Mock Scrape Kit with Licking Branch Scent
Mock scrape kits are becoming well known for bringing deer in all season long and holding them on your hunting property. A great licking branch scent containing preorbital gland secretions can greatly improve the performance. Synthetic scents are preferred as collecting enough natural glandular secretion can be difficult, and weak tinctures made from them are generally ineffective. Synthetic gland scents do not have such issues and quality ones accurately mimic the attractive characteristic of the real thing.
We make a lot of mock scrapes. We have two specific mock scrape products: Lucky 7 MAXX’D OUT! Mock Scrape Spray and Lucky 7 MAXX’D OUT RUT! Mock Scrape Spray. As you can tell from the name, the main difference between them is that the latter is designed for the rut period and contains synthetic peak doe estrus urine. The other is great all season long. You use both the same way. Make a scrape on the ground under an overhanging branch using a stick, hand rake or the heel of your boot. Spray the area with several pumps of the mock scrape product. Next, you can either spray a squirt of it on the overhanging branch, or better yet, “kit” it up with the Lucky 7 Preorbital/ Licking Branch GEL and brush some of this gel onto the branch end. The best mock scrapes use a quality synthetic preorbital scent on that branch. The most effective locations differ by the season, but finding good deer travel corridors is a great place to start.
Here in Wisconsin, we start mock scrapes after the snow melts, usually in late March or early April. In warmer areas, mock scrapes can be used all year long. While real scrapes are used by deer all season long, sometimes they can be hard to find outside of the rut. This is why paying attention to scrape locations during the rut is important. It helps you determine good areas for making mock scrapes the remainder of the year. At other times, the actual scrape on the ground may be less active and the main attraction can be the overhead licking branch. Since the branch is often the feature the deer use most, using a quality preorbital scent can greatly increase the effect.
So, how do you locate good areas if you can’t visibly detect an existing scrape? The best areas to put your mock scrapes are along travel corridors. In the spring, you can find the trails coming from doe bedding areas. If you find higher ground with an opening right off the main trail with a small tree or bush standing alone, that is a GREAT spot for a mock scrape you will be able to hang a trail camera over and inventory your does. Watching does can really pay off as it helps you determine the local population and health status of your herd. Plus, where there are does now, there will be bucks during the rut. If you can find similar high ground where buck trails join doe trails at staging areas before they head to food, you will have a remarkable spot for cataloging your entire herd, bucks and does, AND a place that will likely produce great hunting during the season, especially the rut. These spots can be terrific hunting!
If you haven’t been using mock scrape kits on your hunting property, you are missing out on a great tool for observing your deer and targeting them during the hunting season. Get some quality scents and give it a try.
