Help!!! How to attract bucks without feed supplements

[kp143631]

I have several feeders setup in east texas that deer attend to. The problem that I'm having is the hogs running the deer off from the feeder. I run several feeders year around and don't get any mature buck pics (5.5 +years old) at the feeders. I have one feeder pen in place that works well but I don't currently have the resources to build others right know. I run traps and shoot the hogs when we seem them. I am wanting to try and attract a mature buck to a different area without using any type of feeding supplement so the hogs want mess up the area. I was wondering if anyone has had any luck using other items such as scents, mock scrapes, making drag lines to the area when going in to hunt, etc. We have been hunting this place for 6 years and have only seen a few mature bucks tending to doesfor the most part, so I am wanting to try something new this year and with the rut around the corner and I thought I would try some scents like a scrape dripper over a mock scrape.

Thanks in Advance,
Kyle

[huntingjunkie]

I think you have the right idea. With the rut starting to approach I think you could rattle some when in the stand and when the rut is in full swing put some doe estrus out and hit the doe bleat from time to time. Best way to get the pigs to move out if you don't pin the feeder is to just turn them off for a few days. They'll move on looking elsewhere.....until the next pack comes along of course. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

From one Kyle to the next....

[hully1029]

hunt trails

[VorTexan]

If you have a tractor brushhog the fire out of an area whether it be field or brush area (small trees). Deer can't resist the smell of cut grass or the new growth that will come in.



The other option is the best deer scent you can find typically not mass produced so you may have to order it.

And in addition to above make your own mock scrapes in an area and try to trick the old buck into the thought that another buck is moving in.

Good luck I have used all these methods and have had success but as with mature bucks nothing is guaranteed and if you make a mistake sometimes you can do some damage to your area (too much you in the process).

[EastTx]

Find a bottleneck on your property. A few examples are a narrow strip of timber connecting two larger tracts, a crossing on a creek with steep banks, or an overgrown creek bed winding through a pasture. If you are familiar with your property you will know the areas I am talking about, if not look on an aerial map and you can spot them. A lot of bucks are killed during the rut out in the wide open but they will still try to stay in some kind of cover when searching for does.Right now is the perfect time, they are beginning to cruise around looking for does.



While it may not look like a lot this is a bottleneck I am hunting this week. On the left side of the map is an old oil well site, on the right is a pipeline. The bucks are constricted through this funnel while skirting the oil well and still staying out of sight of the pipeline. There are foodplots and feeders and boxstands all along this pipeline. The bucks walk parallel with it scent checking for does while staying out of sight of the stands. I have had 6 different bucks in the past two days come down the same trail at this stand. If you can find a spot similar it is just a matter of time before a mature buck will come by.
Good luck!

[kp143631]

Thanks for all the input, going to try making some mock scrapes this weekend. I am going to try different scents in the mock scrapes and put cameras on them to see what scents are performing best. I am going to try the Tink's scrape dripper, a magnum dripper with active scrape and some fresh Frank's dominant buck that I ordered.

[jljjdye]

I hung a wick with code blue buck urine yesterday morning and had some scent checkers with nose up. Have heard decent things about this scent. Found it at cabelas. I would like to try some of these techniques also hunting public land. Please update on your findings. Thanks

[Mike Murphey]

Bring in does?