No rubs? Wrong spot?

[Grasshopper]

I can't really answer your question just wanted to say that in the areas of Pa that I hunt and run trail cameras I believe there just aren't many bucks making it to 4.5 years. Some certainly do, but it is a very low percentage so you're not going to find nearly as much sign from them. Last season on four trail cameras from mid July to mid November I got pictures of 2 for sure 4.5 or older bucks one other that I'm thinking could be 3.5 or 4.5 vs very many pictures of 1.5 - 3.5 bucks. These few older bucks don't have competition for dominance so they don't rub as often as the 2.5 year olds who are competing for their place in the pool.

[KLEMZ]

I hunt big timber in northern Wisconsin, It is not mountains but I believe there are similarities. I would say that rubs are not an important sign for me to find. I rely on following oversized tracks towards terrain features that big bucks prefer. Always, big tracks and big droppings are found with greater frequency as I get closer to the bedding. Once I have zeroed in on the bedding area, I will always find lots of old rubs and a couple fresh rubs. Seems there are never tons of fresh big rubs. I pay way more attention to the height of the rub (thanks Dan!) than the diameter of the tree, although I get excited at a huge, tall rub!!

[hunter_mike]

This old thread might help you

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24454&p=314414&hilit=Beds+without+rubs#p314414

[Bowhunter4life]

Rubs are certainly not a key piece of the puzzle so to speak. Very often and I'm really starting to take great note of this, where there is a mature buck living on pressured land he tends to leave very little sign. The sign he does leave often is very subtle like just scratching a tree with the tips of his horns or maybe snapping a few twigs in near the area.

Tracks is the most solid sign in the woods to look for when searching for a mature animal. Get good at reading tracks. Study them, take pictures and use something to reference the size of the track in your pictures. This can get tricky cause not all big bucks have a huge track but the bigger deer (most of the time) leave destintive tracks. Chipped toes, round toes, tracks sinks in deep cause size of the animal etc. more you pay attention to it the more you learn.

Don't look for the most obvious sign in the woods. If it is pressured land and that animal was leaving that kind of sign in areas he frequents in daylight, well most likely he wouldn't make it to maturity.

[Redman232]

One of the areas I hunt used to have a very high doe population. We would rarely find scraps and rubs, yet we still saw and killed big deer. As the doe population has decreased, pretty drastically, rubbing and scraping activity has exploded, and we are still killing big deer in the same spots. Maybe your just dealing with a spot that has high doe population?

[Hawthorne]

One of the areas I hunt used to have a very high doe population. We would rarely find scraps and rubs, yet we still saw and killed big deer. As the doe population has decreased, pretty drastically, rubbing and scraping activity has exploded, and we are still killing big deer in the same spots. Maybe your just dealing with a spot that has high doe population?

I agree with this. I mentioned this in another thread that the best buck sign I've been seeing seemed to be in lower population areas. Sign post rubs, scrapes, beds , and big tracks. Must have better buck to doe ratios then. The areas that were loaded with does , not has much buck sign and it seemed I really had to search to find some.