Bucher Bags Big U.P. 10 Pointer Over A Mock Scrape

"I've had pretty good luck with bucks coming into mock scrapes before," claims TV host Joe Bucher, "but not one of this caliber. The neatest thing about all of it is that he ignored all of his regular scrapes! He headed directly for the mock scrape. It's all on camera!"

Joe Bucher and camera man Brach Pulver had just finished filming a segment on building mock scrapes a few hours beforehand. At 3:30 p.m. they nestled back in a tree stand with both bow and camera in order to watch what happens.

"I positioned the mock scrape at the perfect shot angle and distance from my treestand, and in a location that was sure to be wind friendly for all westerly winds. I even bent over a high branch and made a low angle licking branch over the scrape." which Bucher claims is critical to success. "The actual licking branch portion of the scrape is actually even more important than the scrape itself. They often work these year round, and seem to hit them harder and more often than they do the pawed ground scrape."

To sweeten the mock scrape Bucher added a little deer scent to the man-made buck attractor. "My good friend John Collins makes a superior series of deer scent products called James Valley Scents. John does real bonafide research on his stuff and doesn't make a bunch of exaggerated false claims. Besides, James Valley Scents have this jell-like form that is easy to apply and it sticks well to the licking branch." Bucher's favorite James Valley Scent for this application is Dominant Buck Lure. "I just open the cap on the small bottle and actually dip the licking stick branch ends into it. The jell sticks to these branch tips. Bucks come up to these specific branches and actually lick the daylights out of them."

And, that's just what happened at around 4:35 p.m. on October 28th while Bucher and Pulver watched from ;high up in a big hemlock tree. After chasing a doe around for a few minutes, this rut cranked bruiser came in on a string right to Bucher's mock scrape. It immediately pointed its nose in the air and began rubbing the scent filled licking stick in its face and around its antlers. This gave Bucher the edge he needed to make an unforeseen quiet draw of his bow. When Pulver gave the verbal signal that it was all being captured well on film, Bucher steadied his aim and let the arrow fly --- a perfect 15 yard shot!

Bucher suggests making mock scrapes in late October thru mid November in order to position a buck for a perfect bow shot. "The key reason to make a mock scrape is to position the deer where you want him for a good shot. If you do it right, it can work wonders.!"

-- Joe Bucher