» Rubs are visual signs and specific spots where the buck deposits scent in the form of primer pheromones. These pheromones indicate the buck’s social status and acts to stimulate does and warn off younger bucks.

What can you learn from a deer rub?

A buck “rub” is one of the best scouting aids a hunter has to learn about their habits. Sure we have trail cameras, but a hunter should still learn to read physical sign like rubs. The rub is made to mark territory – not only visually, but by scent as well.

Do Bucks revisit rubs?

Many rubs are never visited again by the bucks that made them or by other deer. However, some rubs are a little more special and are visited by multiple bucks and even does. Deer even visit these unique rubs across multiple years.

What does it mean when a deer makes a rub?

Before and during the rut, bucks rub trees to mark their territory, work off aggression, and intimidate other bucks. A series of rubs made along a trail or field edge are called rub lines, and provide clues about a buck’s travel patterns. Buck rubs also serve as dominance symbols and communication signposts.

Do big rubs mean big bucks?

Lee Ellis, of Suburban Bowhunter in Georgia, believes that big rubs are more indicative of a deer’s personality. “From what I’ve seen, a big buck is just as likely to rub on a small tree as he is to rub on a big tree.

What time of day do bucks make rubs?

Field rubs are made by bucks as they approach open areas to feed, usually in early season and most often at night. A mature buck probably won’t enter these open areas until after shooting light.

Should you hunt over a deer rub?

If you’re hunting public land or pressured private dirt, you’ll want to keep looking. … But one rub doesn’t make for a good hunting area. Rub lines are better, not only because they’ll show a concentration of sign, but because they’ll give you a clear direction that your target buck likes to travel.

How many rubs will a buck make?

According to the University of Georgia’s Dr. Karl V. Miller, one mature buck can make 1,000 to 1,200 rubs per year. Considering most rub activity occurs in a time period of about three months, that is 10 to 15 per day.

What does a cluster of buck rubs mean?

These marked trees help establish buck hierarchy through scent communication. … His dominance to breed is shown through the rubbing that not only pronounces his scent, but releases aggression. Also, the losing buck can work a batch of trees; his cluster rubbing is an effort to establish his presence, as well.

Do bucks rub during the rut?

Rut Rubs. During the early season, a buck regularly revisits most of his rubs on routes between bedding and feeding areas within his home range. Once the rut gets going, however, bucks largely abandon those locations and pre-rut rubs. … Bucks do, however, continue making and revisiting rubs throughout the rut.

Article first time published on

How do bucks mark their territory?

One form of marking is known as rubbing. To make a rub, a buck will use its antlers to strip the bark off of small diameter trees, helping to mark his territory and polish his antlers. Also to help mark territory, bucks will make scrapes.

Can you tell Buck size by a rub?

But there’s more to be gleaned from a savaged sapling. The right rub can tell you the size of a buck’s rack, whether he has any beauty points, and how to hunt him. In hilly country, buck rubs that are visible when facing uphill were likely made in the morning as the buck traveled back to his high-ground bedding area.

What time of day are most big bucks killed?

When is the best time to shoot a buck? Research shows, be in your stand before daybreak and stay there until around 1 p.m. Most deer are taken between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. with a few larger kills stretching into the period around noon.

What do deer like in bed?

A southwest-facing slope provides two key elements a buck will look for in a bedding area: headwind and sunshine. This allows them to smell danger long before they see it and seek out a little warmth in the colder months. Mature bucks will typically lay down with a thick stand of trees at their backs.

Do bucks rub after rut?

Rubbing intensity generally decreases sharply after the rut, but bucks continue making rubs as long as they carry antlers. Dominant bucks might rub tree stems after casting their antlers, but these rubs are subtle and difficult to locate.

How do you follow a buck rub?

If you can find a rub line with rubs facing a bedding area, it’s safe to say the buck is using that route on an evening feeding pattern, hitting the tree on his way to the food source. If the rub is facing the field, he most likely tore it up on his way back to his bed in the morning hours.

Is it better to hunt scrapes or rubs?

Although scrapes can attract deer and influence their behavior, rubs are a much more effective signpost for deer. As noted by such experts as John J. Ozoga, bucks make rubs to show dominance. That’s why mature bucks usually make the most and biggest rubs each season.

How often do deer check scrapes?

During the two weeks leading up to peak breeding mature bucks can be expected to make between 6 and 12 scrapes every hour they are on their feet.

What time of year do bucks rub trees?

In early fall bucks rub there antlers against small trees, usually one to three inches in diameter. Bucks do this to remove the velvet that has been growing on the antlers throughout the summer. Rubbing intensifies during the rut, which is the time of year when bucks compete with each other to “win” Page 2 does.

Does a buck bed in the same spot?

Deer sleep anywhere they bed and may do so singly or in groups. According to Charlie, they are creatures of habitat and they may bed in the same location day after day and month after month. Dominant bucks have favorite bedding spots, and they’ll even kick subordinate bucks out of a bed.

How do deer scrapes work?

A scrape is a bare patch of ground shaped like an oval or triangle with an overhanging branch. To make scrapes, deer paw away leaves and debris exposing the soil, which acts as a host for scent they leave behind. They mouth and rub their foreheads on the overhanging branch which also holds scent.

What type of tree do bucks rub?

2) Preferred Trees Cedars and pines are top-choice timber for buck rubs. Maybe it’s the loose, flaky bark and softer wood. Maybe it’s the high-sap content. Your guess is as good as mine.

What is the difference between a rub and a scrape?

Here’s the difference . . . A scrape is on the ground and a rub is on a tree. Yup, it’s that simple. Scrapes are what you see when you come across a usually oval shaped patch of bare dirt in an otherwise leaf or grass covered area.

Should I pee in a deer scrape?

The urination tactic is effective in prompting bucks to approach the scrapes, smell the ground and feverishly re-work them. … Although urinating in a scrape might sound a bit over the top to some hunters, trust me, it’s a cheap and effective way of outsmarting white-tailed bucks.

Do bigger bucks make bigger scrapes?

Myth: Mature bucks do 90 percent of the scraping. Reality: Older bucks obviously scrape, and some of them scrape a lot. A deer that lives four or five years becomes experienced in the rut ritual. Mature bucks may assert their dominance by making a scrape in the presence of a subordinate buck.

Do bucks rub the same trees every year?

Bucks make early-season rubs for several reasons: Scraping antlers on trees builds up neck and shoulder muscles. … Other bucks may rub the same tree, adding their signature smells. Mature bucks make their initial rubs in September and early October on stout trees, usually 2 to 4 inches in diameter.

How old is a 10 point buck?

To provide parameters, a ten-point buck is considered mature around three and a half to fours of age and in its prime from six years and older. In heavily hunted areas it is rare to find the buck in the eight-year-old age group but it is possible.

Do big bucks stay in the same area?

Some big bucks have very large territories, while others confine their travel to relatively small areas. The good news is, The 7-Day Rule works for all bucks, whether they’re nomads just passing through or local homebodies.

How do you know if a buck is big enough to shoot?

1. Number of Main-Frame Tines. If a buck is out in a field feeding and doesn’t appear to be in any big hurry to leave, this is an easy observation to make. …
2. Rack Spread. …
3. Antler Mass. …
4. Body Mass.

Should you hunt over rubs?

The Best Time To Hunt Rub-Lines While there’s no real bad time to hunt along active rub-lines, there is one specific time period that is, far and away, more productive than any other. That time frame is the late pre-rut period. In northern Wisconsin, the late pre-rut period typically occurs the last week of October.

Do buck rubs hurt trees?

When bucks rub, their antlers scrape at the outer layer of the tree, damaging the bark and deeper. Not only is this unsightly, but it also interrupts the movement of water and nutrients through the plant and in severe cases, can kill the tree.