Making fake scrapes.

[Cousin Brown]

 I know some people who wait till pre rut to make fake scrapes & know people who start making them as early as august. When do you start making your scrapes?

[Matty]

I've made them as early as August and had them successfully taken over by real deer.

Honestly, I don't think there's a wrong time to make scrapes. Create them whenever you find the right spot.

 

It's like real estate. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!

 

In the simplest terms, I have 3 rules for mock scrapes:

 

- Has to be where deer are going to travel anyway, preferably intersections of multiple trails. (and obviously a good ambush location)

 

- Has to be pretty level ground.

 

- It's almost entirely about the licking branch.

 

Deer visit scrapes all year long. They don't typically work the ground as often, but the licking branches are hit constantly on the best scrapes.

 

I don't put much stock in the tons of scrapes that pop up everywhere as the rut draws closer, they mean nothing more than a buck or bucks are in the area. It's the scrapes that have excellent licking branches that are chewed up like crazy year after year that I will focus on. When you can create one of those in a good spot, you'll have something.

 

That being said, I've also had success with creating a scrape the day I go in to a spot. Because in the Fall, that big fresh patch of scraped out dirt is a visual attractant as well. I've made them without any scent in them and when deer see them, they usually investigate.

 

Like hunting over a decoy, they aren't going to stick around long, but long enough to stick em!

[BHC]

Saturday I checked my cam, while there I walked about 30 yards behind my stand and placed a camlock box into the tree facing what I hope to be a perfect scrape location. My season opens on the 28th, so on the 21st I will head back up check my cam, and place another cam into the the camlock box, snap the over head branch (limb) paw out the leaves exposing the dirt and hang a scrape generator, a friend tried it last year and it drew a good amount of bucks, hopefully it works

[robnj]

i have been cleaning out old scrapes for a few weeks. have not used any scent yet