Mock Scrapes Messing With Their Minds…

[harv3589]

Nothing interested my mock scrapes and bucks only moving at night on cameras. Hoping things change and bigger ones start to move. All small bucks so far, nothing worth taking yet. Still good to see some around though.

[58thecat]

Hope it works out for you
This area now has a poop load of real scrapes as the the boyzzzz ramp up!


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[Sitkaspruce]

Been watching the action on a few fake scrapes! They have now made their own right beside mine!









https://youtu.be/EQT7meilMRY

Cheers

SS

[58thecat]

That is some good footage too!


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[psale63]

I'm headed out this weekend and want to give this a try. Am I too late in the year to get any activity on a mock scrape?

[Desert Eagle]

I was wondering the same thing. It might be a good opportunity to add something into the playbook as I head out for the weekend.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by psale63

I'm headed out this weekend and want to give this a try. Am I too late in the year to get any activity on a mock scrape?

nope...I have done this in areas late November and had bucks visit.

If you find their scrape line and it is not in an area for your perfect ambush create another few to draw them to it...they will check it out as it is their way of seeing who is who in the woods.

I also have jus randomly set them up with areas that had sign as n lots of tracks...ya never know.

[Desert Eagle]

Perfect.

Do you put any scent of any sort on the licking branch, or just urine in the scrape?

As of now it looks like I’ll be out tomorrow evening for a few days to give this a go.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Desert Eagle

Perfect.

Do you put any scent of any sort on the licking branch, or just urine in the scrape?

As of now it looks like I’ll be out tomorrow evening for a few days to give this a go.

I put a few drops on the licking stick too

Some mock scrapes get buck urine, some get doe urine and or a combination of both.

Good luck!


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[MK2750]

You are far better off finding a natural scrape or scrape line which is very easy to do this time of year. Mature bucks might visit a mock scrape once at night but they will not become regulars as they are well aware of the sign they leave. In fact they seldom visit their own scrapes at all during daylight hours.

Big mature bucks most often check scrape lines from 100 or more yards away down wind in the thick stuff. Any strange scent and he will be gone like the buffalo.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by MK2750

You are far better off finding a natural scrape or scrape line which is very easy to do this time of year. Mature bucks might visit a mock scrape once at night but they will not become regulars as they are well aware of the sign they leave. In fact they seldom visit their own scrapes at all during daylight hours.

Big mature bucks most often check scrape lines from 100 or more yards away down wind in the thick stuff. Any strange scent and he will be gone like the buffalo.

The mock scrapes I have only played with a little and well so far only little bucks are the visitors. Just trying it for fun and not enough experience with them to truly judge

As for the rest I agree and disagree if it’s just scattered rut scrapes yes mature bucks may just check them from a distance or never freshen them up even. But large communal scrapes are very different they will visit them all year and come to check that licking branch to see what does/bucks are in the area. They are basically the an advertising board and deer of all ages and both sex’s use them

Time of day varies more do to location, conditions, and pressure more then anything. With bush bucks at least I would say they check them way less than once a night. More like once or twice a week

We all have our opinions based on our experiences and experiences can really vary depending on location too

Really it’s best to try different things and develop a style of hunting that works for one’s self from experience

[Desert Eagle]

Makes perfect sense.

I have a very well travelled spot (most years, I haven’t been there yet this year) but it sounds like there is consistent action there. Just looking to add another trick to the playbook. Will be interesting to see how it goes.

The spot I have in mind is a travel way between 2 fields, normally a pretty good trail running in 2 spots. I’ll give it a go and see what happens.

[58thecat]

Good luck.

We all know when it comes to hunting there are no forsures just gotta get out there and see what works on a given day and hopefully things line up and comes together.

I shot a beast of a whitey a few years back and first I set up mock scrapes, little bucks came in, then by the second week of November I came across a scrape line 40 yards or so away from the mock scrapes so up went a few camels and got him coming in at night only....so I played the wind and this mature whitey would check his scrapes by walking by in daylight downwind in thick crap well that’s what I figured he was doing and guess what....got’em!

Good luck ya never know.

[MK2750]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Good luck.

We all know when it comes to hunting there are no forsures just gotta get out there and see what works on a given day and hopefully things line up and comes together.

I shot a beast of a whitey a few years back and first I set up mock scrapes, little bucks came in, then by the second week of November I came across a scrape line 40 yards or so away from the mock scrapes so up went a few camels and got him coming in at night only....so I played the wind and this mature whitey would check his scrapes by walking by in daylight downwind in thick crap well that’s what I figured he was doing and guess what....got’em!

Good luck ya never know.

Down wind of a natural scrape line in the thick stuff. Who’d a thunk it or camels for that matter

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by MK2750

Down wind of a natural scrape line in the thick stuff. Who’d a thunk it or camels for that matter

Not following…camels?

Ohh I see smart phone spell check…haha!

Game cameras…

Anywho went for a quad ride to check cams around scrapes and nothing, we had snow over the last two days, not even the deer made scrapes have been touched so I topped up the area with pee now wait and see!


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[58thecat]

Freshened up a scrape the other day after a snowfall and this fella thought he would check it out!


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[58thecat]

And a cow moose too


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[58thecat]

And this doe that stuck her tongue out

Careful I might get another tag.

Haha

Hopefully my son doesn’t get too picky!


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[58thecat]

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[58thecat]

Passing up bucks again I rattle them in and he just watches them walk on by


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[58thecat]

Nice seeing bucks got pics of earlier!


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[58thecat]

Well two days of many bucks coming in and out to the rattling but all got passed up not by me....I kept whispering shoot’em....I get a whisper back he ain’t Big Mac....next year.....trophy hunters are hard to please

Off we go for another round...we do sleep good though.

[MK2750]

Many, perhaps the majority, of trophy bucks have been well educated to the tactics of grunting and rattling. This is especially true if you hunt an area year after year. It is fun fooling the up and comers to pass time but once they hit 5 or 6 they will not be fooled twice.

I had a really nice natural blind where two large spruce fell across a cut line I liked to watch. I shot a couple of nice bucks there and generally could watch 10 to 20 deer enter the farmers field each evening. After another storm, a new dead fall created a spot about 30 yards farther up the line so made the move. Not 1 but 3 different mature bucks came out down wind of that blind on different occasions. Each snuck up carefully and checked to make absolutely certain I was not in there before continuing.

As I became more fussy, and perhaps a bit lazy, I often pass on mature bucks for no apparent reason. I have tested their reaction to grunts and rattles and more often then not the results are a kin to a scalded cat exiting a back alley. Some just look over and continue, the odd one wanders a little closer, but the vast majority get out of Dodge right now.

20 and 30 years ago I had bucks run into the grunt so aggressively that a person was nervous. On several occasions I have had multiple bucks respond to the rattle and even had a couple of fights break out right in front of me. These days I believe a person is much better off keeping quiet unless you are well off the beaten trail where they seldom encounter people.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by MK2750

Many, perhaps the majority, of trophy bucks have been well educated to the tactics of grunting and rattling. This is especially true if you hunt an area year after year. It is fun fooling the up and comers to pass time but once they hit 5 or 6 they will not be fooled twice.

I had a really nice natural blind where two large spruce fell across a cut line I liked to watch. I shot a couple of nice bucks there and generally could watch 10 to 20 deer enter the farmers field each evening. After another storm, a new dead fall created a spot about 30 yards farther up the line so made the move. Not 1 but 3 different mature bucks came out down wind of that blind on different occasions. Each snuck up carefully and checked to make absolutely certain I was not in there before continuing.

As I became more fussy, and perhaps a bit lazy, I often pass on mature bucks for no apparent reason. I have tested their reaction to grunts and rattles and more often then not the results are a kin to a scalded cat exiting a back alley. Some just look over and continue, the odd one wanders a little closer, but the vast majority get out of Dodge right now.

20 and 30 years ago I had bucks run into the grunt so aggressively that a person was nervous. On several occasions I have had multiple bucks respond to the rattle and even had a couple of fights break out right in front of me. These days I believe a person is much better off keeping quiet unless you are well off the beaten trail where they seldom encounter people.

They are definitely smart at times and have seen somethings that show they know something is up. I could get into a long list of things and I find something new each year. The biggest one in my opinion is they really notice anything “new” to their area and it takes time for them to adjust. Over pressuring a spot is huge

I find calling still works but yes location plays a role. We are less aggressive with our calling then in the past. It all depends where you are though and what others are doing. I do believe calling can be a negative with some bucks and pretty sure I blew out one of my target bucks from calling this season. But I also had another target buck come in so aggressive I could not get a shot. The third cam in as he should I just blew the opportunity

Sitting in silence can be the answer and definitely less intrusive

What I have really noticed there is no one way to hunt and different bucks have different personalities. For this reason everything we do is a gamble. All you can do is come up with a plan and adjust when you feel things are not working

We all have opinions but in the end a guy just has to go out and do his thing. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t and if they are enjoying their time that is what matters

Good luck to your boy 58thecat hopefully your boys standard’s are at least within what lives in your location and he connects

[58thecat]

Well 140 to 150 class whiteys come and go.

We had another encounter with a very wide 10 pointer but tines were 8-10 max but he had mass.

He came in hard after an hour sit with subtle grunts periodically and a rattle sequence, at 40 yards he was eye ball to eye ball with us, I whispered take’em , and yup another pass, I get this tines too small,
Huh!

Oh well we got areas that can produce and I checked a cam today to see this buck,

Biggest body I ever seen on a buck, boy says this is one buck that doesn’t pass up on a meal!


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[58thecat]

Big Mac!


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[58thecat]

Tomorrow is another and last day due to commitments, full on.


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[Smoky buck]

That’s a fat bugger for sure

Stop leaving cheeseburgers in the bush

[Phil McCracken]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Tomorrow is another and last day due to commitments, full on.


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Good Luck my friend!....

[KazIce]

That is one helluva thunder chunk. Those legs look like they will buckle under the weight. I can’t imagine this deer being stealthy. Probably sounds like a bulldozer going through the bush.

Also, I am amazed that he is so fat. How did he accomplish this? It’s so hard to gain weight on grass and here is this porker looking line he belongs on the O-Line at a football game. Just wow.


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