MOCK SCRAPES- DO THEY WORK?
Wisconsin
Ok guys, lets hear your thoughts on mock scrapes. Do you use them? when do you start? Any thoughts on using products such as gravedigger or magnum scrape drippers?? wanted to try some out this year need some feedback and advice. thanks in advance-
I've used them for years and they absolutely work. Expose the dirt underneath a branch on a trail or field edge and it doesn't take long for bucks & does to start visiting that spot. Spritz a little dominant buck urine in the dirt and you are set.
Haven't used a dripper because I count on the deer traffic to keep the scrape fresh.
You bet they work. I made this mock scrape two years ago. No scent added just worked up the ground under a licking branch. In two weeks I had 10 different bucks visit it including this dandy.
awesome. I am hoping to get them coming in during shooting hours...or at least scent checking them downwind during seeking/ pre rut period. That's why I was wondering about the daytime dripper..supposed to drip daytime only.
Yes, they work. Here is a photo of one of our food plots, a clover field. The rubbing post is a Cedar tree I cut off of another property. We drill holes in the top and put in green Maple tree branches. No need to do anything else, the deer take it over. It's 15 yards from the tree stand. BC
Deer are curious and will check out most things even though there are some things that will spook them.
I tried drippers and did get some photos of deer, bear and other animals at them. I have had bucks come to mock scrapes with human urine in them with no spooking. Most of the action was at night though. I have had bucks come to the base of my tree while I was in the tree and scrape where I had relieved myself from the tree earlier.
I have used Smokeys pre-orbital gland lure on rubbing branches with success too.
Mostly though I don't use these things now since in my big woods hunting I don't see enough pattern with them and rely on funnels mostly.
Not much luck with any type of scrapes for me. But I do very well with homemade Rubs next to the trails I hunt. Many Bucks and dors stop to look at them.
Not much luck with any type of scrapes for me. But I do very well with homemade Rubs next to the trails I hunt. Many Bucks and dors stop to look at them.
Bow Crazy that's awesome. Smokey, I'm in the same boat...bigwoods no ag fields, but I know the trails and funnels. My main issue has been determining where to set up. I know of bedding areas, but primary food sources are different in the big woods. Acorns are plentiful everywhere, so there's no magic feeding spot. I don't want to bump bucks from their beds if I hunt too close, but it's my best bet most times. I figured if I get some good scrapes going around that area and near doe beds, I have a chance at seeing a bruiser during daylight hours.
They work.... I agree... but one thing is required to see use.... Bucks.... juvenile bucks are not really that interested until they have had a breeding season under their belt...
So... In the north buck only units... Mock scrapes will not have much luck in most ares for the next few years in most areas with the wipe out of the buck herd coming this year... you must have competition for the breeding to put bucks on territory tending.... so that all being said... If you cant find bucks using a mock scrape set up.... you can eliminate that area as there are too few bucks there to waste valued hunting time...
Free tip right there.
I get at least 70% of my buck trail camera pictures from bucks working the MOCK scrapes I make. I have been making mocks for over 15 years, and can verify they work great!
Here is one of many bucks that used a mock scrape I made repeatedly.
and here is another.
I tend to make mine on logging/atv trails and on the edge of food plots. Make sure you have a good licking branch above, andgood dirt in the scrape. If it is too sandy or clay, it tends not to work.
We have never been pegged in that stand, believe it or not. It's a 20 footer with plenty of back cover. The problem with the stand is it's location and the way the deer come into the food plot. We have to hunt an easterly wind or all bets are off. Warming mornings when there is very little to no winds are by far the best. BC
Dampland - some nice photo's thanks!
"Everybody is now dumber for having read it."
now thats funny right there!
It seems enough guys have had success with mock scrapes to make it worth giving a try.
I'm planning to use a dripper so am wondering when do you think I should create the mock scrape and using the dripper over it?
Drippers so work. I suppose it would be dependent on the scent used. The last time I used one a squirrel ruined it. The scraped was worked. This was before trail cams. I wouldn't recommend Tinks for a scent, it's mostly cow urine or something other than deer. BC
Use to use IV bags for droppers long before they became a hunting product..
My aunt was a nurse and got the for us and charged them on Kulass in patient bill.
D rippers work well.. but IV bags work better as they plug less and do not rely on direct sunlight to push scent out... IV bags drip 24/7 but i never noticed any draw to daylight activity from a day dripper anyway...
IV bags....Another free tip....right there.
As far as urine??? Use your own in your dripper.. much cheaper..does the same thing....already been there... done that...
Another.....free tip... right there
When will you guys start making your mock scrapes (e.g. right now, third week in Oct, etc.)?
They do!! I use them all the time. Here is from a few nights ago....
Silvrtip
I will be reopening one or two in two weeks when I get out again. I have not been seeing the deer I usually see but I have a couple scrapes that are traditionally there EVERY year. At this point I don't recall who started them. Me or the deer. Ha
Anyhow, when I freshen them they keep hitting them. One year I shot a nice 8 point during the rut as he cruised in to check out the scrape. I had many pic's of him at the scrape that year. My trail cam caught the buck just as my arrow passed through. Not sure where that pic is but here is the before pic. He is only a yard or two from the scrape.
Bill
Mock scrapes will be visited all year ... but more with hard antler.. The key is you must have mature or at least 2 1/2 year old deer... very few younger deer frequent them... older deer are much more likely to take it over... it is a easy tool to see if you have any bucks or are just wasting your time...
ya know... like wasting time posting as 2 or 3 different idiots...lol
Great information guys. I'm going to open a few up soon. Might just take a leak on it or experiment with different scents to see what gets more action. Good tips Antler. Once you establish that you have a mature buck visiting them, will you hunt directly over them? Of course taking into acct wind and approach etc. Thanks
Bigwoods,
Contrary to what Antler Whore says, I have always had a ton of deer work my mock scrapes, of ALL ages. And it seems that every buck of any age in my area works the scrapes. I have thousand of trail camera pics of yearlings working scrapes. (example picture included)
I would not recommend hunting over the scrape, but rather downwind of it by 50-75 yards. As I've seen many bucks just windcheck a scrape from downwind during the day, and then coming back at night to actually freshen the scrape up.
Seems I didn't load the picture in my previous post.
Bigwoods... Most of my positive experience has been with Mature deer.. If you want you can use multiple... I have run as many as 30 in a summer... but that was in my younger days ... you do this you will eliminate a lot of areas you won't spend stand time in... that is the key to hanging big deer up.
Doing all of this is also deeply effected by folks baiting.. you can peg a deers core area with mock scrapes in Aug and Sept...and when the white bags empty into a adjacent area... All deer patterns move and change with the new artificial feed source.
This is why i quit running so many mock scraps sets. It ends up being way to much wasted time for my blood.
As far as hunting them...Most all of them will develop satellite scraps showing you a travel line or scent Che K line to set on... In most cases sitting within shooting distance will place you up wind of mature deer checking them... for best chances.. sitting 75-100 yrds downwind of this new scrape line will net you your best shot opportunity .
Again this is all provided the next guy didn't just alter these movement patterns with his pile of gold...
Hope this helps Bigwoods.
And to many here.. I am sure what I just stated was like speaking a foreign language... as they grew up starring at a corn pile...broaden your horizons...There is more to life then trying deer.
Make a mock scrape and bucks of all sizes will visit. Does & fawns as well. Why not up your odds on getting buck travel through your property?
The food plot isn't what drew the deer??
I would think that has a bearing on the abundance of aged deer seen at this particular scrape..
Both those deer are young do you have any mature buck pics on that scrape?
Just wondering
Antler - All your "baiting" garbage. I could argue mock scrape change deer patterns and falsely move deer into range to be shot.
Is that ethical? Is there a difference? They both gather deer - they dispensescent/hang 24 hours a day -light activated so they only drip during daylight so ya can make the shot!
Personally I dont have a problem with it and I dont with baiting - you just cannot leave well enough alone. But as a self proclaimed expert on "satelitte scraps" "scent check lines" I guess that's hard to do.
Some people.
The key to a productive mock scrape is to leave an ozone machine there turned on. It will eliminate any human odor left there.
They work better now that you can sit in tree 40 yards away with a crosscompound bow. Less chance of spooking the deer when it comes in. Simply place the crosshairs, and pull the trigger. Multiple shot angles all work, and are deadly.
"They work better now that you can sit in tree 40 yards away with a crosscompound bow"
40 yards is not all that tough with a compound either. Out west, 40 yards is a Can'O'Corn.
I had a conversation with another bow hunter that lives in one part of WI and hunts another part of the state. He has been transporting the soil from an active scrape in SE WI to his hunting property in SW WI and placing it on existing scrapes. He claims this drives dominant bucks crazy because it smells like an unknown dominant buck encroaching on his territory.
I haven't tried this yet and am wondering if anyone else has heard of this idea. Seems like a lot of work hauling deer piss dirt to and from hunting properties.
all good information, although I'm a newbie to this site I see that each person has their own opinions on what is "OK" to do bow hunting. I say to each their own, although I'd draw the line at hunting high fence deer, it's just not for me. Fair chase only. I chase, they run away! As far as baiting, I personally only place attractants to check local inventory and then establish patterns with cameras. Purists might even take an issue with using cameras to pinpoint deer locations. I say just be outside, hunt as much as you can, carry the traditions on to your friends and family and hope that you have the chance to harvest a nice mature whitetail now and again. happy hunting gents.
Some folks use food as a mock scrap set ....like apple juice based mixes for ecample.... If you want a bunch of deer ... that's the way to go... If you want to find the mature deer in said area.. your own urine will work just as good as any purchased deer scent in a good scrape set.
And BT... you can argue any way you like about your feed pile to shoot deer... don't matter to me... it's still a problem in most of the north... like it or not..
I was just trying to share the fact that if you make it, deer of all sizes will visit. At the end of Oct., I've had as many as 8 different bucks visit a mock scrape within a 48 hour period. Most of those bucks were 1st time visitors.
Turkeys like mock scrapes? :)
I put up 3 mock scrape posts in my plots 2 weeks ago. There are scrapes at 2 of them and I have pics of this guy visiting one. So I think they work!
Howatt,
I intentionally make my licking branches higher, so that only the older, larger deer can reach them. I'm not interested in having nubbins messing with them.
