| Tips for Scrapes & Rubs... |
Mock scrapes and freshening natural scrapes get lots of attention lately because they can really draw bucks in.
For some reason, freshening rubs or creating mock rubs doesn’t get focused on as much but they also cause bucks to
think an unknown buck is using a given area. Let’s start with rubs. Say you know there are good bucks traveling along
a path on your neighbor’s property or bucks are traveling through an area but aren’t necked down to any particular
path. Consider creating an artificial rub line or freshening up an old natural one to pull the bucks into a travel corridor
that you can effectively hunt.
If bucks are to adopt it, the rub line has to connect bedding and feeding areas and it should be in an area with
reasonable cover. Once you’ve selected a likely area, all you have to do is create the illusion of buck activity along this
path. You do that by using a large, heavy knife to rub saplings in the same way a deer would. Don’t overdo it. Rubbing
10” trees down to bare wood, a good three feet off the ground is likely to terrify the local buck population into thinking
Godzilla passed through. I like to rub trees around two inches or so in diameter, staying about a foot off the ground.
This should be enough to get a good buck’s interest without instilling terror. The last step is to put a thin coat of
Jackie's Licking Branch Scent in the rubbed area. Do this every twenty or thirty yards and you’ve got a nice, natural
appearing rub line. The local buck population will come across the new rub line and they will be compelled to add their
scent to the rubs as well. This creates the appearance of more buck activity and establishes the new travel corridor. I’
ve used this method to create paths from scratch and to increase the travel along existing paths. Freshening the rub
line up with some Licking Branch Scent from time to time and especially prior to a hunt, can be the ticket to creating a
huntable spot out of a mediocre, or poor area.
Here’s one final point about rubs. I am amazed by how many times I have seen a hunter spot a rub, walk over, and then
start feeling the rubbed area. A rub by definition is a scent post that other deer, including does, will scent check. It is
nothing short of insane behavior to put your bare hands on it. Either freshen it up or leave it alone, but don’t touch it!
Freshening up natural scrapes or creating mock scrapes has much the same purpose as the rub discussion above,
creating the illusion, and hopefully then the reality, of increased buck activity in a given area. The scrape should be
twenty to thirty yards upwind of your stand. I like to pick an area where some type of obstruction makes it so that bucks
aren’t likely to be able to visually check the scrape from too much further away than that. If you don’t pick a spot that
cuts them off from traveling too far downwind, some bucks will scent check the scrape from 80 or even 100 yards off.
The nice thing about scrapes is that they can be set up and tended year round. This ensures that your scrape is the
first in the area this fall and therefore, has a good chance of being taken over by the local buck population. Long
lasting scrape scents are the key here.
Jackie’s mock scrape powder is ideal for starting a scrape. Mix about three handfuls into the first couple of inches
of soil and the scent will last for months. Put Licking Branch Scent on the overhanging branch to complete the scent
picture.
I like to set up clusters of scrapes (four or five) in various areas and then as the season approaches, see which ones
are being hit. I have the best reactions to scrape clusters or a line of a few mock scrapes along a well used rub line
rather than setting up just a single scrape. Seek out spots that deer use as staging areas prior to heading out into
feeding areas. These are prime locations for putting out some nice mock scrapes. Another area to key on is near
bedding areas where a buck may feel safe enough to show himself during hunting hours.
As bachelor groups break up early in the season, the scents used to keep your scrape going should include rut
signals. We have a large selection of products to use with scrapes during each stage of the season.
As the rut approaches and the chase phase begins, tell the bucks that there’s a hot doe waiting by the scrape by
setting up with some Jackie's Hot Doe and Realdeer. Or, tell him an intruder is tending a hot doe with some Full Rut
by James Valley. Paint the right picture for the each phase of the season and don't put your bow down.
For some reason, freshening rubs or creating mock rubs doesn’t get focused on as much but they also cause bucks to
think an unknown buck is using a given area. Let’s start with rubs. Say you know there are good bucks traveling along
a path on your neighbor’s property or bucks are traveling through an area but aren’t necked down to any particular
path. Consider creating an artificial rub line or freshening up an old natural one to pull the bucks into a travel corridor
that you can effectively hunt.
If bucks are to adopt it, the rub line has to connect bedding and feeding areas and it should be in an area with
reasonable cover. Once you’ve selected a likely area, all you have to do is create the illusion of buck activity along this
path. You do that by using a large, heavy knife to rub saplings in the same way a deer would. Don’t overdo it. Rubbing
10” trees down to bare wood, a good three feet off the ground is likely to terrify the local buck population into thinking
Godzilla passed through. I like to rub trees around two inches or so in diameter, staying about a foot off the ground.
This should be enough to get a good buck’s interest without instilling terror. The last step is to put a thin coat of
Jackie's Licking Branch Scent in the rubbed area. Do this every twenty or thirty yards and you’ve got a nice, natural
appearing rub line. The local buck population will come across the new rub line and they will be compelled to add their
scent to the rubs as well. This creates the appearance of more buck activity and establishes the new travel corridor. I’
ve used this method to create paths from scratch and to increase the travel along existing paths. Freshening the rub
line up with some Licking Branch Scent from time to time and especially prior to a hunt, can be the ticket to creating a
huntable spot out of a mediocre, or poor area.
Here’s one final point about rubs. I am amazed by how many times I have seen a hunter spot a rub, walk over, and then
start feeling the rubbed area. A rub by definition is a scent post that other deer, including does, will scent check. It is
nothing short of insane behavior to put your bare hands on it. Either freshen it up or leave it alone, but don’t touch it!
Freshening up natural scrapes or creating mock scrapes has much the same purpose as the rub discussion above,
creating the illusion, and hopefully then the reality, of increased buck activity in a given area. The scrape should be
twenty to thirty yards upwind of your stand. I like to pick an area where some type of obstruction makes it so that bucks
aren’t likely to be able to visually check the scrape from too much further away than that. If you don’t pick a spot that
cuts them off from traveling too far downwind, some bucks will scent check the scrape from 80 or even 100 yards off.
The nice thing about scrapes is that they can be set up and tended year round. This ensures that your scrape is the
first in the area this fall and therefore, has a good chance of being taken over by the local buck population. Long
lasting scrape scents are the key here.
Jackie’s mock scrape powder is ideal for starting a scrape. Mix about three handfuls into the first couple of inches
of soil and the scent will last for months. Put Licking Branch Scent on the overhanging branch to complete the scent
picture.
I like to set up clusters of scrapes (four or five) in various areas and then as the season approaches, see which ones
are being hit. I have the best reactions to scrape clusters or a line of a few mock scrapes along a well used rub line
rather than setting up just a single scrape. Seek out spots that deer use as staging areas prior to heading out into
feeding areas. These are prime locations for putting out some nice mock scrapes. Another area to key on is near
bedding areas where a buck may feel safe enough to show himself during hunting hours.
As bachelor groups break up early in the season, the scents used to keep your scrape going should include rut
signals. We have a large selection of products to use with scrapes during each stage of the season.
As the rut approaches and the chase phase begins, tell the bucks that there’s a hot doe waiting by the scrape by
setting up with some Jackie's Hot Doe and Realdeer. Or, tell him an intruder is tending a hot doe with some Full Rut
by James Valley. Paint the right picture for the each phase of the season and don't put your bow down.
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