Every summer, I look forward to collecting inventory of bucks in my hunting areas.
The best way to know what kind of bucks will be roaming around the woods you hunt this fall is by running trail cameras. However, getting pictures of big, velvet bucks during the summer months is not easy.
One of the best ways to lure bucks in front of your trail cameras is by creating mock scrapes. Deer, especially bucks, will socialize and work scrapes very actively during the summer. Throughout the spring and summer months, bucks most often travel and live within small groups known as bachelor groups. Through the interaction of scrapes, they will also try to claim herd and breeding dominance as the fall months draw nearer.
The entire bachelor group of bucks will pick out certain scrape sites within their home range and communicate with each other all summer. Unlike humans, who know each other by looks, whitetails know each other by scent. This is why scrapes are consistently frequented and used. They are social sites where all deer check in with each other. In my opinion, a well-placed mock scrape that is being monitored via trail camera is the best way to see what deer are living in your hunting area.
Spring is a great time of year to create a mock scrape. Bucks are transitioning to summer areas that are full of green browse, especially where there’s plentiful forbes and grassy browse sources. This is why building mock scrapes in the spring is key for effectiveness. You want the deer to find these scrapes as soon as they transition to summer habitat.
Field edges, meadows, young clearcuts and areas with high stem counts are the best grounds to find summer bucks. Locating the right habitat is the key to locating summer bucks and building your mock scrapes in the right spots. You can create the best mock scrape, but if the habitat is not conducive for summer whitetails, you’ll see minimal success. To narrow it down ever better, I generally focus on north slopes during the spring and summer months. North-facing hills hold cooler air and there tends to be greater moisture content in the browse sources because these areas see less sunlight.
The best place to build a mock scrape is right on top of an active deer trail. As deer are using the trail, they will stumble onto the scrape without having to locate it visually. I don’t use scent, although many people have success using it. Nonetheless, I believe once one deer finds a scrape and disperses its own scent on it, the scrape will become attractive to all deer in the area. Also, there’s no scent on the market that can outdo the natural scent of a whitetail deer in the wild.
There’s two main factors when making a mock scrape. The first part of scrape creation is to scrape the ground underneath an overhanging branch that’s around six to eight feet in height. I remove all leaves, grass and any other types of debris. The key is to make a bare patch of ground that is nothing but dirt. Most of my scrapes are about three feet long and three feet wide. You want to get down to bare ground with your scrape so the site will collect urine as deer mark their territory.
The second part is to hang a branch vertically from an overhanging branch. I like the vertical branch to hang about three to four feet from the ground. The vertical branch is what is known as the licking branch of the scrape. This is where deer disperse saliva as well as preorbital scent from the preorbital glands on their faces. This is the most common part of the scrape for deer to mark their scent.
Lots of times, deer will not urinate on the ground part of the scrape, but they will almost always work the licking branch. I hang my licking branches with zip-ties or steel wire. The best type of licking branch I have found is beech. Beech branches will hold their leaves for up to a year after you cut them. This makes the licking branch more attractive to deer. Deer love to disperse scent on the leafy part of the licking branch. I always believed that the leaves hold the scent better than the woody part of the branch. Secondly, beech branches are extremely durable. Throughout time, the branch will get a ton of use. I’ve monitored mock scrapes that were used nearly every day. Deer will often bite the branch and pull on it which can really take a toll on your mock scrape. Also, as buck antlers harden throughout the summer months, bucks will tend to rub their antlers on the licking branch as well. So, a good, durable licking branch is a must for long term effectiveness.
A mock scrape that is done right and placed in an area where bucks are living throughout the summertime will reveal to you just what kind of bucks you’ll have living in your hunting areas this fall. I have mock scrapes that I created over a decade ago that are still producing great results. By spending the summer months collecting buck inventory, you’ll be more prepared for knowing where you want to hunt when the season arrives.
