An innovative new product from Wildlife Research Center, the Golden Rope Scent Rope Kit will help you attract and pattern Mr. Big.
by Jace Bauserman
My whitetail addiction is out of control. You get it if you’ve hunted North America’s darling game animal. If you haven’t, you need to plan a whitetail trip right now!
Whitetail hunting appeals to me and others because it’s a 365-day season. The whitetail workload never ends. From habitat improvement to trail cams and shed hunting to food plots, passionate whitetail hunters never stop working.
Wildlife Research Center is one manufacturer I’ve leaned on extensively during my whitetail tenure. From award-winning scent-elimination products to specialized brews and lures that drive big bucks wild, WRC produces top-of-the-heap products. Moments before writing this article, I answered a WRC question that was sent to me from a hunter via email. The question was: What’s your all-time favorite deer scent?
I didn’t have to think long. If I had to pick one deer scent to use for the rest of my days, it would be WRC’s Trail’s End #307. An OG deer scent, I love Trail’s End because of its season-round effectiveness. From early summer through the rut, this complex blend of doe urine with in-heat secretions and other classified WRC ingredients appeals to the sex, curiosity, and hunger instincts of the white-tailed deer.
I find it most effective when I soak vegetation and grasses around my trail cams. Last year, one particular Muddy cell cam captured nine different August bucks in one week. All came to a small bush I’d soaked in Trail’s End #307.
Of course, WRC never stops innovating. New scents and scent-elimination products pop up annually. Plus, in recent years, the manufacturer has added several other top-end deer products. Last season, I had excellent luck with the Active-Branch Mock Scrape Kit. I love creating mock scrapes, and when using this put-anywhere two-branch holder, you can add four screws and put a mock scrape anywhere you want it.
One product I’m excited about this season is WRC’s Golden Rope Scent Rope Kit, and recently, a couple of these all-new scrape makers arrived at my home.
What Is A Scrape?
In layman’s terms, a scrape is a pawed-out piece of earth below a branch that a buck rubs his nose and face on.
Scrapes come in many shapes and sizes. Typically, the larger the scrape, the more bucks using it. Scapes that multiple bucks use are called community scrapes. These are the scrapes hunters hone in on.
After a buck rubs on the licking branch, he paws out the earth below and urinates in the scrape. This is an invitation for does. While a buck may not want his scrape to be taken over, scrapes, like rubs, are locations where deer can decipher and identify each other through smell. It’s not uncommon for multiple bucks to use the same scrape. It’s also not unusual for a buck to make a scrape and never return to it.
What Is The Golden Rope Scent Rope Kit
I’ve read more outdoor articles about scrape hunting than I care to admit. Scrape hunting is a big-time pre-rut and post-rut tactic. Mock scrapes (scrapes the hunter creates) allow the hunter to place scrapes within shooting distance of their stands and blinds.
When creating a mock scrape, the goal is to put down a new scent and let the area bucks know there’s a newbie in the area. The hope is that the mock scrape will attract multiple bucks and turn the area around the scrape into a hotbed of buck activity.
The Golden Rope Scent Rope Kit comes with a trio of 30-inch ropes, a 4-ounce bottle of Golden Rope Scent Concentrate, three cable ties, and a resealable container for mixing and dripping.
When you locate an area where you want to create a mock scrape, mix up the concentrate in the included container, use the included cable ties to attach the rope to an overhanging licking branch, and then dip the frayed end of the rope in the concentrate.
The proprietary Natural Fiber Rope promises high liquid absorption, no chemical treatments, and maximum durability for season-long use.
Golden Rope Scent Kit Tips
This past week, I took a Rope Kit and headed to my favorite whitetail property.
Tip #1: Take your time and find excellent mock scrape locales. If you know the property, focus on areas with high deer concentrations where bucks tend to roam. If you don’t know the property, look for tracks and remnants of old scrapes.
Tip #2: Making mock scrapes is messy. Wear medical-grade rubber gloves to reduce human scent and keep the concentration off your skin.
Tip #3: Wear rubber boots, and before creating your mock scrape, find a sizeable stick with some length and girth.
Tip #4: Pull all the contents out of the bucket. Next, take one of the ropes, insert the cable tie through the sealed end of the rope, and attach the rope to the licking branch with the frayed end hanging down. You will want to unwind the open end of the rope further.
Tip #5: Use the heel of your rubber boot to remove the vegetation and dirt. Then use your stick to finish the mock scrape. I like to give my mock scrapes some size. Often, the smell of unearthed dirt will attract deer. Make sure the frayed end of the rope is hanging over the scrape.
Tip #6: Add the 4-ounce bottle of Golden Rope Scent Concentrate to the frayed end of the rope with 16 ounces of water. Let the rope soak in the concentrate for at least 30 seconds to ensure maximum absorption.
Tip #7: When you remove the container, the scent drips into the scrape. This is why I recommend creating the scrape first. Now, set a camera over your newly created mock scrape and start watching.
This is my first season using the Golden Rope Scent Rope Kit. I like what I’m seeing so far, and I plan to refresh my ropes every few weeks.
Leave it to WRC to create another innovative product that’s sure to boost buck attraction, and help you fill the freezer and the wall.
