Anyone playing with licking branches?
Contributors to this thread:New York
From: Jdawg
18-Sep-15
Been having deer adopt the licking branch ...fun and seems to have a lot of deer using it even though it's a bit early. Anyone else engaged in this?
From: sweet old bill
19-Sep-15
several years ago I tried and it worked out very well with a dripper and a licking branch. But then it was on state land and someone took my dripper...use rubber gloves when handling the dripper and or put scent on the branch. I also made a scrape using a garden tool rake...
From: Buckstopshere
19-Sep-15
Jdawg: Been having a ball with it. Lots of early action just starting, lots of yearling bucks and what I surmise are two-year olds. Nothing big yet. Just a matter of time. Did you swap that branch from another scrape? I don't use any scents, except saliva swabbed on cotton balls from does and bucks I killed and keep in the freezer. I have been moving branches around from scrape to scrape and back again.
From: deerman406
19-Sep-15
I always start a few with a man made scrape under them right around the start of Sept. Some are ignored, others are worked and the scrapes under them are worked as well. I just finished 3 more stand this morning and found a nice spot to open up a scrape with a nice overhanging branch. I bet it will be hit within a few days. Saw a 140" deer on my way in there this am. If I had not been running the weed whacker I may have gotten a few pics. of him. Shawn
From: Jdawg
21-Sep-15
Actually I wanted to try a branch from another active scrape from another area entirely but didn't have one available. I'm using "Smokey's" Preorbital gland scent on the branch. It's glands from one individual animal and it certainly seems to fascinate the Bucks, does, fawns that have been checking it. This site was heavily visited last fall as well.
From: deerman406
21-Sep-15
Yup, that Smokeys is the best I have found. If you use it year round the results will surprise you. I have one spot that the same licking branch has been used for at least 10 years. It is an oak and it is about 4 ft. off the ground and hangs out at least 15 feet into the field. It is used year round and I bet it is hit most every day. The scrape under it is always fresh and scraped up but not peed in all the time. I really have to hang a trail cam there. I just don't use trail cams very much. Shawn
From: Jdawg
21-Sep-15
Deerman406 you ought to get yourself a camera out there. I think you'd enjoy it and likely surprise yourself with some of the deer that might come through that you've never seen. Kind of like catch-n-release deer hunting but now that I think of it, she'd hunting is what that is.
From: Buckstopshere
27-Sep-15
"Catch and Release" Antler didn't grow on one side, but he likes the zip-tied overhanging branch.
From: tcosmic
03-Oct-15
Seems to draw a lot of young curious bucks.
From: Jdawg
05-Oct-15
Yes, lots of smaller bucks for sure. The big ones (to the extent there are any around) do show up as the rut gets closer. Doe groups also show a lot of interest and spend quite a lot of time at these spots and the concentration of deer scent marking at this juncture makes for good travel through the area when the rut heats up. I get a lot of fun out of it, seeing what's in the area.
From: Jdawg
05-Oct-15
From: Jdawg
05-Oct-15
From: Jdawg
05-Oct-15
One from last fall....night visitor
From: Jdawg
05-Oct-15
I have a couple other cams running on trail and licking branch within 30-50 yards of this setup and surprisingly those cameras are getting mostly different deer than this one. Go figure.
I took a stout branch and securely tied it to some saplings so it would hang at a height the bucks could just about reach standing.
Also interesting is that I'm continually getting different bucks (admittedly young ones) at the cameras each time I go out. Seems like now that the velvet is off, they're shifting their activities and areas of travel and starting to investigate where all the girls are, etc.
From: Jdawg
05-Oct-15
From: Jdawg
05-Oct-15
By the way....Buckstopshere is an expert at this game and I follow his advice to the extent possible.
From: Buckstopshere
11-Oct-15
Thanks Jerry. There is so much to learn yet about these amazing critters and their communication "message boards" at the licking branch. The best buck I have is this big crab claw 9 pt. He is right under my stand in the photo enjoying a bouquet of mobile licking branches. Hopefully, if nobody else gets him first, he will show up in the daytime and I'll get a chance.
From: Buckstopshere
11-Oct-15
I also caught him again on a second camera, early Saturday morning.
From: Buckstopshere
20-Oct-15
Certainly not the biggest buck on the hill, but the way he is buying into the mobile licking branch says it all.
From: tcosmic
20-Oct-15
I like to find a licking branch from another area and wire tie it to a tree near my stand. Then ruff up the turf to simulate a scrape. Mostly they are hit at night where I hunt but every once in awhile a curious buck shows up a tad before dark.
From: Jdawg
12-Nov-15
Still had a good one hitting the licking branch a few nights ago.
From: Jdawg
12-Nov-15
A different vuck
From: Jdawg
12-Nov-15
Another
