OK guys/gals, I am going to have to piece this together since its so long. I will need at least 4 posts here so if your reading it right away give me a few minutes to get it loaded. I decided I would add pictures onto the seperate portions of the thread. Mock Scraping and Over-Marking First of all there are a couple terms that I will refer too and we need defined “mock scrape” and “over marking”. So let’s get to it. Mock scrapes are man-made scrapes intended to attract deer and ultimately in hope that the local deer herd will take it over. Over-marking is a term used when a hunter finds an existing deer scrape and applies bottled urine to the dirt and forehead gland scent to the licking branch. The idea here is to introduce a new “mock buck” to the scrape equation in order to elicit the social curiosity of the deer in the area, again to get deer to come visit the site more frequently. Hunter’s apply these tactics in the deer woods in hopes to condition deer in a way that gives them higher odds of seeing deer on the hoof during daylight hours near their ambush sites. Mock scrapes can also be strategically positioned to swing deer to a hunter’s position. In addition to hunting purposes, over-marking and mock scraping can be used in conjunction with trail cams to pattern and inventory your local deer herds. We all know that whitetails rely on their nose for survival and communication. Scrapes are an integral piece of the whitetail communication network. The basic scrape consists of the licking branch which hangs over a patch of pawed-up earth. The pawed earth is what most hunters refer to as the “scrape” yet the licking branch is as important or more important to the hunter, because certain (we will get to that later) licking branches get attended to year around. Most scrapes commonly measure a foot to three feet in diameter and have at least one licking branch hanging over the pawed soil. Deer deposit saliva and pre-orbital scent on the licking branch. When deer do paw the ground during the fall in preparation for the rut, they will not only work the licking branch, they will deposit urine, interdigital gland scent and even feces on the freshly torn up soil. Scraping activity peaks as the actual breeding phase of the rut approaches while bucks are feverishly seeking out estrus does. (I have witnessed does laying near scrapes too waiting on particular bucks to show up) Once bucks start tending to does and the actual breeding takes place, scrapes will get neglected somewhat for a couple weeks, but bucks will return to their scrapes after the majority of breeding finishes up. Bucks re-open and check their scrapes again for any does that did not get bred and or for younger does that are just beginning to cycle into estrus for the first time. Why build Mock Scrapes? I don’t have the luxury of hunting food plots or any type of destination food here in the mountains. Bait is illegal and native feed grows abound causing deer to filter through big areas of massive forest cover. I realized a long time ago that conventional farm ground whitetail hunting tactics revolving around food outside of the rut were not going to work in a big woods environment that offered up food just about everywhere a deer lives. So years ago I began searching for a tactic that would congregate big woods whitetails. Since baiting was illegal, the idea of tending mock scrapes for both rut hunting and outside of the rut hunting intrigued me. There are a couple misconceptions about scrapes. One is that deer only tend to scrapes during the rut and that scrapes are only hit at night. This is true in some cases but not in all of them. After watching whitetails hit licking branches through scouting in the summer and also by researching everything I could get my hands on, I realized that I could use the mock scraping tactic throughout the entire summer, fall and winter to help congregate deer at one specific spot, this in turn would help me identify and pattern and condition potential targeted deer that I was interested in. Once the trail camera era came along, wow, did I ever confirm just how well mock scrapes worked throughout the year. Mock scraping is far more than just throwing some scent out in the woods and praying a deer will come by. When well game-planned and executed, mock scraping can and will produce daylight frequenting of mature bucks in your hunting area. Now let’s look at the concept itself and the process by which it can be applied. Mock scraping and over-marking is actively taking part in a whitetail herd’s social interaction. When you mock scrape you essentially introduce and become a new deer to the whitetail families in your area. You become deer that is always around, that other deer smell, but they never see. A deer they are curious about and check up on frequently through curiosity. For several years of my early archery hunting, I treated the whitetail woods like as one big case study. I experimented with various bottled urines in mock scrapes while researching and corresponding with some of the countries most successful big woods bowhunters back in the early 1990’s. Initially, I made mistakes, plenty of them early on, mostly related to poor mock scrape location choices and or getting too much human scent in the scrape area. But it didn’t last long, I quickly took the advice of a couple very good trappers and whitetail hunters and began to micro analyze my application process, paying close attention to cleanliness and exit and entrance strategies. That is when the bucks started hunting me. There is nothing like seeing the first big set of tracks (before trail cams) show up in your freshened mock scrape, then later killing him in that same scrape. My philosophy was and still is simple; I want to condition big mature bucks to hunt me using their noses, by using social curiosity and rutting instincts against them. Obviously any of us that attempt mock scraping are walking a fine line when challenging a whitetail buck’s superior nose. Some will say and vow it can’t be done. Others will never want to put in the time or effort to make it work. Finally anyone whom is willing and open minded enough to do the leg work, make a solid plan and execute it will be rewarded with a completely new interaction with the animals that we so love to hunt. I can attest to you, for nearly a decade and a half I have been successfully using mock scrapes to keep big bucks in the area, get them to frequent my hunting ambush sites and fortunately every now and get the opportunity to send a string guided missile through there chest cavities. The largest and oldest bucks I have ever killed with a bow have all been direct or indirect dividends of my mock scraping. First pic below.....I shot this big dude on Sept 1 right after he walked right through and scent checked the licking branch of my Buck Fever Synthetic mock scape. It was almost 100 degrees out that day. Later in the same season, I took this nice 4x4 that was running a tore up scrape line that I had doctored up during the scraping phase of the rut. Finally my brother shot this hawg on a big ridge line that I had mocked up a communty scrape in the saddle... the buck came right through that saddle with 5 other bucks in toe all dogging a hot doe. 2003 and Buck Fever was good to us.
Not All Scrapes Are Created Equal. During my twenties and thirties I dedicated myself to whitetail deer. I have a feeling that had a lot to do with me not getting married until was 31! Anyway, after amassing literally hundreds of days a year spent scouting the mountains, I quickly realized that not all scrapes are created equal. Scrapes located anywhere near open fields or meadows in the public lands I was hunting were worthless. Each and every scrape that was on an open edge or on well lighted opening rarely got hit during the daylight, so I strayed away from these early on. These open edge scrapes did not have enough security cover nor were they located in a comfortable area for the deer, especially older bucks. These scrapes were only being used and checked at night and only during the rutting phases.. The next distinct phenomena of scraping that I addressed were “scrapes lines” These were often deeper in the timber, they offered more promise and did produce some great bucks during the rutting phases but again they were predominately only be used during the late Oct and November rutting phases. These scrape lines would light up each year during the rut in my big woods when a big mature buck or bucks moved into an area to lay down a “string” of scrapes through a doe family frequenting area. Again, good solid sign during the rut but still not what I was looking for. I wanted more. I wanted to find the scrape that was being used around on the calendar, one that would allow me to hunt big whitetails from August to Dec. I had watched deer hit licking branches in the summers while scouting, I just wanted to find one that was in an area were the deer felt perfectly comfortable in visiting at all times of the day. I had read about big hub scrapes that deer would use year around and finally after wearing out a lot of boot leather, it happened. While shed hunting one spring afternoon I walked up on a huge scrape, bigger than any other that I had ever come across in my neck of the woods. My adrenaline definitely perked upon inspection. I was shocked to see fresh tracks littered in the scrape. It was March! I looked up and down the travel paths and there was no scrape line, just a huge scrape located on a flat bench below several ridges deep in the timbers of an Idaho forest. The scrape wasn’t being pawed or dug up at this time, but I could see that the licking branches where being worked over recently. The scrape soil was spackled with pine needles from not being freshly pawed out, but it was still loaded with fresh deer tracks. I could see by the various sizes of tracks in the scrape that several different deer were passing through and standing in it. For March, that meant something. I then started assessing everything in the immediate area; the habitat makeup, terrain features, deer sign, feed, water proximity, etc. I began to realize that this had to be a community hub area with a scrape located in the precise spot that afforded overlying territories of both doe family groups and mature bucks. The topography played a key roll in the funneling of deer as several finger ridges united and poured deer pathways right to the scrape. I found buck and doe sign littered everywhere in the immediate area once I begin to broaden my investigation. Big rubs popped up here and there yet were scattered in no particular pattern, they faced both direction in almost every direction. A few smaller scrapes popped up in my circling of the area and again in no particular pattern. Deer scat and tracks old as the hills and fresh as the spring grass was lying about in the area. Year around browse type vegetation grew abundantly along with the fresh green grass lining a creek bottom that ran just 50 yards to the north of this scrape. Feed, water, terrain driven deer highways, a few being heavy trails and several faint trails all indicated nothing but overlapping bucks and doe core areas. I was standing in one hell of a whitetail crossroads. The big community scrape itself was perfectly located at this junction and most importantly under the protective shelter of thick “security cover”, a security travel corridor that led to huge bedding areas if you will sported a heavy forest canopy. The scrape itself was 4 to 5 foot wide with multiple tattered licking branches, there were at that time 6 or 7 licking branches above the scrape. Some of them boasted significant evidence of many years of use while others seemed newly added to the mix. After spending about two hours of taking it all in, I moved with high hopes. Later that spring, I returned and doctored that scrape with Buck Fever Synthetics. I took what I learned from the deer woods that day in that particular spot and implemented those same principles in regards to choosing a location for many mock scrapes from there on after. When you find a community scrape it will subtly but undoubtedly show signs of year around use, at least at the licking branch in all the surrounding area. Today I have several of these big community scrapes that I tend to. Each produces big mature bucks in the daylight hours every year. Back to that first true community scrape. I ended up killing a great 4x5 buck at about 12 yards later that fall. One November mid-morning he stepped right in the middle of that big community scrape while he was dogging 3 does. It confirmed to me just how important great security cover coupled with a big community scrape would produce a lot of daytime activity. I ended up killing two more mature bucks off that same scrape, and saw deer every time I ever went down in there to hunt. I never did overhunt that scrape and can still hunt it today; I don’t get out there as much because I have since moved my family from that area. I still get back and hunt that spot 1 or 2 days a season, but most importantly I look for that same model type area when seeking out mock scrape sites and or for existing community scrapes. Most of the scrapes I hunt today, share very similar terrain characteristics. I now tend to almost a dozen really good communities scrapes, about half of which I have made myself as a true mock community scrape and the other half that I have simply over-marked. I monitor my scrapes these days with trail cams from June through hunting season. They all produce a majority of daytime visits. Due to the fact that many of them are deep in the security cover and near bedding areas, they can be difficult to enter and exit, but not impossible. It just takes a little discipline, patients and options, meaning I don't put all of my eggs in one basket by tending to several scrapes. I will address, these enterance and exit strategies later in part 2 of this thread. I have always done all the scouting and preppring for my bro and I since he works so much, here are a few pics from the late 90s and early 2ks of bucks we shot right in and around (within a couple hundred yards) of that very first communty scrape I had overmarked and hunted, including the first pic of the 4x5 buck I talked about earlier in the thread. Back then we didnt care much about quality of pics and often didnt take any until we got home so bare with me. The Early Years of Buck Fever Synthetics... Pics below.
Locating Your Mock Scrape Site I don’t go into the woods for a walk. I go into the woods to study and every time I enter the woods I am focused on everything my senses will allow me to take in. Whitetails rely on scent to communicate, year around. Mock scrapes placed in areas that deer feel comfortable on their feet while hunting season is in....this is exactly where you want to start! Find, the “security cover” that the deer use to travel through and can hide from pressure. Your motive is to find cover in which all the deer in the general area feel safe to be on their feet during daylight hours and more so where both bucks and doe territories overlap. I target security cover that holds plenty of feed, water, and must overlaps both buck and doe territory. These areas are probably much more prevalent in the farm country that in the bigwoods because farmland deer are more congregated than in the bigwoods. This kind of cover almost always sheds lower light and is usually off the beaten path. This type of cover tends to stay relatively unbothered during the hunting season. I have been fortunate enough to whitetail hunt, scout or shed hunt or all of the above in Northern Idaho’s forests and mountains, Alberta’ farmland and bush, Saskatchewan’s farmland and bush, North Dakotas farm ground and prairie land, Montana’s river bottoms, Eastern Washington’s mountains and farm ground and finally the holy lands of whitetail bowhunting both Kansas and Iowa’s farm grounds. I bring all of these areas up because I would approach mock scraping in each and everyone of these vastly diverse habitats exactly the same if looking for a place to administer a mock scrape or when looking for a community scrape to over-mark. I would begin by dissecting the best “security cover” for travel to and from bedding in the area that is available and that boasts sign of both buck and doe territories mixing. I use both satellite maps and topographical maps to narrow down my initial explorations. Next, I tromp the best looking area preferably in the spring or if need be in the summer. Try to really focus on those topographical areas that naturally funnel deer but go even further, make sure while scouting it on foot that the area contains all the vital characteristics to keep deer there, food and water nearby and cover to shelter and hide them. These hidden areas are places deer will hole up and spend a good bit of time milling around when the pressure is on. Once I physically get into a security cover zone, I really focus in on the inside fringes of security cover where doe family groups and their sign is abundant along with mature big buck sign. I need enough to indicate to me, that the territories definitely overlap. The sign you see needs to scream year around sign, not just fresh sign or not just old sign, but year around sign, i.e. traditional rubs, old and new scrapes, scat of all ages, sheds, worn trails from many years of constant use, etc. When get into a spot that just screams bedding, I back off and look for a better mock scrape site that will allow me to get into the area without disturbing the bedding area. I want my scrapes to be located where bucks know the does and the does know the bucks so that when I introduce my mock scent, they all immediately know there is a new kid in town. With any mock scrape you also want both does and bucks to comfortably work the scrape weekly, better yet daily! When you find both doe family group evidence and big buck evidence under the best cover for your area; these are exceptional areas to implement a community “hub” type mock scrape. The best sites are NOT right in the bedding areas. Bedding areas will show just that, beds littered in the immediate area, I stay out of these. The overlapping areas will show all signs of deer moving through and area quite often. If you were to draw circles on your map of where you believed a good buck or bucks core areas are and where you read sign and see local doe family groups frequent, the circles on your map will over lap. Target these spots first for possible mocking locations. Eliminate all open highly lighted areas, unless you hunt ridiculously low pressured private lands. That’s a whole different story that we can get into later. Topography that funnels deer through the area from several directions makes a huge impact on the frequency of your scrape getting consistent visits. Take into account, that what funnels deer in one region may not necessarily work in a different region Think of how the deer will be using your location of choice during the hunting season. The deer in your area will do a great job of selecting a low pressured area to move during the daylight. You just need to find it and mock it. I try to think just like an old whitetail buck when I am out there seeking out my potential locations. While searching if you happen to find a community scrape, Over-marking it because that is as good as it gets! The deer have already done the research for you and most likely have been following the same paths for decades if the area hasn’t been abruptly altered. Trust me on this, I live and hunt severe heavily logged country. Deer adapt very quickly to logging and rarely I mean rarely leave the country. So even with a heavily logged area the deer won’t move far. As long as you have good access to quality security cover near any thinning or clear cutting, you will be just fine, because the clear cutting and selective logging make great food sources while the adjacent cover creates perfect travel areas and bedding. Another important aspect to consider when choosing a location for a mock scrape is having an idea of how far a mature buck will move during the daylight in your neck of the woods, outside of his rutting rituals. Here, the distance a big buck will get up and move can be several hundred yards in the morning and in the evening if he’s comfortable. I also know that a big buck in my area may travel several hundred yards to get to and from feed and water in the early archery season. Then he may really tighten up his travel during the long winded rifle season until the rut forces him too. During the summer month’s deer are real comfortable moving to and from feed and often bed much closer to feed, often having a nighttime bedding area and then a different more secluded daytime bedding area. All of this has to go into your consideration when placing a mock scrape. I like to get my scrapes set up within 100-300 yards of a bedding buck or two. During the summer, bachelor groups of bucks will drag each other to the scrape. When I get into this proximity window with a mock scrape, the scrape gets drilled. Most of my bucks that show up, repeat about 2-4 times a week on a good scrape. Anytime I get five different bucks in the immediate area showing up at least once a week in the daylight that makes for pretty good odds come hunting season. When you get even more frequency, that’s hard to beat in the big woods. I had one buck, a 3.5 year old short tined 4x4 that I considered a cull genetically, anyway, he would show up almost every other day on trail cam. I finally shot him because every time I hunted the stand he would show and I swear he was keeping the better bucks away. He was big bodied dominant looking deer with a scrub rack. Again in summary, take into account where you expect hunting season pressure to come from and eliminate all mock scrape options that you know the deer will consider unsafe areas during hunting season. There is nothing worse than setting up a great summer mock scrape and then having it go cold once human’s starts hammering the woods. Any time that I have strayed from the security cover, I end up getting poor daytime results at my mock scrapes. All of my mock scrapes and over-marked community scrapes these days exuded the same core of characteristics. I have a couple going right now that has been productive since the late 90’s. Once you get a community scrape working, the deer will do all the work for you, as long as you the hunter do not spoil it like any stand site that gets hunted sloppy or overhunted. On the other hand there have been several scrapes over the years that I have had to let go and not waste my time with. Don’t get discouraged! Keep after it; once you get one working you will be hooked, and the deer will come back year after year!
Building Your Mock Scrapes Mock scrapes are easy to build, but even easier to mess up. The cardinal sin in my opinion is to go to all the trouble of finding a great place to place a mock scrape and then to go and screw it up with human scent. It’s simple guys and gals, when you go to make a scrape get as clean as you would for any hunt, spray down with our scent minimizing spray, head to the woods, dawn your rubber bottom boots and make sure and wear latex gloves. I won’t prep or build a scrape without latex gloves. Your rolling the dice without gloves. Why chance it when you can pick up a box of latex gloves at the local pharmacy for next to nothing. I make sure not to touch anything directly with my bare hands. I actually wear two pair of the latex gloves because they tear easily; I wear them all the way into the woods on entrance and out on exit. Over-Marking Once you pick a location you will be over marking an existing scrape or building a new scrape? Keep it simple. If your over-marking an existing scrape to introduce a new buck to the equation all you need to do is scratch up the soil with a 4-5 foot long stick that you can find in the woods. I never pack in garden tools but I suppose if you want to, go right ahead, many of my treks into the mountains to my scrapes are long so I don’t pack extra weight. So find a long stick and scratch up the existing scrape. Next, dribble a few ounces of scent in the freshly turned up soil/scrape. You don’t need much if you’re using Buck Fever Urine, especially in the summer months. But it’s crucial to paw up the earth. Deer are conditioned to and will check freshly pawed soil and it doesn’t matter what month it is. They will naturally be attracted to the smell of fresh soil even without urine in it. Next, and most importantly mist forehead gland scent all over the licking branch or branches, I like to mist about 8-10 inches up so the FH gland scent drips down branch. Make sure you are using your latex gloves at all times! Human scent on this licking branch is a huge mistake. Finally, hang your camera and get out! Keep those latex gloves on at all times. Over-marking is fast and easy. You shouldn’t be at the scrape longer than 15-20 minutes. Building the Mock Scrape, the Licking Branch is Key. When building a mock scrape, I locate a preferred (by the deer) sapling of choice for my area that is exhibiting good solid overhanging branches that’s about chest high. Get to know your woods and learn what the deer in your woods like to use for licking branches and scrapes! Use those specific “species of trees” when you create your licking branch. I never take a limb from another tree and attach it with a nail. I like to keep things all natural and want a live thriving tree with healthy cambium for the deer to peel away on the branch. So pick out a healthy overhanging branch to work with. Chest Height (I am 5' 10") is great! I make sure the licking branch is angling down at least at a 45 degree angle. With my latex gloves on, I simply peel back the leaves or needles about a foot up the branch... Next, I twist off the end of the branch so that the broken licking branch is about pinky sized in diameter. I like to make multiple licking branches off of the same limb if they are available. This allows for extra surface area to deposit the Buck Fever Synthetic forehead gland scent on. Take your spray bottle and mist it on liberally. The licking branch is the key to success in the summer months. Buck Fever’s Forehead Gland Scent has never let me down when I get the location right. I have literally thousands of trail cam pix of deer frequenting my scrape areas in the summers. Deer from fawns to big mature bucks stop and work the branch while some just pass by but the key is that they are checking it and passing by over and over again…the same bucks and does. What I have really noticed over the years is that if I get a 2.5 year old buck started early on BF scrapes, he’s a dead ringer to come back year after year.
The Mock Scrape’s Dirty Half. Now you need to create a completely new soil scrape, unlike with over-marking. The first thing I do when creating my dirt scratched/pawed area, is to line up the general area I want to scratch out underneath the licking branch. I try to visualize where a buck would be standing when he gets to the licking branch. I calculate approximately were his front hooves would be if he were working the licking branch, once I get this dialed in, I back off and use a stick, 4 to 5 feet in length to scratch up the soil. I don’t stand right in the scrape. I work the dirt out in the direction that a buck would and I like to make my pawing 2-3 feet in diameter. I want the deer in the area to notice the fresh soil, smell it and investigate the mock scrape. I want that mock to look like a big natural communty scrape to the herd. Finally I dribble a few ounces of Buck Fever Synthetic pre/post rut urine in the dirt. Finally I make sure not to let my hair, head or hat touch the licking branch while working the scrape. This is never a problem either if you pack a big stick. Last, I prep an adjacent tree I have already eyeballed for my trail cam, hang the trail camera and exit the area. Keep your gloves on! On a new mock scrape, I like to check it in two to three weeks. I like to pack extra SD cards in and out with another camera for a quick inspection and refreshing. If the scrape is hot, I wouldn’t come back for a month after that unless you get a good rain. Let those cameras and scrapes cook with minimal intrusion! Keep your human odor down in the entire area, especially during the summer when scent molecules spread like the plague. The more intrusion = spoiling the scrape with human scent. It’s easy to get excited and want to frequent the area but discipline will pay big dividends come fall. Take it from someone that has made the mistake of frequenting a hot scrape too much. Frequency and Test Scrapes For the most part, I purposely only check my trail cams once every 4 weeks on established mock scrapes and or over marked established community scrapes. When I build a new scrape in an area for the first time, like I said earlier, I will check them after roughly two weeks to see if they are showing any promise. If they are promising on site inspection I refresh and get out. If they are not producing upon inspection, I pull them and leave the area and build a new test scrape somewhere else. Hit and running every couple weeks in the summer until I locate what I am looking for. Putting out test scrapes is part of the process or at least it is for me here in the big woods. All it takes is the right kind of deer showing up at your site to get the confidence up. I have included several pictures of myself and my son Tyson helping me just recently building new mock scrapes and or prepping existing scrapes.
Drippers On scrapes that are producing the kinds of bucks via trail cam that I really want to target, I then go to the dripper. I hang a Hunters Specialty Daytime Only Dripper so that I can frequent the area minimally and keep the BF scent fresh. I only refresh the dripper scrape’s forehead gland when my 4 week time check period rolls around or when I want to hunt the hot scrape. I prefer using the drippers from Sept to Dec because I know bucks in that time frame will urinate in the scrape. I have 9 cameras out right now on 10 total scrapes; one of my community scrapes is a big double scrape. So I don’t have any current 2011 summer pictures to share as of yet with you all, but I will as soon as I do my first round of checking around July 4th. I put my first product out on June 4th this year. Also with Buck Fever Products, one month is plenty of time before refreshing unless you get a lot of rain. Then you might want to refresh on a two-three week cycle. I usually get away with a one month check out here, because we traditionally have dry summers in the west. I hope this is enough information to give you guys out there some ideas on getting started. Mock scrapes work if you pay attention to details, pick the right location and use products that do not spook deer. I use and have been using Buck Fever Synthetics for 14 years. I use the Vanishing Hunter, Buck Fever Pre/Post Rut Urine, Rut Formula Urine, and Forehead Gland Scent (my personal favorite). I also now am using Buck Fever Elk Wallow Juice and Bear Attractant by Buck Fever Synthetics. Synthetics never rot or smell old. Elk and bears love this stuff but that is a different discussion for a different time! Use what you want, but don’t be afraid to take look at these synthetics. Please ask any questions, I will do my best to help, my next portion of this thread, will address entrance and exit strategies while prepping and hunting scrapes.
Great start Troy, you are only gonna better everyones chances of harvesting a mature whitetail with the info you are providing. It has been an honor to learn from you and your friendship is even better!
Very nice right up sir! Gonna finish reading it when I get off work ...Im planning on putting a mock out some time next wk so this is perfect!
I have a gazillion more pix to sort through and add to the post.. but Its my boys b-day today so I am gonna step out of here and get back to this thread later tonight ... I know its a long read but hopefully you guys can sort through it and take what you need or like...
Something I've always wanted to do but didn't have the basic knowledge to get started, now I do! Thanks for taking the time to share your expertise!
Good stuff shed! Another good read on this topic is in June 2008 Deer & Deer Hunting magazine. It's an article titled "Springtime Signposts" written by John J. Ozaga. I don't have a link to it or anything but if anyone has the magazine it's worth reading, or a highly motivated person could scan it and figure out a way to post it here.
You have no idea how much I appreciate this right up Troy. This is something I've been wanting to try for a few years now....Thanks man!!! I'll be following all the updates
Ozaga is great, one of my all time favorites when it comes to whitetail biology. Thanks everyone, I have a bunch of "at the licking branch" photos to post soon!. Digging through trail cams folders right now.
Dave call me any time, heck any of you guys that want to chat please give me a call. I love talking whitetails... pm me and i will shoot you my #
Griz, I thought of you a bunch while writing this. With your knowledge of terrain and how the deer in your area use it, and your ability to read and apply what topos tell you...etc.. and adding this attractant to your ambush "spots" ... unfair!
Making mock scrapes is just crazy talk. :p :D While I have never put much faith in rubs or scrapes in my area and terrain with the lack of trees... I've got a couple spots that just might work to try it this year. Since we don't have the big timber or mast bearing trees but a few old abandoned farmstead and shelterbelts... I have to rely on the corn rotation being planted by the few trees we have. This year there are 3 spots where a mock scraped might just be the answer with the corn rotation. I am really interested to see if I can added another method to the arsenal plus actually be able to hunt out of a tree instead off the 99.9% of hunting from the ground that I do. Should be interesting. Keep the info coming. Tim
This is a ton of GREAT info Troy. After talking to you the other week, I now have 3 mock scrapes going and 1 overmarking scrape going. Time to go to the next property. Also, I live very close to the home of Buck Fever. I am hoping to be able to stop in there very soon and meet Jim.
Thanks for all the information shed. I've been playing with mock scrapes for the past few years with mixed results. I'm looking forward to the rest of your posts and can't wait to get started in the woods. I'm sure I'll be posting some questions in the future.
