I usually start my mock scrapes in late August early September. Deer use scrapes year round to be honest, but do not hit them hard like in the fall/rut. I like to start around this time to condition them that they are there, come end of october and early november the bucks usually take them over and start hitting them hard. I usually start with Tinks Scrape Starter and the Dripper, refresh when necessary, start changing scents as season progresses and according to the rut...but always stick to Tinks scents, they work great for me. I have even peed in a couple of my scrapes before and gotten good deer on camera because of it. Good luck, scrapes are a great way to to bag a nice deer but also not easy...remember mature bucks tend to hit scrapes at night, but when he makes that mistake and hits it during day light hours...its all worth it!