BSK, got a ? on rubs & scrapes.

[Viper (tp)]

Brian, I have been hunting several years, but this is my first year that I can remember that I have seen more scrapes than rubs. May not be anything to it for you, but on our farm usually you see rubs out the rear end and then you start seeing scrapes here and there as the rut starts kicking in.

Been seeing alot of young bucks, and what rubs that are seen are small bucks I would figure, by the size of the trees.

Could be they are rubing some were else, were I haven't been yet. I guess its just odd for were I hunt, to see so many scrapes vs rubs this early!

Anything too this? Would like to hear what you have to say, thanks.

 

[blueridge]

Re: BSK, got a ? on rubs & scrapes.

Interested in this myself. TTT

 

[Shed Hunter]

Re: BSK, got a ? on rubs & scrapes.

I've found numerous scrapes already, way more rubs though. Some spots are different, but I bet by opening of MZ there will be rubs near were you found all of the scrapes.

 

[bowriter]

The more rubs you find, the better your population of mature bucks. In other words, if you have a good number of mature bucks, the rubbing increases.

All deer scrape, including does. So one theory could be, your population of mature bucks has decreased while your population of young bucks and does has not.

 

[Viper (tp)]

Re: BSK, got a ? on rubs & scrapes.

Last year Bowriter, there were trees as big as your thigh rubbed all over the place, but it was later say during later part of muzzleloader into rifle season.

I'm going on the area that the scrapes are in, for as long as I can remember, the rubs (the larger ones)are always in a these areas, thats every year!

 

[BSK]

Re: BSK, got a ? on rubs & scrapes.

Brian, I have been hunting several years, but this is my first year that I can remember that I have seen more scrapes than rubs. May not be anything to it for you, but on our farm usually you see rubs out the rear end and then you start seeing scrapes here and there as the rut starts kicking in.

Been seeing alot of young bucks, and what rubs that are seen are small bucks I would figure, by the size of the trees.

Could be they are rubing some were else, were I haven't been yet. I guess its just odd for were I hunt, to see so many scrapes vs rubs this early!

Anything too this? Would like to hear what you have to say, thanks.

Honestly, I've seen no common denominator that explains why some properties see more scraping than rubbing, but I certainly have seen that. From what I hear, Ames--a property with an extraordinary buck age structure--sees much more scraping than rubbing.

Rubbing definitely increases as buck age structure increases, but even a property that has a good buck age structure can see year to year swings in rubbing activity. Sometimes this can be explained by food sources (bucks are known to make more rubs when they have excess high-quality foods available), but other times, I can find no explanation for these annual fluctuations.

 

[Viper (tp)]

Re: BSK, got a ? on rubs & scrapes.

You got me Brian, they have soy beans and an ungodly amount of acorns and plenty of browse, like honey suckle, briars. Only time will tell, appreciate the info.