Using a buck’s scrapes as a focal point to get close enough for a shot is a proven tactic from late September through December. However, a number of scrapes are made and seldom hit again, and a good majority are created at night. Therefore, without the use of a scouting camera or a temperature-activated scent dripper, it might be difficult to determine when to hunt the site.

Mock scrapes are a great way to entice bucks into an area. I like to make my own fake “scrape line” using Magnum Scrape Drippers, making several in one area. Magnum Scrape Drippers are temperature activated, so they drip during daylight hours. This conditions bucks to show up during legal shooting light and stay in the area longer.  

Targeting the right area is important. I suggest paying less attention to scrapes made on field perimeters, concentrate on ones closer to bedding and secure areas. Target an area that a buck is using, then push in and make it look and smell like there’s a rival buck moving in. Look for the areas with the largest scrapes, spots that contain numerous scrapes or clusters of scrapes, and scrapes that you know have been freshened repeatedly.

You can use the buck’s existing scrapes, too. However, I believe the best bet is to find the freshest scrape in an area and go a short distance upwind of that scrape, or go to obvious access points to the area. You want to find the same height overhanging branch on the same type of tree that the buck favored with his original scrape. Winds obviously change, so use the prevailing wind for that area at that time of year as your guide.

Typically, the overhanging interaction-branch is about 5-feet high; however, it can hang as low as 3 feet or be as high as 8 feet. It’s best to find a branch that is the same height and on the same type of tree as the buck seems to be favoring in that area. Try to duplicate the variables the specific buck that you’re after preferred.

If you can’t find the right branch, I’ve had success installing my own or using hemp rope instead of a licking branch. You can use any branch, but if I’m going this route I will usually find a buck’s actual licking branch from another part of the woods and “transplant” it to the tree I want. Only touch the branch while wearing clean gloves and secure it to the tree using zip-ties or other means.

As said, hemp rope can also be used. I’ve not done a lot of research on this, but from what I’ve seen, it works well. Cotton, nylon or poly ropes don’t seem to work. The nice part about this tactic is you can put one anywhere that you can hang a rope and extend it down to about 5 feet off the ground. 

In the whitetail world, many different bucks may utilize the same scrape, so you can use their existing scrape(s). However, more often than not I’ll make my own mock scrape, trying to copy the specifics found with the buck’s current scrapes.

The actual mock scrape is best created with a sturdy stick found in the area. Try to make the scrape on flat ground if possible and make sure it is free from all debris.

I like to hang my drippers above the licking branch if possible. Just in case smells may have permeated the dripper’s insulated cover, it keeps it off the same level as the buck’s nose. The ideal spot would have a 5-foot licking branch and then another branch directly above a good 7- to 12-feet high. Pull the higher branch down to hang your dripper.

I may use numerous drippers and possibly vary the scent used in each. I believe with more than one “mock” you’re increasing your chances that something’s going to be right with at least one of them that will draw a response. I’ve used as many as six drippers and created as many as a dozen mock scrapes in an area about the size of an acre. My two favorite scents are Active Scrape and Premium Golden Scrape used in the dripper.

Timing is also important for mock scrapes to work. In the Upper Midwest, I seem to have my best luck from the first week of October through the first part of November, then again after Thanksgiving and into the first part of December. When the bucks are actively chasing and breeding, mock scrapes are probably not your best tactic.

Don’t expect your exact mock scrape(s) to necessarily get hit. Sometimes they may “cream” them, but my goal is simply to draw them to the area during legal shooting light and hold them there for a longer period of time.

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