Pure vanilla extract will attract every deer that comes by, but most will tell you it's illegal because it's a food scent. I'm just telling you it works on every deer of every age class. Once you get multiple deer using it, there is nothing more you have to do because they are adding scent every day.
Honestly if it's in the right location nothing is needed but the branch or vine hung about chest high.

 

Years ago I used to buy beaver castor.Break a branch and stick the broken end in the jar.

 

I heard beaver castor works...I'm trying some this season...but it's too early to form my own opinion...also I'm going to try a section of grapevine to see if that works too.

 

I have some branches with castor on right now. The nice thing about castor is it's oily so it stays around longer.
Still, I believe vanilla has a better drawing power. I've seen videos with deer working their nose from 20 yards away coming into the branch. They chew and lick and rub on it just like I want them to do.

 

I could care less if someone uses vanilla but I wouldn't chance it here.We're in a CWD management area so all urine based lures are illegal.Last year our warden pinched three people that I know of on the first day of archery.He either found or was tipped off about these mock scrapes.I'm assuming they were using scrape drippers but not sure.I don't need the hassle.

 

The scents I use on mock scraps are not urine based but glandular based. That is not illegal.

 

I never had much luck with deer urine...l've have better results just peeing in the scrape...as far a using vanilla on a licking branch...I believe that would be illegal.

 

No scent….they hit them on their own …then it snowballs.

 

Castor could be considered illegal as well because it's used as a flavor substitute. Guess what flavor it mimics?

 

Castor could be considered illegal as well because it's used as a flavor substitute. Guess what flavor it mimics?

I did not know that...l just smelled it..I'll say vanilla?

 

I'll tell you what,If I got busted using beaver castor,I'd gladly pay the fine if the WCO took a big spoonfull in front of the magistrate,

 

It is a natural food ingredient listed with the FDA. Substitutes for vanilla, strawberry and raspberry flavorings.

 

It is a natural food ingredient listed with the FDA. Substitutes for vanilla, strawberry and raspberry flavorings.

I hope I never have to eat anything it is in.

 

 

You have to make scrapes in an area the deer already pass by and can feel safe in daylight. Like others have said, no scent is even necessary. The smell of fresh dirt will peak their interest enough to draw them in. With a proper licking branch in place, they'll take over.

 

I have never personally used this. But I have heard that Black Widow scents makes a product called “Branch Butter”. Specifically made for this and it is effective.

 

If you can find the right tree it will produce results year after year. Get it started sit back and enjoy the show. Crabapple trees are money deer feed around them

most of the fall. One set of several. No scent needed.

 

I used to use Smokey’s Pre Orbital way before it became popular and it worked, but a few years ago I started using Beaver Castor and it’s the best I have ever used. I have stuck with a specific trapper’s brand, as some others wasn’t as thick and didn’t work well.
As Fairchild stated though, it’s a vanilla substitute. Look up castoreum and you’ll be amazed what this beaver secretion is used in (especially flavored dairy products and creams) 😀.

 

I make one in front of every stand and have cam on it. Multiple bucks hit them. I pee in some, use active scrape in some, and this year some black widow branch butter. All seem to work the same i don’t know if any is better then other. I think more important is location

 

It would be a little strange to put urine on a licking branch anyway. Never saw a buck attempt to do that!

 

Last year our warden pinched three people that I know of on the first day of archery.He either found or was tipped off about these mock scrapes.I'm assuming they were using scrape drippers but not sure.I don't need the hassle.

Something is terribly wrong with that. Pinched for a mock scrape? Wow.

 

This is a cwd disease management area so urine based scents are banned.I'm pretty sure they had scrape drippers with urine in them.

 

A couple pics the last 2-3 years. The picture with myself and girlfriend is right after I shot my buck last year. His head was buried in the licking branch when I sent one through him

 

A couple more

 

Mathews - What do you have hanging in the tree- looks like a bundle of pine branches? Any scent on them?

 

Make a scrape and wizz in it. Believe it or not it will work.

 

I've tried that in the past and never had any luck.

 

Make a scrape and wizz in it. Believe it or not it will work.

I've tried that in the past and never had any luck.

It works for me too.

 

I have a large branch overhanging a field that deer are hitting every night we sit there. They started it, not me.
Does and bucks will come up and stick their entire heads in the leaves and just sniff for minutes at a time. One doe was eating several leaves as she stood there. Every single deer that came out went to that branch. The bucks will work it with their antlers, but the does just seem to sniff and chew instead of purposely rubbing their glands anywhere.
(I've seen does heavily working licking branches....depositing gland secretions before)
It would be a good one to put a camera on, but I don't want to disturb the area because they bed very close by. We've seen at least a dozen different bucks bed in this thick hedgerow.