I haven't had much luck with mock scrapes so far.. I usually have just tried to pick out a location along main travel trails, but haven't had any pics of deer stopping by or hitting the scrape... so where is the best place to start a mock scrape and what do you look for when setting up a scrape? near food, bedding, trails, etc??
a couple of good places to start with--- near but not in a doe bedding area ! Downwind from a food source, example 30 to 100 yards east of a producing acorn ridge, east being mostly on the downwind side in my neck of the woods
I think you are asking the right questions. Location is the most important ingredient of an active scrape. Put them in high traffic areas or funnels because you want all the deer using your scrape, not just bucks. Don't worry about buying scent. Thats a waste of money. Keep your licking branch 3-4 ft. off the ground so fawns can still reach it and loosen up the soil and remove debris where bucks will paw the ground. On a separate note, I use hemp rope for my mock scrapes and have great luck with them. This is a link to my step-by-setp strategy for hemp rope scrapes if your interested. https://whitetailpropertydesign.com/hemp-rope-for-mock-scrapes-and-mature-buck-patterning/
