Fake Scrape

All From A Fake Scrape

A little deception nets huge buck

“On Nov. 3, a buddy and I went for a walk in the woods by my treestand to look for some buck sign because I hadn’t seen very much action since opening day other than does. While walking around we decided to make a mock scrape. I dumped some Tinks #69 scent in the scrape and set a trail timer,” explains Mike Klasic.

Klasic said Tuesday, Nov. 5 he left work at 1:30 p.m., and rushed home to get in his treestand. He decided to walk in through the field because of the wind direction, about 50 yards from his stand. Then, he noticed a pine tree the size of a volleyball, completely rubbed from ground level to four-foot high. That was not there on Sunday, he added. When he got to his stand he noticed the mock scrape had been hit but not real hard. His trail timer had been set off at 4 a.m. Tuesday. He reset my trail timer and climbed into his stand, then saw does and two small bucks.

“Wednesday morning I got to my stand before daylight,” he said “While in my stand, I noticed my scrape looked different as daybreak approached. I realized my scrape went from 12 inches in diameter to about 48 inches in diameter. I sat until lunchtime and did not see any deer after getting out of my stand. I noticed my trail timer had been set off at 4:30 a.m. I hunted the rest of the week, not seeing any deer.”

Saturday, Nov. 9, he was at work about 1:30. He said he pleaded with his boss to let him leave so he could get in his treestand. His boss happily declined. About 3:15 he left work, rushed home, and jumped in the shower. He put on his scent blocker outfit, grabbed his Hoyt bow, bleat call, and Tinks. About 100 yards from his stand he decided to use a drag scent line using Tink #69. Klasic walked the outskirts of the woods to his stand. As he approached the stand he noticed the trail timer had been set off, so he checked the timer. It was set off at 1:57 p.m. on Saturday. Suddenly he heard sticks breaking and leaves rustling. To his surprise, when he looked up all he saw was horns running straight towards him about 50 yards away. Klasic climbed into the treestand as fast as possible and pulled up his bow. By this time the deer was approximately 12- to 15 yards to his right. He nocked an arrow, wrestled with my release, (which was stuck in the sleeve of his outfit) drew back, held the pin right behind the shoulder and let the carbine ACC tipped with a spit fire broadhead bury itself in the deer’s shoulder.

“I looked at my watch. It was 4:10 p.m. I waited (which seemed forever) 15 minutes, climbed out of my treestand, and walked over to where the deer was standing,” he said. “ I found blood but NO ARROW. I ran back home, called a buddy and told him what had happened. We decided painfully to wait to track the deer about 7:30 p.m. A few of my friends and me started tracking the deer where I had last seen him. After 200 yards of good blood and finding my arrow there was NO deer in sight. While deciding to wait until morning to look for the deer, one of my friends noticed the huge buck lying next to a big blown-down tree. While walking toward the deer he was bigger than we all anticipated. As we walked up on the huge horned deer I could not believe my eyes. After taking the buck home a few guys stopped over because they had heard of me shooting a big buck. One of them had scored him at 164 3/8 gross. After the dry period he netted 151 5/8.”