Scrapes but no rubs
 

I am sure this has been covered and my apologies if it has. There are a couple of areas that I hunt but one in particular is usually full of scrapes but I have yet to see a single rub. The scrapes are generally in the same area every year but as I said no rubs. Anybody have any insight to this?

Hmm, not sure how far around the scrapes are you searching for the rubs? Got one area that i just started hunting this past weekend that has 3 scrapes in a single 40 yard area, 1 sapling/ ground area destroyed from 2 bucks fighting. But all the rubs are about 50 yards further down hill paralleling a creek. They are coming to the top for the acorns and entering the food plot from here so it may just take some walking around the area mid day to find them.

I know this is probably a stupid question but you never know.

Are you sure its not Turkey?

Not stupid at all... Because I have mistaken them before. But these are definitely scrapes. Almost always with a licking branch right above it. I've also seen bucks in the area.

I've also walked the area and just haven't seen any rubs. I could just missing them

You said that the scrapes are there every year. It's possible that you have does visiting old scrapes. Maybe your bucks aren't moving yet.

How many are we talking? roughly

Theres is NEVER a stupid ? when hunting deer.

I don't know if this is helpful but I'll tell the story and maybe you can get something out of it.

A couple years ago I had my rest break while shooting at a big mature buck and didn't hit him very good. The result is he made it home before he died. When I tracked him I knew when I got in his house and there he was. The deer sign was totally different. The scrapes and rubs were like professional work. Ive seen this before where you can just tell the difference between sloppy random buck sign and a big boy that knows what he is doing but Ive never had it really so clear as it was when I found him laying there dead in what was clearly his bedroom.

Buck sign and big buck sign are 2 very different things.

Here he is

Good deer and yes i will agree their is a difference in the scrapes and rubs found in his home versus those he makes along the way.

Rock, I know that bedrooms, and scrape trails tend to be somewhat traditional, but maybe there's no buck inhabiting that bedroom this year.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Totally agree with this.

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.