i just watched the last episode of BHOD and thought it was weird they was making a mock scrape so early in the year. Does anyone else make one this early or later in the year? What are the benefits or drawbacks of doing a mock scrape early?
In my own experiences the draw back to early mock scrapes would be almost scaring buck if he didn't make the scrape. I hunt bucks that tend to be less aggressive. The benefit I have seen to scrapes early is it conditions deer to check them often and make them continue them into the rut. Everyone has their own thoughts and experiences. I say wait until mid September when the start rubbing.
Scrapes are used year round by bucks. Not as Intense as during the rut and pre rut. I have a scrape that I contribute to year round with my own pee. Got a opening week buck on that run last year and I have another one patterned for another opening week buck this year as well. Edit: this run I hunt over is also the run the buck uses on his afternoon early season feeding pattern Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click link for a wealth of info on mock scrapes from one of our members! http://forums.bowhunting.com/whitetail-deer-hunting/22204-my-thoughts-experiences-mock-scrapes.html
Mock scrapes can be prepped and maintained year round. Doesn't mean every buck in your neighborhood would start contributing to it early on but it makes it aware that it's present and gives them a place to come to when they are ready. Biggest thing to me would be just make sure any scents you use in them pertain to the season, ie. don't use doe in heat during the summer. Scents like Conquest Deer Herd In A Stick are perfect for this time of year, so is your own urine.
Power Scrape® Starter Spray All Season Buck Hunting Lure - Tinks Above is a link to the product "Power Scrap" that we are using on our scrapes. This spray teamed with a dripper works great. As stated in the description it can be used at all times during the season. Personally I have never seen a buck act adversely to the Mock Scrape on our Trail Cams. Through both Trail cam pics and videos, most often the buck will come by take a sniff, give you a great picture as he is perfectly framed in front of the trail cam, and go on his way. As the summer transitions into fall, the buck is now already aware of the scrape and will often come back to visit the site throughout the season. Here in Illinois we can not bait or use minerals to attract the deer to specific sight in order to get a good inventory of the deer we have on our property. By using an attractant like the Tink's Mock scrape we are able to attract the deer in front of our cameras and get a better sense of what deer on in the particular area.
For those using their own urine are you just relieving yourself as you walk by them or collecting it and pouring it on later?
I walk out there every other day and just...go. I make sure it's not in the morning when my urine would smell like coffee.
here's a velvet buck working in a scrape i made with my own urine. i made one this past sunday but haven't checked the camera yet
i always just pee in them when i'm there. i have been doing it for a bunch of years but have only been running cameras on them the past few. does as well as bucks will use them
Will it work the same if you collect them. I only manage to get out to my spot maybe once a month to check cams and stuff
They really can be done year round, don't have to wait for an OK from anyone that's for sure and you aren't harming anything by doing it as long as you aren't spreading your scent/sweat all over it. Now is a GREAT time to at least prep your spots. If you have overhanging limbs around where you want a mock scrape to be it doesn't hurt to clean out underneath it by removing any limbs, sticks, grass, etc. that may be in the way. Some limbs may be too high so now is a great time to tie them down in position. Others even cut fresh oak branches and tie them in position in locations they want a scrape to be.
Scrapes aren't just used by bucks....think of scrape as the neighborhood gas station or post office.......everyone in the neighborhood may come and go and leave some of their scent. For areas such as Southern WI were we can't place any bait (because of CWD) at any time.....scrape are a decent way to get inventory of area deer.
I personally don't think a lot of guys are creating or maintaining their mock scrapes properly or to the point where they will actually help them kill a deer. I think they're certainly trying but just going out into the woods and spraying some scent on the ground or hanging up a dripper really doesn't do a whole lot of good unless you have a solid plan and stick with it. IMO one of the biggest failures to a mock scrape is consistency. You must keep it fresh on a regular basis if you want it to be an effective killing tool. If you simply want to get trail camera photos of deer sniffing around an area then putting scent out in July and August is one way to do it. However it doesn't have to be mock scrape scent you're putting out. It can be just about anything that peaks a deer's curiosity and gets him or her to come investigate. All to often I see people posting photos of deer "hitting" their mock scrapes when in reality they're just checking out what sort of new scent is there. Come back in mid October and see if the bucks are really HITTING the scrape. That's the real test. Speaking for myself I don't setup or make mock scrapes on the farms that I hunt which are far from home. I simply don't get there enough to keep them fresh so I don't bother. On the farm I hunt close by I will create a mock scrape only if it benefits me. What I mean by that is there has to be a compelling reason to go through this effort. This could include having access to an area not frequented by a lot of bucks or simply wanting to draw a buck into an area where he's more killable during the season. If there's already natural scrapes in the area, good access to stand locations, good pinch points or food sources and good deer on the property then a mock scrape isn't needed IMO. If you read the thread that Troy (shed) wrote keep in mind he's hunting in the mountains of Idaho. There's woods for miles and little to no dedicated food sources. Bucks are spread out and travel a LOT - way more than they do in the Midwest. So mock scrapes are the perfect tool for him to lure in bucks who are traveling and get a shot at them. He's extremely smart about where he puts them and very diligent in checking and refreshing them. So don't expect to get those types of results unless you put in that type of effort. In conclusion, for me the best time to start putting out mock scrapes is in September once I've got a handle on where some of these bucks are living post-velvet. In many cases those big deer may not like to break from cover until dark and I want to lure them out for a shot during shooting hours. If there's no other way to do it then a mock scrape as close to the bedding area as I can get is a viable tactic. I'll start the scrape in early or mid September and try to freshen it with Power Scrape once every 5-7 days. I've never personally killed a deer this way, however I've had a lot of activity on those scrapes including some of the target bucks I'm after. I'm hoping to pull it off this year so we'll just have to see how things go.
Thanks for the information guys, I never really thought about in the way that Justin described, Ill have to do some thinking on it before I start
My favorite spot to hunt is a community scrape. I see deer there every time Im there, in season or not.
Our rut is around the end of December to the beginning of December so I wouldn't mess with a mock scrape until December. I haven't used mock scrapes before but I want to try this season.. Picked up the Tinks set up on clearance at Academy
