Being that I am new to this site I can tell already that "iSnipe" is a very successful hunter! He pretty much put everything in a nutshell for you. When to start looking for rubs & scrapes from what I have learned from over 35 years of hunting is from the opening day of your earlyist season and you will start to see them show up by the first to the middle of October and that all depends on where you are geographically located. I always keep an eye out for them everytime I enter the woods but I don't believe there is a set time they show up. Once I start to notice that the same scrapes are being freshened up on a regular basis, thats the area I want to have a stand. Bucks scrapes are generally on a active run that is being used by doe's and other deer regularly and like iSnipe pointed out usually when they are moving from bedding and feeding. Bucks will also bed during daylight hours during pre & peek rut near these scrapes so your stand location is critical so not to disturb them. As the Fall turns to Winter during the hunting season, deer are more active during the day and begin to feed more heaverly to put on more fat and to be in the best physical condition possible to survive a possible harsh Winter.

It can be very frustrating sometimes when deer feed where they are bedding and thats generally when they have gone nocturnal because there is heavy hunting pressure or a lot of human activity in a given area. Just last week I was hunting in the Northern Zone of NY (Adirondacks) and that's excactly what they had done. They would be bedded in the jack pines before first light and hang tight until total darkness. We couldn't get within 50 yards of them before they knew something was up and they slipped out the back. There was fresh sign everywhere from droppings to rubs, & scrapes but if they're not moving there is nothing you can do about it. It didn't help that every day it was dead calm and we had colder than normal conditions and it was like walking on corn flakes!

This time of year your best bet is to keep note of where you find a scrape or rub and check on them as often as you can with out disturbing the area and this can be hard to do sometimes. As the rut gets closer the scrapes & rubs you find now may not be in use so you need to be familure with the area your hunting. Knowing all of where they're feeding & bedding will tell you where you typically will find scrapes. As you already know, in the heat of the rut the bucks are in seeking & chasing mode and those hot scrapes are where you want to be. The scrapes you find now pretty much just let you know that there are bucks in the area. If you haven't found any as of yet you may be looking in the wrong places or there are not many bucks in the area your hunting right now. But don't worry if you notice there are plenty of doe's around the bucks will show up sooner or later and the scrapes will be everywhere.