fbpx

Why Your Mock Scrapes Aren’t Working

By Mike WillandOctober 14, 201417 Comments

LAST UPDATED: May 22nd, 2015

Perhaps one of the most fascinating and fastest growing whitetail hunting tactics over the past half-decade has been the creation and maintaining of mock scrapes. With an idea simple enough, the hunter presents this scrape in the same manner one would appear naturally in the whitetail woods. However, with one great downside to an unsuspecting buck, this scrape typically puts the buck in a vulnerable position and within a hunter’s range. Very important facts to remember as you try your hand at the creation of such.

hunter standing over recovered buck

When they work, a mock scrape can be your best friend. 

When they work, aside from a hot food source, there may be no better tactic in a hunter’s bag of tricks. When they fail, there may be no greater frustration and even discontent for the tactic. Sometimes even disbelief for those who use them and say they work.

But – Why did they fail?

Location. Location. Location.

If your mock scrape has failed, location is probably its cause. You cannot just place a scrape anywhere and expect success. A good location for a mock scrape coincides with a good location to have a mature buck on his feet in daylight hours. Survival is any deer’s chief concern.  Make him feel like he’s safe first and foremost. Choose an area that allows him to feel that way for greater success.

Location. Location. Location.

This is not a misprint. While we mentioned the importance of safety for the buck you’re trying to attract to your mock scrape we can’t forgot to mention why he’s there in the first place – typically for love.

A real scrape exists in certain areas of your hunting grounds because strategically they’re placed to get the most out of their use. Think of your mock scrape in the same way. Place the scrape in higher traffic areas like good food sources within cover, edges of buck or doe bedding areas, or near a good water source. Think high deer traffic and daylight movement.

buck hitting licking branch

Location is easily the most overlooked aspect when creating a mock scrape. The buck must feel safe in order to visit the scrape in daylight conditions. That should be priority one for the deer hunter.

Too little too late.

Often, I hear of hunters amongst certain circles talking about the uses of scent in mock scrapes with one common misconception that ‘less is more’. I’ve never been successful at mock scrapes while utilizing minimal amounts of scents. In my experiences – ‘more is better’.

Have you ever stood back and took a deep whiff of an active scrape? They flat out stink. I’ve been downwind of active scrapes on more than one occasion and you can literally smell their sweet smell downwind with even the gentlest of breezes. That’s the way you have to treat a mock scrape too. Your goal is to attract and ultimately to tick off a local buck.

You’re not going to do that by spritzing a tad bit of doe pee and coming back a week or two later. You need to unload that scent and unload it often. Tick him off! Make him hunt you as if he were hunting another buck. Use a dripper if you have too, and make sure to always keep it filled.

Next time you are fortunate enough to take an older class buck, lean in and smell him. It isn’t pretty.  They reek of glands, woods, urine, and dominance. That’s what you’re contending with. That’s what you’re trying to imitate. Lay it on and lay it on thick.

spraying tinks on a mock scrape

‘Less is more’, just doesn’t cut it. The hunter needs to sell the tale of another buck visiting the area and reeking up the place. Make him hunt you.

Licking Branch is MIA.

If you ask me, the licking branch or branches located above a scrape are just as important to a whitetail as the scrape itself. The licking branch should not be ignored. It needs to be treated with scent too. A lot of times a buck or a doe won’t ever touch the scrape itself. From my observations, typically only the older class bucks of the area will actually do the ground pawing. The majority of the deer that visit a mock scrape tend to the licking branches alone. It is this fact, in my opinion, that makes the licking branch so important. Those other deer that visit the mock scrape are only playing the part, helping to sell the idea of your scrape as a natural occurrence of another male deer even more. Don’t ignore this step. Let the other deer help the sale.

Give it time.

If you’ve followed the basics above and still have not grabbed the attention of a buck, it may be because you flat out didn’t give it enough time. I’ve had bucks show up after two weeks of scrape building and maintenance and I’ve had bucks not show up for ten weeks. Keep at it. Let the scent build up over time. It may take some patience on your end, but a buck will show up if you’ve done your homework. Don’t give up on it just yet.

In conclusion.

Mock Scrapes are as much of a science as an art. To be successful, a mock scrape hunter needs experience, imagination, and a little bit of luck. Through nearly a decade of mock scrape building I have yet to learn all there is to know. However, I learn more with every passing autumn. What I’ve learned is that if you place a mock scrape in a safe and strategic location, work the licking branch as much as the ground and don’t give up easily on them, they really can work. Patience, it seems, is a mock scrape hunter’s most trying virtue.

Mike Willand
    View 17 Comments
    Post a Comment
    Login To Account

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *