Here in the Souhtern App. Mnts where I hunt, I have found rubs as early as Sept., They may have been made in late August but I'm not too sure about that.

Some people will argue, but in my area, we don't notice much rubbing until mid-october usually. There are exceptions from year to year. Last year you would be hard pressed to find a rub before the third week in October. I think it depends on the buck/doe ratio of your area.

Here in Pennsylvania - the last few years my first rubs were spotted Labor Day weekend.

Mid October here in Minnesota. First week is about as early as I've seen. Just remember....deer do not rub their velvet off. Its off in late Aug/early Sept when it dries and falls off.

Good Luck!

I usually see my first rubs the begininning of September. I see bucks sheding velvet every year about the last week of August. Heavy rubbing activity usually starts around the begining of October here.

Well i normally dont start seeing rubs until late october and the beggining of the rut, but i found a small sappling that had blood on it by my stand location, i bet it was done by an old buck that didnt want to make to much sign just yet, i can wish anyway,lol

Early September in SE OHIO also. I'm told just the dominant bucks start off early, then the subordinates later. I don't know how much I believe that though.

Bucks start rubbing as soon as the velvet hardens. But the rubs that are part of the rut will start sometime in mid October here in northern NJ

The most active rubbing times here in the Southern Mnts. is Oct-Nov. but it begins in Sept. I have found rubs in Mid-Oct. that were several weeks old and had to have been made in Sept.

I also think early cold snaps help speed up the rubbing in Sept.

However, I have also noticed a lot of very early Sept. rubs don't get re-visited later in the season for some reason, and others get visited all season long.

Kinda puzzling?

Sept as part of the velvet removal, by mid sept it is pretty rare to see bucks with moss still on their heads. However the rubs that we all attribute to the rut really start showing around our thanksgiving (2nd week of October) and by the end of Oct through Nov the country gets trashed.