Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Mock Scrapes Dos and don'ts

I have killed some of my best bucks hunting over scrapes but i never really messed with making mock scrapes. This year i am going to make a couple of them and run cameras on them to see what kind of pictures i get off of them and potentially hunt over them if the right buck is hitting them. Any of you guys got any tips or tricks to starting a good mock scrape? I have read to use your own pee but i dont entirely feel comfortable doing this since i was taught as a kid not to pee in the woods when hunting but i have read articles that stated that the deer are not bothered by the human pee, i still have never tried to test this theory. What is your favorite scent for on the licking branches and favorite for on the scrape? I plan to make a couple as soon as i get the scents ordered and post the pictures from over them into my trail camera thread.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
https://www.jamesvalleycompany.com/ - Is my go to scent. I also piss in my scrapes and have had plenty of older age class deer visit it, including one 5.5 year old less than an hour later. Treat the site like a crime scene and pay attention to detail. It ain't rocket science.

As for deer smelling piss, if you don't have a shitty diet, it's no worry because what they smell is ammonia, which is ultimately what all piss smells of. The worse your diet is, the more toxins you emit. The more toxins excreted in your urine, the more likely your piss smells "toxic" to deer. I purposely stop showering with scented soaps 6 weeks out and drink 3-4 quarts of water daily during deer season. It used to be whitetail insanity, now it's for my overall health, but I believe in keeping your body flushed of toxins, so eating clean and staying hydrated IMO, makes you smell less like a stinky human than Jim Bob that lives on Busch Light, Cope, Mt. Dew and Slim Jims.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or a deer biologist, I just pretend to be one on the internet...
 
https://www.jamesvalleycompany.com/ - Is my go to scent. I also piss in my scrapes and have had plenty of older age class deer visit it, including one 5.5 year old less than an hour later. Treat the site like a crime scene and pay attention to detail. It ain't rocket science.

As for deer smelling piss, if you don't have a shitty diet, it's no worry because what they smell is ammonia, which is ultimately what all piss smells of. The worse your diet is, the more toxins you emit. The more toxins excreted in your urine, the more likely your piss smells "toxic" to deer. I purposely stop showering with scented soaps 6 weeks out and drink 3-4 quarts of water daily during deer season. It used to be whitetail insanity, now it's for my overall health, but I believe in keeping your body flushed of toxins, so eating clean and staying hydrated IMO, makes you smell less like a stinky human than Jim Bob that lives on Busch Light, Cope, Mt. Dew and Slim Jims.

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or a deer biologist, I just pretend to be one on the internet...


LMAO yea i am not on a bad diet so i should be ok. I just may piss on one with a cam and see what happens because i have read in many other places of it working. I know its not rocket science, i just wanted to know what scents people have had luck with and if they have had success with mock scrapes.
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
Go a few miles away and take the dirt and licking branch. Use it at your place. That simple, natural, cost you some fuel and time. Most of all, you won't be supporting the industry that's killing the tradition.
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
Go a few miles away and take the dirt and licking branch. Use it at your place. That simple, natural, cost you some fuel and time. Most of all, you won't be supporting the industry that's killing the tradition.
Seems like the only time that would be effective would be during the rut when they are getting used the most. I have heard of people doing it though. Might have to try it sometime.