I never got into the creek bottom the day prior when scouting fearing i would jump a deer and possibly ruin the spot for the following day. That one scrape was fresh and so where the rubs and heading parallel to the bottom. Not to and from it but plenty of tracks look like they where going to and from it so thought nothing of it. After the following days sit my father rejoined me at the spot since he was hunting about a quarter mile away in one of his old spots. He took me into the bottom and right then we found rubs leading out of the bottom. Following these rubs deeper in found two more scrapes along the way leading out. So went back out and followed that single scrape and rub line. It ran parallel to the bottom for a few hundred yards and then curved away from the bottom in the opposite direction. My dad pointed out yeah this is another buck marking his territory and though early the small rubs most likely mean its a smaller buck. Not the same one living in the bottom whose rubs where noticeably larger and a few inches longer. So this is a first for me to find two deer with territories intersecting. While I am excited to hopefully see this meeting between the two while out in the woods the detail was i tied the other tracks in the area to that one instance. Adding to it was the fact we have not had rain in a few weeks so i didn't take that into account. 4-8 deer heading one way and 1 or 2 deer heading the opposite will add up to looking like a ton of deer using the same path to and from when in reality its less common to find them returning at that point. Rain allows you to see what is fresh.

After the lesson it made sense when he explained it. Do i hunt the morning in hopes of seeing this buck again (Who may not even be back in the area for another few days as he makes his rounds) or in the evening when i know the bottom buck will come out looking for this new comer. Odds are i will have a better shot at the evening buck being his home turf and near his bedding area. Have no idea if the other buck ever made it home. All this applied at the time though. due to the furlough the whole area has been closed so once it reopens for hunting possibly this weekend I will find out if anything has changed and it may in turn into a spot that should be hunted heavily both morning and evening with rut nearing. At the time it was ideal for an evening sit with increased chance of success.