I have been making mock scrapes over the last month, or so. I find a spot in fairly thick cover with a deer trail through it, and then hang a native vine over the scrape for the deer to use as a licking branch. I found very good instructions for this while doing an internet search after last deer season ended! Making the mock scrapes in early summer gives a lot of deer the opportunity to locate it, and all my human scent will be out of the area by the time archery season arrives! I put a trailcam on one of the scrapes during the first week of May and retrieved the camera last weekend. Several bucks and does, and even a fawn have visited the mock scrape already. One buck even bedded under the vine for the entire day on May 6th! Perhaps an unintended consequence if he uses that bed frequently since I have a stand tree about 25 yards from the scrape! I'll add a few pics to the post...in some of the pics, the deer are working the licking branch(vine).
I normally do but for whatever reason this past year the private property I hunt the
Deer have been consistently making scrapes all year long since last August.
Set a blind up before Turkey season by one of the scrapes along with a trail cam and it's been routinely being hit.
NanookOdaNorth, very nice pictures and good idea. Other than the licking branch and clearing a spot do you do anything else to it or add any scent to it to attract the deer?
NPC, I take a leak under the vine. Be careful not to get any scent on the bottom half of the vine. Also, clear the area around the scrape so deer can circle the vine and make the scrape bigger on their own.
Question , would a man made scrape be legal with all the talk about banning feeding and minerals because of the CWD and easing the spread of it. And also the use of deer urine.
..I made 2 in my back yard. The original is 10 years old and is now 4'x4'......my new one from late summer '19 is 30 yrds from my back window.. and is still clean...all home-made urine 😎
Set some more of my T. cams yesterday, forgot my pieces of mineral blocks, so I set the cams on some of my best history locations producing buck pictures and on trails to water has it has been so hot.....I also put out 3 hanging vines, but also forgot my string to tie them in place, so I searched out vines what had a hook shape on the ends and did my best to hang them. Now I will have to return with my rewards for the deer volunteering for photos and camo string to secure the vines.
Lots of trees and tree tops on the ground, lots of unripened blackberries, walnuts and hickory nuts on some trees, but no sign of acorns yet????
Deer sign was very spotty as in some past good locations as I was unable to find any location I thought might be worthy of a cam, but in another locations I did find a pattern and some nice tracks. We will see.....
Funny, I used to do that more to confuse other hunters in the area than for the deer. I actually took an old antler and rubbed small saplings into a reasonable facsimile of a rub to try and keep other hunters away from my stands. Then one day, I was making one and I heard a twig break behind me and turned to see a small buck watching me! He didn't hang around, but I bet he was pretty confused for a while.
Ran my mock scrapes and cams yesterday. The hot trail cam location over the last two years only produced 1 small buck and a few does.....Others mostly does. One mock scrape is on a natural scrape with licking branches and has been used for 10 years I know of. A few days ago I added a dripper with Active Scrape....lots of pictures of doe and fawns. Most sign is around water vs on the ridges.....But come the season the ridges give some advantages of success based on hunting history.
New mock scrape placed a couple of weeks ago: I was impressed with the amount of travel on the trail and the cam caught 3 bucks, plus doe/fawns, 2 coyotes, raccoons, opossum, and squirrels. Hope for better bucks. Anyway for a hunt the location has some disadvantages as the west wind put the hunters scent over scrape, the down wind side there is a drop off of about 25'. While rushing to get my scrape set up a mistake was made. I didn't check the intended tree stand tree close enough as it not a good climbing tree. So I moved the scrape, camera and vine down the trail to a good cover thick limb pine tree and cut out two shooting lanes. Added orbital scent to the vine. I placed the cut brush on the far side of the scrape to limit their travel to be in range in front of the stand tree. Have hope for this location as the trail leads to steep proven bed down area.....Time will tell.
I hang licking vines and/or branches throughout the year and make a few scrapes. I put this one in about a month ago and the does and bucks were hitting it within a few days. Got a couple videos of this guy when I pulled the card the other day.
Most of mine are low enough that any deer can use them. The idea there is that more variety may draw bucks in during the rut. I also have a couple of vines hung a little higher in areas that usually have bucks earlier in the season.
Often the fawns and adults will stand up on there hind legs to rub...have a picture of a small buck doing that this last week.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The HuntingPA.com Outdoor Community
2.8M posts
46.8K members
Since 2004
A forum community dedicated to Pennsylvania’s hunters and enthusiasts Come join the discussion about trails, licenses, fishing, game laws, styles, reviews, optics, accessories, classifieds, and more!