Big Fresh Rub, Local or Not?

[onebuck]

Took the wife and dog out for a walk today on some local public. Found a very nice and very fresh 6" diameter rub. My question is: Could this be a local buck or is it a wanderer? This area has a few decent bucks but I have never come across a rub this big, at least not in the last 4 or 5 years. The typical 1-2" rubs and I might even get excited over a 3-4" tree.

Please tell me this is local buck!!! This area typically gets a lot of pressure but the woods portion of it has been logged extensively in the last 2 winters and I think people have stayed out of it because it's so open now. The deer are still there though, they bed in the marsh and travel through the cutover to the fields.

I know there are a couple of ways to find out for sure, just looking for opinions here.

[adrenalin]

All depends on how big the area is. Could be either.

[dan]

No way to know just from one rub.

[BigHills BuckHunter]

I try to think Of what Dan has told us all. Diameter doesnt mean much at all. Its the height of the rub on the tree. At first when Dan stated this, I was in disbelief and disagreed with him because I always thought larger diameter in the tree meant bigger buck. But I have found Dan to be correct for the most part. I witnessed a yearling making a rub on 5 inch diameter tree this year.

Besides that. I dont think there is any way to tell what buck its from unless he has a signature to his rub. What I mean is that some bucks literally have their own style to their rub or "signature" that can be found in all their rubs. I first started looking at this last year and into this fall Ive noticed that bucks seem to pick on the same species of tree AND exact same height on every rub. Also I look for the small things in the rub as well. I remember Dan talking about finding out a buck had a drop tine from his buck rub. MAybe Im wrong here but from my observations in older mature bucks they seem to have a distinct style to their rubs. Its very interesting.

[Indianahunter]

I am with BigHills BuckHunter....you want to focus on the height of the rub more so than the tree that was rubbed on. I have watched spikes rub on large diameter trees. Remember that the primary objective of the rub is a scent post, not a sign post and in community rutting areas every deer that passes through may rub on the thing. That doesn't mean a buck doesn't enjoy venting a little sexual frustration on a tree but it is primarily for scent marking from the glands in the thicker parts of the skull cap and the orbital glands around the eyes.
That being said as BHBH also stated you can't possibly know without some sort of further identification you can pin on a particular buck you know in the area. However if the rub line is staying active and hot couldn't hurt for an evening sit and maybe lay your eyes on him or them.

[wibow]

By studying rubs I agree you can tell a lot about what type of rack, like a nontypical leaving weird digs and deep gouges etc. How high and super diameter trees get my attention also. Thigh sized trees and bigger...probably something decent. How much damage was inflicted and how deep their worked over. Paying mind to similiar rubs in an area,you can formulate a pretty good guess on if same buck made it, granted a few different animals might be contributing on same trees. Still think they are a good indication of mature bucks that might be using an area without photos.

[onebuck]

Thanks for the opinions. I do look at how high a rub is, but this rub is a standard height. But it is on a fairly massive tree. I will scout it in late season and if he's in there odds are I can find some more sign. The tree was tore up pretty good, I cannot picture this being a spike or fork. i guess I will bide my time and scout for him.