This is something I posted before...I did a copy paste for you... My buddy Frank and I have had decent results while using Mrs. Doe Pee's Estrus Urine in real scrapes as well as mock scrape setups. I do not use these urine products very often on my hunting grounds which I believe makes them effective when I do choose to use them. Over use of these urine products I believe is very detrimental to ones odds of having a positive response when a buck catches the scent. On an existing scrape I will douse the licking branch with Estrus urine allowing it to trickle down into the scrape. I will also add some to the scrape it's self being careful to not touch anything and keep my boots out of and clear of the freshly exposed bare earth. On a mock setup I will find a tree branch (preferably from a mature oak or maple) with a branch approx 4-6 feet off the ground. I will then find a loose stick on the ground and use it to clear a spot approx 12"X20" directly underneath my mock licking branch. Again I douse the branch in the Estrus urine and allow it to drip down onto the exposed dirt. Again, I will add some extra urine to the ground as well. That's it. It is that simple. Here are photo's of a few bucks that were taken that either committed to a real scrape doctored with urine or a mock setup by either Frank or I, these are all public land bucks. I am not one to use these product's very often, but by using them smart and sparingly they have worked for me. However, Frank uses urine products MUCH more than I. This is one area we do not see eye to eye on. Frank's public land. Frank's public land. Mine public land. Mine public land.
You've sold me...I'm going to give it a shot next year. I've always been leery of scents, just because I don't really know how to use them. What time of year do you like to utilize scents best? Halloween prerut time or peak rut, post rut?
I never use them any earlier than the last 10 days of October. Frank uses it throughout the season. For my area the best action during daylight on scrapes is the last 10 days of October through the end of the first week of November. My best advice is to NOT OVER USE the urine products. In fact I did not use any urine at all last season (2007). I had bucks all over me and saw no point in messing with something that was already working.
I gotcha, and trust me, if I do end up using it...it would not be in excess. I am just leery of adding scent, but have always been curious about mock scrapes or existing ones. I can't wait to try it at a decent late october stand I have hung. It nearly always has scrapes around it and is in a good crossing area. How do you store it? Or do you buy fresh every August/September? Do you freeze it during season or just leave it out?
I buy it fresh each season that I use it. It comes refrigerated. I will keep it outside if it is cold out - out of direct sunlight. If it is warm I keep it in the fridge.
Read it last night, but was buried in stuff. I was waiting on this, wasn't sure if you were going to share. I figured you had some secret ninja scrape technique when I posted in that other thread and you didn't respond, and that you weren't going to give up your secret tactics. :d Any strategy Scott to where you place your scrapes? I've had good luck setting them up near transition areas into food sources for the camera, but I do this so that I don't disturb the better buck areas on my property. I end up getting pics, but alot of the better bucks I see hunting never make it to those scrapes to get their pics taken. To be honest, I think I'd have better results down near those buck bedding areas if I was hunting over one, but I'm chicken to go in there ahead of time unless I'm hunting. Your thoughts?
The hard part isn't the actual construction of the scrape setup, but rather knowing were to put it and when to make it to take advantage of day time buck movement. I like to put them in big buck cruising areas; inside breaklines, inside the woods off of an inside corner, bottom of a ravine, hub areas, etc preferably 100 or so yards off of a bedding area (not to close - not to far). These are areas a buck wants to go to during day light hours to find other deer. He is looking for bucks and does alike this time of year. Either to pick a fight with another buck or does to harass and scent check. Usually when a buck is in this stage of the rut (last 10 days of October especially), they cannot resist checking or hitting any scrape in their general area. If you can put that scrape where he wants to be, it greatly increases the odds that when he works past your stand..... It is in bow range.
Good stuff Scott, thanks for sharing. If your in a scrape rich environment, and you find them in the areas your describing above, I assume you don't bother making your own, just doctor an existing one up good?
It depends on if there are any where I "need" to be. A lot of scrapes are a waste. Made under the cover of darkness only to be visited for the most part at night. These are no good and serve me no purpose other than to see if they are still hitting it and what size tracks are in it. Again, these scrape sets is a tactic I use on occasion and some years not at all. I only use it if I feel it will benefit me, I don't set one up hoping it will work.
Very good info buckeye. I've not had decent luck with mock scrapes, but generally the deer that I see aren't mature deer. I will say that I've had a great deal of luck with drag lines and I agree they can be easily over used. Many people use a drag to on their walk to the stand but I have a different view. I generally use a drag and run it paralell to the wind direction in an area that I expect a deer to in a cross wind direction scent checking any given area. Rather than drag in the direction I expect the deer to travel, I sneak to a place directly upwind of my stand maybe 100 yards and drag directly back downwind to my stand. Basically what my goal is, is to alter a bucks route with the scent to bring him within shooting range. I'll use the arial photo for clarification: The deer generally bed in the woods next to the lake and the south wind is prevailing for a lot of the season. Rather than walk along the edge of the bedding area where a buck would probably walk anyway, I go in from the north. I guess I don't use it as an attractant as much as it is a route diversion.
I've used mock scrapes before, and had decent results. We make them and use a drip and put a camera on it, and we get quite a few bucks checking them out, at night mostly. I've used them hunting just as a means of distraction. The theory being I set up in a funnel and set out a scrape where I want to shoot the deer. Deer comes into the funnel, smells the scrape, buries his nose in it, and I bury an arrow in him. It's worked, just not on anything I wanted to shoot.
I've never tried a mock scrape before. But an area I gained access to this past year may require me to try this technique. In fact.. I was talking to Germ about it recently. Good info. I may have more Q's as the season progresses into the 2009 season. I will have to start from scratch though.
I've found I don't need to add any scent to the mock scrape. Just remove the ground litter and I like to break the branches on the overhanging limb. That alone seems to get the deer to take it over. Tha absolute best place I have found to make one is, on an old logging road in the middle of a woods. I think every deer in the area passes by there at one time or another. A great place to get an inventory of your bucks on a trail cam.
I just found,(after the rut), a logging road with a number of scrapes on it. There is one hub area where several trails come together. I can access this area from the north or south on the logging road. I can set stands for just about any wind. There is a thick area where I believe the deer are bedding about 75 yds west of that hub. Next year I'll try juicing one of the existing scrapes. I had already planned on setting up a stand in a large pine with good cover 20 yards from one of the scrapes. This thread really makes me feel optimistic about that area. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Sorry I missed this.... That sounds like it could be an excellent setup... I would caution though... I wouldn't add the urine unless you feel that it needs it. I only add urine in instances where I feel doctoring the scrape would improve my odds. I don't add it just to add it.
Those are some DANDY BUCKS, 4sure! I have a question for you... "On an existing scrape I will douse the licking branch with Estrus urine allowing it to trickle down into the scrape." Do you think the bucks are smart enough to distinguish why the estrus is 4-6' above the ground? Not being a smart-ass on this one, just curious, as I have had a few experiences and I try not to overuse urine, also. I have learned to use a bottle that I can take in & out of the woods, reasoning is, I wonder if a buck comes by the scrape at night and decides something is fishy, unless this doe is a gusher? :d
