cal516

When I said "there every year" I meant that I've seen them in the same area consistently. That being "east end of a ridge" or "north side of the ridge". Where I have seen them are also where I've had buck sightings. I saw a good sized 8-point a couple of years ago in the area where scrapes were higher in numbers and very deliberate, at the base of a ridge, a spike where there was only a couple scrapes along a ridge, and recently a young 8-point. The scrapes were not in bedding areas. Where I am pretty sure they are bedding is private property and I have not scouted it at all.

Lunkerdog

Ooop!, I should have re-read the thread before I posted.

I'm not sure if this question is relative, but it may be.

How have the temps been in your area compared to yearly averages?

The reason I ask is because I've seen over the years that when we have a warmer than usual Fall there is a noted absence of both scrapes, and rubs.

Another thought is that I've noticed that rubs become more aggressive in nature, and more frequent the closer we get to the breeding phase of the rut.

Erno86

May I suggest looking for any cedar trees in your area, because the bucks love the smell of cedar on there antler's. Look for decent sized or small saplings around a bucks core area that he claims to be his territory....like near the edges of fields, wood lines and the tops of ridges.

The cedar tree rub will turn into a yearly traditional rub, for mostly any buck out there. I've had big bucks rub on wooden railroad poles. Usually...the bigger the rub --- the bigger the buck --- though big bucks will tear-up bushes in order to strengthen there neck muscles.

Most buck rubs...besides the small ones, will have the rub covering only one side of the tree. Buck rubs are favorite hangouts for deer ticks...because the buck will sometimes rub off a deer tick or two.

cal516

Erno- Finding cedar thickets and trees is one thing that I need to do. There is another area that I hunt when the winds are favorable that have tell tale signs. Like you said "rub lines" are traditional in a patch of cedars year after year with larger cedars getting wore out. It is a favorite haunt you could nearly set your clock to.

This year I haven't seen any scrapes yet... Either because I have not found them or they haven't started here in TN. Generally the rut gets in full swing around 2-3 week in November. I posed this question because in this particular area I have seen a tremendous amount of scrape activity in the past however without seeing any rub activity.

early in

Totally agree with this.

Erno86

cal156 - You can try making your own scrape, and the bucks might get jealous and start pawing your own scrape; or start making scrapes around it.