Mock Scrapes Work!

[phil@thesidehill]

Nice, Phil. Let 'em slobber all over those branches, pee & drop raisins all over in those spots. Nothing like a stinky scape line to sucker the big boys to come investigate !! I thought that 1st set of pix was at the usual AO where you've gotten good buck pix before. As long as those scents are on the wind, curiosity might just kill the cat. Those brassica greens don't hurt either.

Yup...first set up is the old faithful AO scrape. It's just in a PERFECT location. It's just at the mouth of the Main uphill entry trail from the small maple grove mini staging area which is about 120 yds downhill from major doe bedding area. I called the big 10 I missed last year in just after he left that scrape and was heading away from me....effing hickory branch that was from the tree I bent down and tied in place for a scrape at 15 yds from my stand...which is the far right licking branch in the second set of pics.


Sent from 25 ft up a tree

 

[Tap]

My best mock scrape was made from a grape vine that was in the way on a tractor path at the intersection of 2 plots, a hedge row, and a strip plot. Several years ago the vine started sagging into the tractor path and was catching on equipment. I cut the vine so it hung about 4 foot off the ground, scraped the ground and took a leak in it. The scrape gets used A LOT, year round by bucks and does.
And it's close to the barn so the deer seem to be very used to my smell. I really don't do much odor control when I check the camera or freshen it with my own pee.
For a while, I used to wire-tie an oak branch on the vine but bucks always ripped it down so I stopped adding the branch. They use it just as much without it.
This pic is from yesterday morning...

 

[phil@thesidehill]

finally got a mature buck to work the AO scrape on October 10th just as a cold front has passed through the night before. we had our first real hard frost the morning of the 10th and it was 26 degrees that AM. Last year my first mature buck pic on this set up was October 10th with a few mins of shooting light left...just after a cold front had passed. In years past i really never had much for mature buck day light pics until October 20-25th. It will be interesting to see if this new "Columbus Day" pattern holds up in the future.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Little guy tearing things up!

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Starting to see a few bigger bucks hitting the mock scrapes now. Can't wait for the big boys to show up!

 

[Jordan Selsor]

lil Buck visiting mock scrape behind the house this morning just before daylight.

 

[Bill]

This ones playing rope-a-dope. And using the kiddy pool. Just enough diversion to pull off a good shot :)

 

[Mortenson]

Bucks using them more and more...

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Great pix and those are a couple dandy bucks. Tree's getting a real work - over from rubbing.

 

[j-bird]

I have noticed with mine that as I increased the size of the tree it really helped. I still use my "bracket" concept - but when I jumped up to a 4" diameter and increased the actual tree things seemed to have improved some. Before I got some interest but it was pretty minor. So far this year I don't have any monsters but I have a couple young bucks that are showing interest. And all of my buck use is currently at night. Hopefully they pull in something worth shooting.

 

[Tap]

I have noticed with mine that as I increased the size of the tree it really helped. I still use my "bracket" concept - but when I jumped up to a 4" diameter and increased the actual tree things seemed to have improved some. Before I got some interest but it was pretty minor. So far this year I don't have any monsters but I have a couple young bucks that are showing interest. And all of my buck use is currently at night. Hopefully they pull in something worth shooting.

Intetesting.
My best mock scrape has nothing to do with tree size, or even tree species. The overhanging "branch" is a grapevine that hangs from a black Walnut with a 2 foot dbh. In this case, the key is the location of the scrape IMO. And this mock has worked for several years. I don't hunt it, it's just for camera survey.
I think tree species is very important, though. Certain pines are better than others, for instance. But I think location is the biggest factor.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Location - yep. I think the most active scrapes that I've seen are close to heavy cover. Those are the ones that get more daylight activity and more frequent visits from my experience. My specific hunting areas have the most scrape activity around / under pines, spruces and hemlocks. All those 3, plus maples and witch hazel are the favored rubbing trees.

 

[Tap]

Location - yep. I think the most active scrapes that I've seen are close to heavy cover. Those are the ones that get more daylight activity and more frequent visits from my experience. My specific hunting areas have the most scrape activity around / under pines, spruces and hemlocks. All those 3, plus maples and witch hazel are the favored rubbing trees.

Still an early experiment for me, but basswood are supposed to be a highly preferred species...(Lapratt concept). I planted several of them a few years ago. I took the cages off some of them in September this year and several have been rubbed. Haven't seen scraping under them yet. Maybe I need to create a few mocks...maybe next year. Probably a little late to start mocks this year?

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[Bill]

I used a willow this year. I'm saying it's not the best choice.
Poplar and sycamore seem to work better here.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

my mock scrapes got visited by the best buck i have on camera so far this season....a very large 8 pt. the does and fawns are still using them all the time...and plenty of youngsters going through the motions as well.

 

[j-bird]

I agree that location is important, but when I put mine out in my plots for hunting purposes I think size has an impact. Just from what I have seen the smaller trees got less attention - the larger ones seem to garner at least "more" attention. I don't think they are the main scrapes of the deer, but they seem to draw the deer that visit the plot to check it out and keep tabs on the other deer, which was what I was after. I have yet to do mock scrapes in the woods - I tend to simply let the deer do those - I tend to find those along the primary travel areas of the deer. Just what I have seen.

 

[Mortenson]

My best rubbing posts have been cedar. This year I have 3 willows and only 1 gets used a lot, and it finally got snapped in half. Location is key. The best posts with limbs left at the right height should become scrapes. I removed a camera from my dad's main hunting plot just to be cautious. Having the extra camera I decided to bury 1 last, large cedar for the year. Excited to see how it gets used/violated. It's way out in the open, so probably will be mostly night pictures. But just in time for the rut so who knows...

 

[Tap]

I have yet to do mock scrapes in the woods - I tend to simply let the deer do those - I tend to find those along the primary travel areas of the deer.

Same with me. My mocks are set up for trail cam survey. I don't put them in the woods where I would be disturbing things too much when I pull camera cards. My mocks are along plot edges.

 

[Tap]

I was thinking about this thread today and I wondered about another possible benefit of making mock scrapes.
A lot of us on here believe that deer can be conditioned to get somewhat used to our individual human odor.
My main mock scrape is never hunted over so any deer using it has never had a negative interaction with me...but they do smell me because I'm not all that careful with my odor when I pull camera cards or freshen it this mock.
My deer absolutely hammer this scrape. I can't exaggerate how often it gets used.
So, can we actually use mocks to condition our local deer to our odor, and if so, can the conditioning help reduce negative encounters when we are in our stands? Just wondering what you guys think?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I have a mock scrape under an old pitch pine limb that has been used by deer before. This past week, I put a witch hazel rubbing tree / over-hanging limb about 15 ft. away from the mock. Rubbing / scraping has just really picked up in the last week. I can't wait to see what's happened when I get back there this Tuesday afternoon.

When I set up a mock, I gather turds from all over our food plots and on trails using a zip-lock bag to transport to the mock. Hopefully the smell of " local " deer puts any visitors at ease. Kinda copied what I see at busy natural scrapes.