How important are big or tall rubs?

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mheichelbech
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How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby mheichelbech » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:25 pm

Is it highly important to have large or tall rubs on a property to be confident that mature bucks live there or spend most of their time there? Obviously tracks are important as beds would be...what other sign would confirm mature bucks are inhabiting a property without actually seeing them?

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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby Rome » Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:37 pm

Tracks rarely lie. I use rarely because never is a hard word to use in deer hunting, but I was pretty close here.

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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Jan 19, 2015 4:15 pm

I have hunted many rub lines I think most of these lines are on edges of that bucks territory and are a signal to other bucks stay out. Of course not all some are near his common trails and bed occasionally. I would look at tracks near creek crossings or other water sources. They do tell me a nice buck is in the area and they get my blood pumping love seeing rubs like this.Image
I look for large rubs like this to tell me a mature buck feels comfortable in that certain area. But I have never killed a large buck on a rub line. There's a lot of great bucks in areas with very little sign and rubs. My biggest buck to date there were no rubs within 150 yards of where I got him.
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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Jan 19, 2015 4:37 pm

Most of the time when I find a cluster of rubs they are right in the staging area and I usually find a bed very close.

Then again some older bucks for whatever reason don't rub much especially near bedding. For this reason I prefer to rely on tracks more than anything. Big rubs make it easier but at the same time I don't believe you necessarily need them to verify if a good buck is nearby. I look at track and bed size more than anything especially if I never had a visual of the buck beforehand.

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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby dan » Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:05 pm

All bucks rub trees... They rub them for all different reasons, and all over there territory. I would not bother hunting a parcel of land that had no high rubs. Because if there are no rubs big bucks are not spending much time there... However, a lack of rubs in the kill spot would not matter to me much.
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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby mheichelbech » Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:24 am

dan wrote:All bucks rub trees... They rub them for all different reasons, and all over there territory. I would not bother hunting a parcel of land that had no high rubs. Because if there are no rubs big bucks are not spending much time there... However, a lack of rubs in the kill spot would not matter to me much.

Is it possible over a couple years, with good management to draw mature bucks in to live there? I would think that with a good year around food source and light pressure when the surrounding properties get heavy pressure that this could happen.

It's interesting because another place a friend hunts is loaded with all the sign a hunter could want but they never see the bucks. I think the hunting pressure has driven the deer to be totally nocturnal.

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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby GRUD » Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:16 am

I have been watching a buck I know was 4.5 last year and he was rubbing small trees low to the ground. I would never have thought this deer was big based on rubs. He is massive but for some reason does not rub any large trees, at least not that I have found. I also killed a pretty good PY on public five years ago that only had one small rub on a 1 inch sapling. So I do not discount an area without big tall rubs. If I see large tracks and big crap I am huntin!

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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby dan » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:32 am

mheichelbech wrote:
dan wrote:All bucks rub trees... They rub them for all different reasons, and all over there territory. I would not bother hunting a parcel of land that had no high rubs. Because if there are no rubs big bucks are not spending much time there... However, a lack of rubs in the kill spot would not matter to me much.

Is it possible over a couple years, with good management to draw mature bucks in to live there? I would think that with a good year around food source and light pressure when the surrounding properties get heavy pressure that this could happen.

It's interesting because another place a friend hunts is loaded with all the sign a hunter could want but they never see the bucks. I think the hunting pressure has driven the deer to be totally nocturnal.

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Its possible if you own the land, it has good bedding, and its a big enough parcel, and you give them everything they want on that property.

However, if its a property you have permission on, or plan to lease, expect to loose it once you grow the bigger bucks.
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Re: How important are big or tall rubs?

Unread postby Jphunter » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:50 am

However, if its a property you have permission on, or plan to lease, expect to loose it once you grow the bigger bucks.[/quote]

This has happened to me a few times...

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