As is typically the case for mid-October, there has been a slight dip in deer activity over the last week or so. But again, it’s been slight. I’ve not experienced the typical “October Lull” where deer seem to completely go off the radar this year. It’s been really cool to watch some of my local bucks begin to frequent the mock scrapes over the last month. Again, the point of starting mock scrapes in September, and even August, is to have the local bucks conditioned to making the rounds and routinely checking the mock scrapes. And that’s just what’s happened for several bucks on my farm. There’s a number of young 8-pointers that have showed up every few days to check things out and work the scrapes. Here’s a look at Mock Scrapes – Week 3…
This young buck has made a number of stops at this mock scrape to leave his mark.
One tall tined 8-pointer showed up at the mock scrape again last week and has become more and more visible in the immediate area.
This tall tined 8-pointer has checked in at the mock several times now. Each visit has been within 20 minutes of the 6:30pm timeframe.
I recently started another mock scrape at the corner of a field intersection. There’s actually been a scrape here in the past. I just wanted to jumpstart things and get the action rolling, so I put a Tink’s dripper on an over-hanging branch and added a Stealth Cam to keep watch.
Set the stage. Checking a camera placed over a mock scrape is about as exciting as Christmas morning. You just never know what to expect.
Activity at this mock has actually been pretty slow. I moved the scrape dripper around the tree to a different branch just a few yards away and immediately got a hit from a young buck.
Sometimes it only takes a slight adjustment of your mock scrape and dripper to trigger a response from the local bucks.
Despite the Tink’s Power Scrape formula having run dry in this dripper, the young buck was still enticed to check things out.
Over the next few weeks scrape activity will intensify as the pre-rut phase unfolds. The boss bucks will soon be seen on their feet, and scrapes are typically their first stop. If you haven’t been running mock scrapes to this point, be sure to get them out now. Good times are on the way in the weeks ahead. Make things happen in your neck of the woods with mock scrapes.
