I've found 4 big rubs within 50 yards of my treestand just yesterday. They are on saplings about 3 inches in diameter, so pretty large saplings. The rubs are something like 18-20 inches tall on each tree.

Now, I've always been of the mind that bigger deer thrash bigger trees and small deer will rub on little trees...so my first thought would be that it's a big deer that's made these.

Here's the problem...there are scrapes at the bottom of all these trees and they're tiny. like the size of a closed laptop.

I've also been taught that bigger deer make bigger scrapes. I shot a nontypical 9 pointer last year hunting over a scrape that was huge. Like the size of a card table. So that experience merely confirmed what I'd always been told.

So what gives with these scrapes and rubs? Any ideas? I just can't believe that a spike or little four pointer is rubbing these trees like he is but I also can't believe that a big buck is making these puny little scrapes either.

This is just my opinion...........

It's still early and scrapes do get larger everytime they are hit. Could these be brand new scrapes and rubs? Did you hunt this same area last year? If so, were they larger last year?

sounds like a big cowhorn spike, j/k it could be a boundry scrape, not sure where your hunting but here the scrapes get bigger/more aggressive during the rut

What your saying is the saplings(3 inches in diameter)are all tore up,likely by a bigger buck which i agree on.The only thing getting me is there are scrapes at the base of these rub trees?If I had to guess the scrape turnes out to be his feet digging into the ground as he is tearing up the tree.
You will definately know a working scrape now.It will have a licking branch above the scrape,likely with broken branches and there will be deer prints in the scrape as well.You will also be able to smell a real staunchy pee smell.

I agree with Rusty. The rut is still a ways off and as the rut progresses you should see those scrapes open up and mulitply. It's difficult to determine the sive on the animal by either scrapes or rubs IME. Track size is the best indicator of the size of he animal shot of actually seeing him.

I've had the privilege of watching mature bucks making scrapes in the past. They don't always spend a lot of time on them. I've seen big bucks rub big trees and then just give a quick 3 or 4 kicks backward in the dirt and then move on. I don't think scrape size is as much of an indication of buck size as it is of the amount of time spent doing the actual "scraping". Small buck + extended scraping time = large scrape.

common this time of year,Or maybe a big rub , small scrape and a little tool

I dont ever rely on how big the tree is that has the rub on it. ive seen some big bucks rubbin on smalll small trees, so ya never know untill ya see it.

I witnessed a forkhorn rubbing a decent sized wooden fence post one fall....I just don't think a person can make any absolute conclusions on the size of a buck by a rub or scrape. Sure you may have an idea, but unless you see it first hand, it is all by guess and by golly, not at all scientific.

I've likewise killed a 2 1/2 year old 8pt that was rubbing trees bigger than my thigh. I killed on a cold afternoon in December following that rub line. The rubs stopped after his demise.

Just looking at the rubs I would have guessed him to be a huge old knarly buck. Some small bucks have a big ego.

I also don't think what you are seeing is a true scrape. You are seeing the area under the rub that he pawed away.