BuckRope: The Best Rope Mock Scrape for Whitetail Deer

Rope on a Tree, Baby!

I love the movie Grown Ups! The cast of characters and their antics make me laugh every time I watch it. One of my favorite scenes is when Kevin James, who plays Eric Lamonsoff, says, “Rope on a tree, baby! You know what that means?” He’s talking about a rope swing into a lake and while that’s fantastic, I often use that line to talk about one of my own favorite activities: making a rope mock scrape.

Rope scrapes have really taken off in recent years. I remember when Gene and Barry Wensel first introduced the concept of using large ropes to create mock scrapes and draw in whitetail deer. It’s been fun to watch more hunters embrace it, and I’ve been one of its biggest fans.

Early Trials and Lessons Learned

My early rope scrapes had mixed results. Living in northwestern Pennsylvania, I deal with wet, humid summers, and the type of rope I used made a huge difference. The first ropes I tried would eventually mildew, which kept deer away. After testing different ropes for a few years, I started to see better results but I still wanted something more durable and consistent.

Hanging the Rope Right

In the beginning, I tried twisty ties to attach ropes to branches. They worked… until cold weather made them brittle, and the rope ended up on the ground. I eventually switched to rubber-coated wire, which was much more reliable. I standardized my ropes to 4 feet long so they’d hang at the ideal height.

But here’s the thing even with these improvements, traditional hemp ropes still had problems:

• They absorbed moisture and developed a bad odor.
• They sagged over time, dropping below the ideal interaction height.
• They flattened out, making it harder for deer to transfer scent.

That’s where the BuckRope came in and changed everything.

Why BuckRope is a Game-Changer

This April, I discovered Buckstik’s BuckRope, and I knew I had to try it. The moment I got it in my hands, I could see the difference:

• Stiff, Rigid Construction – Holds its shape in wind, rain, and snow so deer hit it at the perfect height every time.
• Large 1” Diameter Hemp-Odor Rope – Gives off the natural scent deer expect, but is made to last without absorbing moisture.
• 30” Length + Paracord Spool – Lets you hang it anywhere and adjust the height without cutting rope.
• Frayed End Design – Rough texture traps and holds scent from deer longer than smooth, worn rope.
• Interactive Leaf Assembly – Simulates licking branch movement and texture, encouraging deer to linger and rub their preorbital and forehead glands.
• All-Season Durability – Won’t mildew, sag, or need replacing mid-season or next season for that matter!

With a traditional hemp rope, I was constantly replacing or rehanging it mid-season. With BuckRope, I set it once and it works year-round.

Best Places for Rope Scrapes

Two spots consistently outperform all others for me:

1. Inside Corners – Deer naturally cut corners in their travel routes, especially at the inside corners of agricultural fields. My inside corner scrapes get year-round activity.
2. Main Trails – Especially those leading into or out of bedding areas. Setting a BuckRope here gives me an easy way to inventory, pattern, and hunt my target bucks.

I set up my first BuckRope in an inside corner, added some preorbital gland lure, made a scrape beneath it, and waited. That very night, deer were on it. My trail cameras captured interaction after interaction — not just bucks, but does too.

Taking Mock Scrapes to the Next Level

I now have multiple BuckRopes hung in key spots. They’re giving me a steady flow of trail cam footage, helping me pattern deer before the season.

Pro Tip: Want to take your mock scrape game even further? Buckstik’s BuckStik, BuckBranch, and BuckVine products combine all three major deer communication glands and present them at the perfect heights for interaction — giving deer an even more irresistible reason to visit. (Vertical Ground Mounted BuckStik shown below)

This season, I’m heading into the rut with more confidence than ever all because my rope scrapes finally work the way they should. The BuckRope didn’t just solve the problems I had with traditional hemp rope… it made mock scrapes more effective than I thought possible.

By BuckStik Prostaff Member

Brian Kightlinger

Left in The Field Outdoors