JohnnyLonghorns

I found a huge rub line about a week ago and the wind is finally right to hunt it. Our farmer has seen a huge 12 pointer while harvesting right where this rub line enters into a field. How often do the bucks continue to stay on a schedule this time of year? With a full moon tonight and 80 degree weather it's hard to imagine him moving during daylight hours, however,the farmer saw him around 2:30-3:00 in the afternoon. Just curious if you guys might have some advice! Thanks!

buffhntr

I would follow the rub line back until you find a large concetration of rubs in a small area this means you are in his bedroom I would set up there. The problem is this is very risky and you could bump him causing him to change his area and not see him again let alone have a chance at him

WKP Todd

Yup, get to the concentration, set-up, and hunt right then. If you go-in ahead of time, you will lay scent down, so kill him the first time he's back in that area or you likely won't get another shot!

BOWHUNTERCOP

I would hunt no more then 20 yards downwind of the rubline

Western MA Hunter

I would do all of the above...
He will probably make the rounds again before the rut really kicks in... Play the wind right... and shoot him.

blackpowderfever

I would be in my tree at 11 am if possible. I have been seeing deer during the afternoon hours during the full moons the last 2 full moons.

JohnnyLonghorns

I followed the rubs back, but they lead to a creek and then there is nothing. I can't figure out where in the world he is coming from. it's in a large timber area so who knows what direction he is coming from. I'll look again, but with my climber on my back this time! Thanks for the help guys!!!


I'm a huge believer of hunting big bucks from 10am - 2pm. I've seen more giants during this time than any other.

crokit

You have a couple of options here: Remember: your first set-up is the best opportunity, so do it smart. Also, seeing him ONCE in a certain spot does not mean a "schedule" If your able to sit all day, use a tree for a natural stand, if limbs allow for climbing. Just down wind from the rub line,set up well before daylight. Shoot straight and nail him in his afternoon spot. Once the rut kicks in, forget about his schedule: it'll be wherever the hot does are.

I would also trail back into the timber along the rub line. I guarantee that where it ends, or very near it, the wind will be blowing in a completely different direction. A wind transition area. Now you have a choice to make: do you set up in the transition area, or outside it. Lots depends on that choice.

Jimmy S

The fact that the rub lins are at the fields edge tells me nothing. They were mostly likely made at night when the deer arrive at their staging and feeing site plus, they may have been made by multiple bucks. I have never seen a buck work his rub line in those locations.

A bucks bedding area must offer him ultimate safety, security with a food source nearby. I would scout the thickest, nastiest places in those woods. Rubs and scrapes on the outside edges of thick woods are what I would be looking for. This time of year, a few weeks before breeding, is when rub and scrape activity is in high gear. If there is a big buck there, he will leaves those signs. I keep reminding myself, they are definitely there and I spend as much time scouting as I do hunting this time of year.

Fields and sign nearby tells me there are bucks in the woods but I need to find those places where I feel bucks spend most of their daylight time. Swamps, thick alders, ridges and the places that I would go if I was a buck, are places I would spend most/all of my time.

Just my 2 cents and Good Luck.

WildlifePhoto

I ran this by T.R.Michels - and here is what he wrote back:

What do you mean by a "huge rub line"??? big rubs or lots of rubs, or a long line of them, or what.

Bucks generaly leave their daytime core area, where they bed during daylight hours,within a few hours of sunset, and move along theit rub route as they look for does and go to nighttime food sources. And they do it on a daily basis, which they could be doing now. But, once the does start coming into estrus, they get unpredictable, because once they find an estrus doe, they will follow it instead of the rub route.

The fact that the farmer saw the buckearly in the afternoon probably means the buckis bedded within a couple of hundred yards, adn not more than 1/2 mile away, because bucks don't travel very far during daylight hours.

When you loose a buck trail, continue to look for rusb on 1-2 inch trees, they could be spread out as far as a hundred yards apart or more. What you are looking for is a "very lightly used" deer trail, with rubs on those 1-2 inch trees.

If it goes into thick brush, and you loose it, but find lots ofrubs on 1-2 inch trees scattered around, and possibly some large dder beds, you are in the core area.

DO NOT set up IN the core area, because you will spook the buck out of the area. Find either the route into the core area in the morning, or the route out of the area inthe evening, and setup at least 50 yards away from the core area, so you do't spook the buck.

I hope that helps this guy.