Can someone analyze these deer rub pics??

[footenkapeefer]

These are from SW Lower MI, made late 2005. I've hunted a long time and these are about as big a set of rubs as I've seen. Can anyone speculate on the size of the buck that made them? I doubt he was harvested last year and I'm looking for incentive to head back to the woods this fall. http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/3041/medium/2005deerrub4.JPG[/IMG]
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/3041/medium/2005deerrub2.JPG[/IMG]

[Steve]

Yeah, I can analyze that for you. Get your treestand out now! Disturb the area as little as possible. Try to find a deer trail nearby that buck might be using and then get out until the opener or later.

[woodsrat]

I can analyze it for you. It was made by a very small buck. :evilsmile I wouldn't waste my time. Where is it at? I like to shoot the little ones.:D :D :D

Oh. Don't tell anybody else, o.k.:shhh: Alot of guys might try to shoot that little buck.:D

[rancid]

I wanna know how you got your pop bottle to stand up on the side of that steep of a hill!:dizzy:

[Mountain Man]

Is this the effects of mountain dew on white tail deer?

:D

mtn. man

[Backwoods-Savage]

Might surprise you. I've seen huge bucks rubbing on tiny little thorn apples, alders and pine but also have seen little bucks rubbing on some mighty big stuff. Heck, we even have them rubbing on Consumer's power poles at times. Dont' judge a buck by its rub totally; wait until you see him.

[uptracker]

I agree a bit, but I'd say that's a good buck doing that.

#1 Go look for more sign he laid down.

#2 I'd go back now and see where he is going to and coming from. If it's heading toward a bedding area, hang a stand in the bedding area and go in there to hunt in the early season. Go in there about 2 hours before first light on the first couple opening days of bow season. If he comes in there and beds close by, you may have to wait him out quite a while until he moves a bit. He'll get up every 1-2 hours just to stretch and deficate. After those first few days, leave it and hunt other sign he's left elsewhere.

#3 If it's more of a travel corridor, trying to walk it from end to end if you have the property to do so. If it leads to a field, I (personally) wouldn't hunt it much and find some other sign he's made elsewhere. The reason I say that is because he probably won't leave the thick cover in the early season until after dark......remember, this is Michigan and Michigan is a highly pressured state; therefore, they know when to move and not move.

#4 Find where the does are bedding closeby and set up in there. Again, hunt right inside the bedroom but get in 2 hours before daylight and hunt all day. Hunt this area between Nov. 1 and Nov. 15.

#5 For gun season, stay close to those does. It's all up to you though because you have a longer range with a gun.

#6 WATCH THE WIND!

Just my 2 cents!

[HunterHads]

You can tell that’s a nice buck by the way that tree is cut up. A small rack would not do that much damage unless he worked on it for a vary long time. I would say you have one heck of a buck running around if he made it through last fall and if he did just think of how big he will be this year! Good luck!
Hads

[ForestFisher]

I've hunted found rubs like that and hunted over or near them and saw nothing. Obviously thats a good buck that made that rub, probably more than one buck and more than one time. But I think uptracker is right. It's only one piece of a bigger puzzle. If there are old rubs from years past that are right in the same area, try to find out where the bucks are coming from and/or where they are going. That might just be a random rub made in the middle of the night. But it just might be one rub in a hot rub line that the buck likes to check often. To me finding rubs like that and other buck sign and trying to piece it all together is almost as much fun as being out there with a weapon durring season. That's just
MY 2 cents.
-FF

[Sib]

A single rub doesn't offer a lot of information, but it is a sign that a buck was in the area at one time. The significance of rub isn't that of a scrape. You can usually tell that a rub is from the current season by the color of the bark threads hanging from the rub. The rub shown was fairly recent because the threads haven't faded, or fallen off. You can also judge a fairly fresh rub by looking for the threads on the ground under the rub. If they're on top of the leaves it would be fairly fresh, if no threads or wood chunks lay under the rub, then it's probably atleast a few weeks old.

Deer rub for many reason, during the stripping of velvet and as an aggressive lashing out when they feel the rage of their hormones. Velvet rubs are the least significant, because they're usually older and might be left in their summer range, before disbursal of their bachelor group. Rage rubs can give you more insight, but it's best to find the rub line and look for the scrape. A scrape will generally be revisited if undisturbed, but not necessarily a rub.

It's also difficult to judge a deer by a rub left behind, imo. If I find a rub on a large tree I look for other evidence to support the idea that a large deer made the rub, food prints below the rub, soil torn up from unloading on the tree, etc.

As said above a rub is piece of the puzzle, but a lone rub by itself doesn't give too much insight without some of the other clues (foot prints, more rubs in a rub line, etc.). A 3" spike has it's antlers located in almost the same area as an eight point's brow tines, I do think that larger deer tend to choose larger trees, but I don't think that's guaranteed, so I look for mor supporting evidence.

[NorthJeff]

One thing that seems to be missing is any real deep gouges in the tree that would indicate stickers off the base. Most 4.5+ year olds have stickers, so it's probable that buck is a 2.5 to 3.5, especially with how aggressive the rubs look but I've seen a spike rub a tree like in the first picture. One thing to look for is tine marks on the backside of the rub on the top side to get a feel for how wide the antlers are as well as an indication of how long the main beams are, which can narrow down the difference of a 2.5 to 3.5 year old.

Clusters of those rubs out in the open woods don't mean much other than a decent buck was probably there. However, those rubs in a hidden brushy funnel leading to or from bedding/feeding areas accompanied by other rubs can give you a strong indication of the daily activities of that particular buck. It's in those areas I like to hunt the most, which are typically just outside of core bedding areas or in staging areas outside of preferred food sources...I like the outside bedding area rubs the best though and it's where I kill 80-90% of all my bucks.

I never hunt a rub..never hunt a scrape for that matter unless it randomly pops up under a pre-hung stand, however, I do hunt rublines and clusters of rubs in thick funnels adjacent to bedding areas and those pictures are the typse of rubs I like to find. My stands are hung early in the year in brushy funnels/pinch-points/inside corners/bench funnels at the top of a draw and those types of rubs help me make a choice from one stand over another, but just because those rubs are not present does not mean it's a bad spot...just that the odds are more in your favor.

I shot a very large buck with my bow last year out of just such a stand site. The only thing is it was 11/8 and we had not been to the stand since a February scouting trip in which we walked by. The stand site had all it needed to be a great morning ambush....open deerless access, down-wind blocker, brush funnel, approach blocked by steep ridge, heavy core bedding area around the backside of the point and it hadn't been touched or molested by man for many months. I shot the buck about 3 hours into the sit and it was not until then that all the huge rubs and large couple of scrapes were evident. It would have been a good sit either way, but the rubs and scrapes would have let me known a real big boy was definately in the area if I had attempted some non-invasive in season scouting (of which I don't like to risk too much and this area wouldn't have allowed for that option).

Anyways, great looking rubs and some adjacent heavy cover, even 200-300 yards away might help form more of an accurate picture if it was a buck that calls the area home. Individual gouge marks on the rubs can help you narrow down and recognize a bucks rubs if it's an older buck with a little junk on the bases or unusual points.

[SMITTY1233]

If that was made last season you should have been in the woods in February and March looking for comparable tracks to the size of the one underneath that tree. Probably should have taken a measurement of the track if you could get a general idea. Then you should have serached known bedding areas for his sign. This would have put you ahead of the game for this season without having to tramps around looking for sign. I also don't hunt just a random rub. I like to see a random rub like that yes because that was a good buck more than likely. I would like for thick areas that are heavily rubbed. Like 5-10 rubs in one general area. This could be staging area, bedding area etc. After you find these area you need to determine the times to hunt them.

Anyhow the important thing now is to find where he is at. We like to hunt the frindges of property if possible. We hunt funnels from bedding to feed both A.M. and P.M. and have done pretty good. One thing about P.M. hunts is get a little further in the brush and look for staging points where they will hang out until the cover of darkness hits. A.M. hunts get in early hours before daylight if necessary. Don't walk near food source if possible to prevent scaring deer out of the food. A lot of times deer will bed near food at night and get up and eat occasionally through the night. Avoid walking close to these area's and spooking them.Take field Glasses and alot of times you can spot the bugger before daylight and get an idea of his travel routes back from feed. These are good earlier season tactics.

Pre-Rut just late October time start looking for heavy travel routes being used by does. Set up on the routes leading to feed. I try to avoid setting up directly on the food source because as mentioned earlier bucks of this caliber tend to get up before dark but not appear in open until later. Find the spots they go before they go to the openings to feed. We call these holding or staging areas. When you find these area's be careful getting into them because typically they are located on the edge or close to bedding area's. Have a well planned out route to get in and out undetected.

Rut time obviously find the does and have your butt in the tree all day in the area.

If this was Ag land I would be in the fields trying to spot a buck this time of year that would be the caliber that your looking for. Do this from a distance. Don't try to push him if possible. Try to spotlight him if possible. Much more
likely to see him after dark.

Good luck and keep us posted. The game begins in another few months