buck rubs...
 

well, i found my first 3 FRESH buck rubs of the season today!!

question...what deer typically rub first? older bucks or younger bucks?? these 3 rubs were in a line and all 3 were hit pretty hard and on decint sized trees and looks like he got a good bit of tines from how gouged up things were....im guessing hes not a spike or Y buck....

just curious if theres a "rule of thumb" about what deer usually rub first...

RE: buck rubs...
 

I have read that the older more dominate bucks are typically the first to start making rubs.

And as I am sure you already know...big rubs are made by big deer.

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RE: buck rubs...
 

heres some pics since its somewhat a bit early....it rained Sunday so im willing to be these were made between now and Sunday night! you could still see where he stood by the way the leaves were kicked up...shavings below every tree and still clinging to the trees....

RE: buck rubs...
 

Find any velvet?

RE: buck rubs...
 

i didnt notice any....but try not to touch anything with my hands while im out there...especially right now....i know i did more than enough damage just being there....but i never like to physically touch rubs or anything....just me.

but i looked for it and didnt spot any...ive never found velvet...i bet you gotta be there QUICK to find that stuff...between critters and bugs and it drying and shriveling up, its probably not EASY to come by...

RE: buck rubs...
 

Now's about the time you should start seeing rubs. Last year I had a wide old 6 point (23 1/2 inside spread) out of velvet hanging around the yard. It was the earliest I had ever seen hard bone.

RE: buck rubs...
 

ugh i dont wanna hear about no wide 6pts!!! i already had to pass a 2.5 yo 16-17" wide 6pt...he was NICE...he was killed opening morning of rifle season...got word through the grape vine...by the time i got the story noone knew the killer...swore up and down it had a 1" point making it a 7....i glassed it with 7X binocs at 20yds for a WHILE....it didnt have a bump anywhere or i woulda shot him!!

i guess i did find a rub around the same time last year...i know its "that" time of year....

boy am i pumped right now...for some reason i have a litttttle more confidence in seeing deer on that ridge than ever...might not beable to sleep till oct 4th!! though i wont get to hunt that spot till atleast the first tuesday....

thinking an oak ridge with thickets close by i aughta be good morning and evening and in the rut i can probably just hunt the thicket edge and catch them cruising...i dont know...still learning this whole...DEER hunting thing....i know how to find sign and such...but i have trouble piecing it together...this is the first time i found feeding, bedding and rubs and linked it all together....im pumped

RE: buck rubs...
 

YeahI have noticed a few to... But I think they may have been elk on the ones I found. Cause the velvet was long! But the most of the bucks here already lost there velvet so it could have been a buck.

RE: buck rubs...
 

nice rubs mauser. Like droptine im still seeing fuzzys around here. and seen no rubs yet. a couple more weeks they should turn up here. looks like you have a polished bone head running around :D

RE: buck rubs...
 

Havent seen any yet, but its early in Wi yet, give them 3-4 weeks and then we may start seeing some, but usually not till October here.

RE: buck rubs...
 

Nice pics mauser! I saw my first clean rack on Monday night. Little forkhorn - clean and dry.

I think I saw between 30-40 bucks, and all but that one were still sporting velvet. I'd expect almost all of our bucks to shed within the next 10 days or so.

RE: buck rubs...
 

Nice pics. All the bucks I have been seeing are still fuzzed over.

RE: buck rubs...
 

I went in Sunday......to a part of my new hunting land....and put some tacks on a treeI may hunt some mornings. When I was there....there were no rubs.

It's raining cats and dogs here, right now, so I went through this area to go to my evening spot to look for another tree to climb (went during lunch and just go tback). I couldn't believe it. There must have been a dozen rubs not 15yds from the tree I picked out, Sunday. I guess I picked a good one. It was uncanny.....nearly every tree was rubbed in a 30' circle.

RE: buck rubs...
 

For me last year it was right around Sept. 6th that everyone was losing their velvet.

RE: buck rubs...
 

jeff, thats awesome!!! that gotta have you a weee bit pumped!! i know im VERY pumped over my findings...i feel like that spot is going to teach me ALOT about DEER hunting, and is going to be a spot i should consistantly be on deer...early season, mornings and evenings and into the seeking and chasing phases of the rutt....its THE food source...got the bedding areas in the thicker woods all around the oak ridge...i feel i FINALLY put the pieces of the puzzle together...and past expiriences tell me theres some NICE bucks in that immediate area...(we used to fall turkey hunt about 100 yds east and 200yds north(down off the ridge) and see alot of nice bucks cruising...at the time it was a nice hardwood flat next to a real thick edge....the thick edge matured a good bit and the canopy closed ALOT...forest floor is now covered in waist high ferns, though i still may hunt that spot just to SEE what i see...i hate the ferns though...and know past years another bow hunter hunted that spot...i always found his scent bombs hanging...


quik, id agree within about the next 10 days or so most all of them aughta be hard horned and rubs will be showing up quick...

im pumped...i cant wait...

RE: buck rubs...
 

Mauser:

Not trying to rain on yours OR my parade.....but I discussed this with someone I trust....and he's not REALLY "pumped" I'm seeing these rubs, now. Just means there WAS a buck, there.

I hope we get to see the ones making them. I wish us both luck.;)

RE: buck rubs...
 

understood Jeff....but, i know my area pretttty well...i know the deer dont have many other dinner options and im on an oak ridge:D if i dont see atleast 1 deer there all season, well...i guess i'll hafta look for another deer dining room...ive bowhunted that SGLs the past 2 seasons and early flintlock doe hunted it for 2 or 3 seasons prior....never on this oak ridge, except last year in poor weather conditions and i still saw 2 deer...1 1.5yo buck for sure..the other i still believe to be a buck of some sort but never seen the head..just body and body language...

i read alot about mixed opinions on early season rubline hunting...though im not only on a rubline...im on a food source surrounded by thicker bedding areas...and know in the past we seen many GOOD bucks not very far from that spot...

the only thing that worries me is all the stomping around i did in there yesterday.....and it is BIG woods...litterally 10k+ acres....no REAL defined funnels...thats why i been struggling to see deer...now that the cuts are maturing, the browse is almost nonexsistant...they are depending on the oaks HARD...

im just excited over the area and how it hopefully pans out...i'll put it this way, had those rubs not been there, and no beds found, i would STILL be hunting that SAME area...it has all the makings of a DEER hunting area...my hard part is going to be closing the distance...which could be as difficult as to finding WHAT oak tree is dropping the best that day and the deer prefer that day...no REAL defined trails which makes it TOUGH

RE: buck rubs...
 

I havnt seen a single buck period all summer, so I dont have any idea if they are still in velvet or not, but if I would have to guess, I would have to say they are still in velvet.