I was watchin DOD tv a couple days ago and came across a commercial that was some scent brand trying to get their use of scent lures for mock scrapes out and noticed that they were serious about putting mock scrapes out in the summer to help with that chance of killing an early brute. Now I've seen and read this in a couple deer almanac books and magazines but didn't really think much of it until now. Do any of you put out early mock scrapes? Is it worth doing to help the odds better in the early season?

some scrapes are utilized thru the whole year, kinda like a fire hydrant is for dogs ... I already have kicked open a few places where I hunt, with over head licking branches, they already have tracks on them .. it is always worth the try ....

It cannot hurt. What I have been doing is cutting a grapevine about an inch thick and tying it to an overhanging limb so the grapevine length is about waist to chest height. If there is not a limb to hang it from I will stretch a rope between two trees and then hang the grapevine from this. I think the bucks like the grapevines since they move around a lot and can play with them. I also take a claw type rake and tear up the ground to make it soft. I also will even pee in it to get it started.

I have a mock scrape out now with a camera on it. Ive done this the last 3 years. All kinds of animals stop and smell the scrape. What really surprised me was squirrels and rabbits come to it daily. I think they are after the salt in the urine the deer deposit in the scrape. Deer activity at the scrape picks up Oct 1-10, Nov 1-10, Dec 1-10, Jan 1-10 and Feb 1-10, runs right along with each month's rut period. I usually start the scrape each July-Aug by urinating in them and the animals do the rest. I do like Parker Bow and set the scrape under a hanging grape vine. The camera shows most bucks smelling the vines. h.h.

I use the bottled Smokey's Pre-Orbital gland lure soaked in a piece of rope and tied up in a overhanging branch. Seems to attract deer of all kinds, almost year-round. They usually create their own scrape under it. Good way to get pics of all the bucks in your area.

Smokeys is awesome stuff

I will have to try that and hang a cam to see what shows up!

I thought about putting a couple out. I don't know where I could find a grape vine tho to attach to a over hanging branch. In the past, during the rut, I have just broken the over hanging branch, scratched and dug the circle and put a scent wick on the over hang branch with doe estrus. I have some all season doe p right now I could use.

Don’t need grapevine. Just use a piece of rope and let it hang about nose high or a little higher. I am out of Smokeys right now but in the past the deer are all over it. It is a bit pricey but last me 2-3 years.

I do quite a few mock scrapes, especially in or around food plots. Usually in late July, I will pick a spot under a branch or where I am going to put up a branch, and will kill off the vegetation using round up and 2-4D in a circle area of four to five feet in diameter. Then a couple weeks later I come back with a weed eater and rake and remove everything in the dead area to the bare dirt. I get everything out of the circle. Then if there isn't a licking branch, I will find a good branch off of another tree and wire it to the tree so that the end of the branches are at about 4 to 5 feet off the ground. Sometimes you have to get creative, but you can always make something work. Then I pee in the new scrape. Every time I check trail cams, I personally pee in the scrape and use either a rake or dead limb from somewhere near by to gouge the ground and clear out any debris. I always wear rubber boots while I am around the scrapes and am sure to touch nothing with my bare hands after that first time setting it up. I don't buy or use any deer pee (I haven't bought any of this stuff in years) ... just good ol' pee fueled by my consumption of bottled water or a Coke Zero. I would say on average that 4 out of 5 mock scrapes that I make become real scrape locations for deer. Bucks of all ages and even does hit them regularly all season long. It works well.

I use Buck Fever forehead bf gland synthetic on the vines. I like synthetic lures over supposedly real stuff. Ive had redfox track me to my stand wearing synthetic redfox urine...that sold me. Ive also had a 6 pt buck stand down wind of me 40 yards sniffing the air but didnt smell me and that was using the same cover scent. I spray the vines with lure and pee in the scrape. h.h.