Cougar Mag

Hi Shed! Personally, since I hunt generally the same areas yr after yr., I hunt the same rubline " area" every season. The biggest rubs seem to be in the same general vicinity.

I don' t always hunt on or even near the biggest rubs many times, again because of where I hunt, some of the biggest rubs are too close to the buck' s bedding area, so I spend more time hunting the most used cluster of rubs and they are not big rubs in many cases, but are many more rubs concentrated into a localized area.

I hunt rubs earlier in the season, and closer to the rut I look for the bigger rubs and clusters and hunt on the trails, not necessarily near the rubs themselves. I find that many rubs are not even on a well used buck trail, but off of it a ways in many cases. As far as rublines themselves, anywhere along a good rubline " trail" is good and can be productive. In my areas at least the bigger bucks roam a long ways seeking out does, many times I see bucks I have never seen before, and I know its not just because they may have been nocturnal.

Personally I have no idea how many bucks I have harvested right along a rub line, because most of my success has been right in the rut and I choose to hunt where the does are concentrating and that is not aways among the rubs or rublines. The bucks will be where the does are in the peak of the rut which generally occurs sometime within the 2nd week of november here in Illinois.