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Rub question

Patriot

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2019
Messages
842
If one side of a tree is rubbed to hell and the opposite side is rubbed about 1/4th as much and there is a clear trail in the direction of both rubs, which direction is bedding? Is the light rub close to bedding or the massive rub coming from his bed?

In this case I am very confident that he is leaving his bed and hitting the light rub side of the tree, which would mean that he’s making the monster rub when he is heading back to bed. But that’s not the way I thought it worked. I thought the most intense rub would be made as they exit their bedding?
 
Maybe he comes from one direction more often? Or he’s more fired up after being well rested? Maybe he’s a slow riser and after burning the midnight oil at work, he’s ready to party?! I really don’t know, but curious to hear what others think!
 
I've been noticing hunting almost exclusively on public land, the bigger bucks seem to have definite wind based bedding which I think dictates the pattern of the rubs as well. So I guess what I'm trying to say is it seems like if you're trying to base the rub on direction of to/from bedding you probably need to take into account wind direction on that particular day the rub was made (which is impossible to know unless you have a trail cam or something similar on the rub site). Lately I've been treating rubs as nothing more than an indicator that a buck was in the area and try to piece together the info (wind direction, hunting pressure, food/water sources, bedding, etc.) as to why/how he's using that tree and that area as an advantage to him.
 
My theory would be he’s rubbing the heavy side and his tines are doing the rubbing on the back side of the tree as he rolls his head possibly only going one direction on that trail. Assuming he has enough tines to do so.
 
Individual rubs wont tell you as much as a rub line. A line is more indicative to travel direction than one single tree.
And multiple bucks will sometimes use the same rubs, so different bucks could
Conceivably be traveling in different directions.
One single piece of deer sign is nice to see but you really need to look at the big picture and how it all ties together.
 
My theory would be he’s rubbing the heavy side and his tines are doing the rubbing on the back side of the tree as he rolls his head possibly only going one direction on that trail. Assuming he has enough tines to do so.
If you Follow any of the whitetail habitat solutions videos on youtube Jeff Sturgis talks about this. Also how to read some of the information you can gather from rubs.
 
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