Ok - based on my whitetail hunting experience, scrapes are like the community bus stop for the local deer population. Everyone passing through the area tends to check it out. Finding a hot scrape in the pre-rut has given me some great action in past seasons. So I like the idea of setting up some mock scrapes ahead of the season and setting up a trail cam on each one to survey the deer population and narrow in on what deer to target this Fall.
I'm stepping up my intel game and will be setting up as many as a dozen trail cams this year. I want to set up a few mock scrapes in different locations and I'm looking for tips and general advice on setting up mock scrapes on public land to get up the learning curve faster than figuring it out through trial & error. And this might be a good thread for others starting the trail cam intel-collection journey like me.
Timing: When is the best time to set them up for collecting intel? Is it fruitful to do it at the start of the Summer, or a waste of time? (Archery season opens in mid-September in my home state.) I'm thinking I should get them out there by the end of June so I'm not disturbing the area in the Fall. I'll be using cell cams, so I don't disturb all the areas to collect SD card images. If you have different advice about timing of setting up mock scrapes, I'm all ears.
Location: I primarily hunt parcels of public land that are deciduous forest (mostly white oak stands with lots of thickets of mountain laurel throughout). In the lower areas, there are some modest-size swamps. Both the laurel and the swamps hold deer well and make up the security cover that they use. What's your strategy for locating where to set up a mock scrape? I've found good scrapes on level ground, but also on sloping ground ... not sure if the deer have a preference, but in my area it doesn't seem so. Any thoughts on that? Do you try to find an established scrape line and then add a mock scrape to the line, or do you target placement somewhere else? An area of heavy rubs? An edge of a bedding area? An edge of a water source? An edge of a feeding area?
Size: How large do you generally make your mock scrapes? The size of a 1/2 sheet of plywood (4' x 4')? Smaller? Larger?
Licking branches: Have you experimented to see if you get better results with natural growth licking branches vs. hanging a vine over it for that purpose? Do you put anything on the licking branches or vine? How high off the ground should the licking branch or vine be (ideally)? What's your preferred licking branch setup & why?
Attractants / Scents: Do you use a scent dripper, or just take a leak in the mock scrape to get it started? Have you experimented with commercial scents and attractants, and if so, what is your advice and why?
I'm stepping up my intel game and will be setting up as many as a dozen trail cams this year. I want to set up a few mock scrapes in different locations and I'm looking for tips and general advice on setting up mock scrapes on public land to get up the learning curve faster than figuring it out through trial & error. And this might be a good thread for others starting the trail cam intel-collection journey like me.
Timing: When is the best time to set them up for collecting intel? Is it fruitful to do it at the start of the Summer, or a waste of time? (Archery season opens in mid-September in my home state.) I'm thinking I should get them out there by the end of June so I'm not disturbing the area in the Fall. I'll be using cell cams, so I don't disturb all the areas to collect SD card images. If you have different advice about timing of setting up mock scrapes, I'm all ears.
Location: I primarily hunt parcels of public land that are deciduous forest (mostly white oak stands with lots of thickets of mountain laurel throughout). In the lower areas, there are some modest-size swamps. Both the laurel and the swamps hold deer well and make up the security cover that they use. What's your strategy for locating where to set up a mock scrape? I've found good scrapes on level ground, but also on sloping ground ... not sure if the deer have a preference, but in my area it doesn't seem so. Any thoughts on that? Do you try to find an established scrape line and then add a mock scrape to the line, or do you target placement somewhere else? An area of heavy rubs? An edge of a bedding area? An edge of a water source? An edge of a feeding area?
Size: How large do you generally make your mock scrapes? The size of a 1/2 sheet of plywood (4' x 4')? Smaller? Larger?
Licking branches: Have you experimented to see if you get better results with natural growth licking branches vs. hanging a vine over it for that purpose? Do you put anything on the licking branches or vine? How high off the ground should the licking branch or vine be (ideally)? What's your preferred licking branch setup & why?
Attractants / Scents: Do you use a scent dripper, or just take a leak in the mock scrape to get it started? Have you experimented with commercial scents and attractants, and if so, what is your advice and why?