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[blockquote]
[/align]GMMAT, Don't feel bad about not being able to hunt the bedding areas. I saw a show a couple of years ago the suggested it is bad to hunt the bedding areas. They said it is better to let the deer have a place of security. Somewhere they feel totally safe. They said it will help to keep the deer in the area. Don't ask me the source. It was a while ago and I was trying to teach myself everything I could back then. I was just getting my feat wet back then. I have only been hunting for 5 years . This is my 6th bow season. But after seeing that show; I have always tried to stay out of bedding areas. Right or wrong, I just felt better about it. [/blockquote]

I hear ya.....but it would be nice to be able to have access to ALL sides of the bedding areas. I only have a way to cut them off if they come out on my side. I'd love to have access to all sides.

I'd also LOVE to be able to crowd it at certain times of the year.

[/align]I feel your pain. I am landlocked everywhere I hunt.

Years ago befor mineral licks, bait piles, and trail cams, being able to read rub and scrape lines was the only way you had to improve your chances of killing a mature buck. Sure you had an average Joe score on a mature buck from time to time but the steady Eddies knew how to read and hunt scrape lines

Yeah....especially this time of year before the pre-rut and rut has them running around willy-nilly looking for hot does. A rub line this year definitely speaks volumes about a buck's travel pattern. He's just trucking along between bedding and feeding without having his mind clouded by thoughts of poon. I have some bucks that I can't hunt behind my house which are fun to watch. There has been a rub right in my backyard for several weeks now...right after they came out of velvet, which didn't surprise me. BUT....a scrape appeared over a week ago and I got to watch a smallish 8 pointer (9 with a kicker actually) from my family room window tend it a few nights ago. I've hunted for longer than I should admit...but don't recall finding (or even looking) for scrapes where ever I've hunted prior to mid-October.

We hunt rub lines and runs all the time. We also have several stands near bedding areas. Question is; how close can your stand be to still offer them the comfort level they need?

i have been walking ALOT lately looking for rublines. not having any luck yet. found plenty of last years but no fresh ones. i know theres 5 nice bucks in the area but cant locate any rubs. i gotta do sumthing because i seen the other guy that hunts the land go in this morning w/ his stuff. i dont think they are rubbing here yet

It all depends on how much scent you leave and how much contact you make with them.

TommyGunn, if the trails are being used on the last years rub and scrape lines, start there if you cant find someplace else you would like to hunt. Check the over hanging branch above old scrapes to see if they have recently been mouthed or nibbled on, and look to see if they have fresh tracks in them and how big they are.
Read the little signs, till theBIG SIGNSshow up.
Good luck.

i tend to stick to the food plot till alittle bit before rut then move to the rub lines idk its what ive done and ive had luck doing it...