Mock Scrapes

[OhioHunter]

Hi I was wondering if any of you in here have tried using mock scrapes before. I am thinking of giving it a try where they had a scape last year. I want to get a scent dripper and put over it. I have noticed the pre rut is on in ohio. Any suggestions and tips are appriciated! Thanks everyone. Happy Huntin!

[dbHunterNY]

they're usually along edges or travel routes. they work good on trails up wind from bedding areas and then you setup up wind of the trail.

clear the area underneath with a stick and not your boots. don't use in the dirt the end that you touched. overhead about 4' off the ground should be the end of a branch (licking branch) don't touch that either. if there isn't or it's gone, you can take and hang another branch in the shape of an upside down "Y" from a branch above and tie the two together. remember to keep the end about 4' over the scrape.

Wildlife Research makes a scent dripper bag and Tink's makes what's called the scrape bomb (not scent bomb) for some examples of what to get. There's lots of scrape scent's to put in the drippers and initially in the scrape. they usually combine buck tarsal gland, interdigital gland, and doe estrous scents. on the licking branches above use a pre-orbital gland scent in a spray bottle.

keep in mind that in most areas where does are many and bucks are few, mock scrapes will work best before does start or come real close to estrous and you see bucks running them all over the country side. if a buck spots a hot doe standing in the distance he'll check her out and not your scrape. he doesn't need to see if a doe found him (his scrape), because he already found her. also later in the season when a fewer number of unbreed does cycle and come into estrous again about 28 days later.

hope that helps. good luck!

Edited November 3, 2011 by dbHunterNY

[wtnhunt]

Welcome to the forums.

Good advice above. Keep the area of your scrape setup as scent free(of human scent) as possible. You can use gloves for your licking branch and for hanging and adding scent to drippers. Deer chew the branches(licking branch) and usually they are broken on the end. If you are using a cam at the setup, might want to keep the gloves on while setting it up.

Use the wildlife research scrape drippers with active scrape here. They work well in my opinion. Dominant buck urine works well in scrapes too. I try to hang the dripper above a branch where it will drip down over the branch as well as the scrape. I have tried both inside the woods scrape setups and field edge setups and have seemed to have better results on the edges, especially along wooded edges of food plots.

Goal is to get the bucks to take over your mock scrape. Deer are working scrapes here now.

[OHbuckeye1]

As a matter of fact we made one this morning and sprinkled some Peak Rut Doe-N-Heat scent granules in it. This evening we had a small 10 Point come in to it and sniffed around and actually licked the scrape. It was Pretty neat to see since I've never really tried making a Mock Scrape before.

[OhioHunter]

Thanks for all the wonderful info! Going to try it soon!

[hoosierhunter]

I've tested a few different products and i've found code blue scrape mate drave digger to be the best stuff combined with buck urine. The key is to get does using the scrape and then your mature deer will hit it. I've found that once dominant bucks start using my scrapes immature deer activity is almost non existant in those scrapes.

[PotashRLS]

And to add on to what others said..........the higher the deer density, the less aggressive and prominent these types of rut activity will be. If your doe numbers are too high, bucks don't have to compete for them and thus will cause a more "diluted" rut.

I have found that starting these mock scrapes in early to mid October works well when the first signs of prerut start. Once does start to come into estrus, your better bucks will be constantly with them until they are bred. An individual buck may only breed 3-4 does in the November rut because estrus only lasts so long. Hit em with everything and the kitchen sink during the prerut to maximize your success. For best results, tie a doe to your tree, wait for her to come into estrus, and hope a good buck finds her before all the scrubs during daylight while you are on vacation.