Rub Lines

[Long Cut]

When do y’all begin to see bucks rubbing trees around where you’re at?

Believe I found 1-2 today leaving a large bedding area, just seems real early to me?

 

[Milkman]

My cameras still show bucks in velvet. But it is almost time for them to shed it. Yours may have already.

 

[MYRX]

I was at our property this past weekend and saw a 4 pointer in velvet. I usually find my good rub lines in early October, but that's just me and when I start really bow hunting.

 

[Jim Boyd]

You can set your clock by our SC deer.

Our bachelor groups are still together.

Velvet comes off for 95% of the bucks the first 10 days of September - and the groups break up.

As soon as the velvet comes off, rubs appear.

Light scraping coincides with the start of rubs - usually 15 September.

Scrapes start in earnest about 1 October.

Our rut is full blown by the week before Halloween.


Best of luck.

 

[Nicodemus]

Generally around the second week of September around here. Rode up on these two Sunday afternoon and got a cell phone pic.

 

[elfiii]

Generally around the second week of September around here. Rode up on these two Sunday afternoon and got a cell phone pic.View attachment 940077

That's what I'm talkin' about. I rode up on a pair like that Saturday afternoon but couldn't get a pic. I got them on trail cam though.

 

[Long Cut]

You can set your clock by our SC deer.

Our bachelor groups are still together.

Velvet comes off for 95% of the bucks the first 10 days of September - and the groups break up.

As soon as the velvet comes off, rubs appear.

Light scraping coincides with the start of rubs - usually 15 September.

Scrapes start in earnest about 1 October.

Our rut is full blown by the week before Halloween.


Best of luck.

I agree, Jim.
I’ve seen rubs about the second week of September here as well. Mainly they’ll be close to the bedding areas and branch towards the preferred food source.

Just trying to make sense of what I seen, because it dang well looked like a rub. Not a huge one... just a couple solid licks with the base of some tines is what it appeared to be

 

[Jim Boyd]

FWIW, Long Cut, sometimes odd things happen.

We have a community scrape under an oak limb - it gets heavily used every year. I saw that some deer has already started pawing in the depression.

I don’t consider this a real “scrape” - probably the deer does not even really know why he is doing it - perhaps just because he knows intuitively that the changes will soon come.

Don’t think it was a doe - we do get heavy doe usage in scrapes but have never captured one actually using her feet to scrape with. Mostly I see them using the licking branch and at times, I think they just stand in and walk around the scrape to advertise their presence.

At any rate, I believe that 2018 will play out just like all the years before.

All we gotta do is to be in the right place at the right time and have the arrow ready to fly!

Good luck!

 

[DEERFU]

I have always headed to the woods "somewhere" on Labor Day weekend and have always found a few around bedding areas

 

[PappyHoel]

Generally around the second week of September around here. Rode up on these two Sunday afternoon and got a cell phone pic.View attachment 940077

Man...they are pretty! Good pic

 

[Twinkie .308]

Here's a hard horn. He's almost lost his summer coat as well. Dropped his velvet about a week ago. I have several other bucks on this camera and they're still in velvet and summer coat strong.

 

[bowbuck]

I usually find some rubs the first week or two of bow season. In my opinion the first rub line that shows up is usually a pretty easy deer to kill. They are still on a pattern and he just told you where he was coming from and going to. I have had some good luck early on the first rub line of the year. Especially when you find decent size trees broke or big rubs.

 

[Long Cut]

Here's a hard horn. He's almost lost his summer coat as well. Dropped his velvet about a week ago. I have several other bucks on this camera and they're still in velvet and summer coat strong.View attachment 940262

You mind sharing what county?

 

[Deernut3]

Exactly my observations, when they start breeding you can throw those early rub lines out the window. When I bow hunted a lot I would look for those early rub lines to set up on.

 

[Twinkie .308]

You mind sharing what county?

Clayton