Show me your man made licking branch / Rub post

[Tap]

Im going to be putting a new one up this coming week. So what is the BEST tree to use? Is most everyone agreeing a leafy oak is the best???

Try to use a species that is a preferred one for your area. What trees are bucks making natural scrapes where you are?

There's a property that I hunt in Ohio that, in some years, its hard to find a small beech tree that doesn't have a scrape under it.

Species I've used...grape vine, oak, scotch and white pine, basswood, and beech.

I started out wire tying those various species to cut grape vines but bucks would usually tear that stuff off. Trail cam pics revealed that they just continued using the vine so just a grape vine is what I mostly use.
They seem to hold up better than attaching a branch to a limb or the vine.

I think, that initially hanging some sort of pine from a vine will be a good attractant and get them using it. Deer are attracted to pine. I assume cedar would work well.
Once deer take it over, then the vine alone works fine.

Don't overlook just prepping branches on existing trees. Basswood is fantastic for doing that. Lots of guys will take an out-of-reach branch and tie it down lower so deer can reach it. The branch is still intact and alive. Bash up a few of the twig ends so it looks like its been worked, then rake out the leaves underneath. Finish it off with a nice human urination and its all set.
But as already mentioned by a few of us...location, location, location.
Put it in the right spot and deer will use it. Wrong location and it'll get little use.

Smokey's Lures makes a pre orbital scent for mocks. I've used it but if you make the scrape correctly, it won't be long before real deer claim it and leave real scent. I rarely use any scent other than my own pee.


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[SWIFFY]

Thanks Tap! Ive done several on existing trees that have worked great. Im out in the prairie and now I have a few new plots in the wide open that I want to stick them in. Most scrapes i find nearby are on Boxelder... the only other option pretty much is Chinese elm. But there are tons of varieties of tree "around" in other sections. So if im going to cut one and haul it out back and dig it in, I just want it to be the right one! I think oaks are very popular with the bucks locally. I just have to go a mile to find one... thats probably what ill do!

 

[Tap]

Thanks Tap! Ive done several on existing trees that have worked great. Im out in the prairie and now I have a few new plots in the wide open that I want to stick them in. Most scrapes i find nearby are on Boxelder... the only other option pretty much is Chinese elm. But there are tons of varieties of tree "around" in other sections. So if im going to cut one and haul it out back and dig it in, I just want it to be the right one! I think oaks are very popular with the bucks locally. I just have to go a mile to find one... thats probably what ill do!

I'm sure we all know where there are complete, natural, deer made scrapes (with ground scent and overhanging branches) that are in places that we can't hunt for one reason or another. You can translocate those scrapes and the authentic deer odors to another tree located where you want to create a mock.

I've done it. Go as odor free as you can. I wore rubber gloves, boots, and was as clean as I could be. I dug up a little of the dirt which had deer pee and poop, rub urination, and interdigital odors from the real thing and I put it in a clean, odor free bucket. I cut off the overhanging branch which had deer saliva, pre orbital and forehead gland odors deposits on it. Another deer scent on overhanging branches is most likely from stained tarsals. Deer lick their hocks and that also gets deposited on the overhanging branches when the deer mouth the branches.
Wire tie the real scrape branch in the right location (remember, location is everything with successful mocks) and rake out the leaves. Then dump the bucket of dirt under your new scrape.
Voila...instant new scrape made with genuine deer odors.

I've only translocated scrapes within my own property. I've never introduced one from a different area. Deer recognize each other individual deer by their unique odor just like human recognize faces and voices of other people. So scrape odors from the same property are not from "strangers"...they are from "known" bucks.
I've wondered what effect introducing a scrape from another area would have on the resident herd. I assume it may strike up the curiosity of the local bucks that are wondering who the new guys are (every scrape contains odors from multiple bucks). I can't imagine that introducing "foreign" deer odors would have any negative effects.

 

[roymunson]

Here's hoping he's quartering away while I'm in the blind

 

[Booner21]

Here's hoping he's quartering away while I'm in the blind

Little trick I do for a bow stand is cur off all the branches except the ones facing directly at the blind almost no way he can get in and out without giving a shot.

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[Booner21]

Or in this case only attach limbs facing the stand

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[roymunson]

Little trick I do for a bow stand is cur off all the branches except the ones facing directly at the blind almost no way he can get in and out without giving a shot.

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Ya, the "low" branch is facing the blind