how they really need to try it.

[Zap]

A good way to attach a licking branch you have cut from another spot is to use a small piece of PVC pipe to slide over the branch where you want to put it and then slide the licking branch into it.

Dig up some dirt from the scrape and put it under the new licking branch.