Ground Blind view of thick stuff + Big Rub

[roundball]

1st and 2nd photos are ground blind views of a 'bottom' I hunt...blind overlooks a well used trail crossing the bottom between farms...a good funnel;
3rd photo is of a good sized cedar tree that gets gored up pretty good every year...note how high it gets gored compared to my Flintlock leaning against it...I think I saw the buck that's tearing it up once last year and once this year...both times were distant, very quick, 75yd glimpses off through all those trees...no chance for a shot, etc...magnicificant looking buck.

 

[PreglerD]

First a question: To gore means to rub along with the antlers, am I right?

The blinds seem to be successful places for a good shot. In GE tree seats are more common, because of shooting safety. While you will shoot from upside to downside you will have a natural bullet pit within the ground.

 

[RC]

looks like pretty comfy spot! ya get them bucks here? okay question..i always heard that ya can't tell the size of a bucks horns by how HIGH he rubs,(cause he can bend the tree,,an it's pretty impressive!) but how LOW he rubs,cause small horns can't get past his nose(nose hits ground afore horndo) ?yer thoughts? and this rubbin yer showin weren't made by a spike horn..i don't think :shocked2: RC

 

[roundball]

First a question: To gore means to rub along with the antlers, am I right?

Right.

 

[roundball]

looks like pretty comfy spot! ya get them bucks here? okay question..i always heard that ya can't tell the size of a bucks horns by how HIGH he rubs,(cause he can bend the tree,,an it's pretty impressive!) but how LOW he rubs,cause small horns can't get past his nose(nose hits ground afore horndo) ?yer thoughts? and this rubbin yer showin weren't made by a spike horn..i don't think :shocked2: RC

This tree was about 4" and it wasn't gored from being bent...too thick & stiff and had other trees right around it...I've see little 1" saplings where a buck has bent it over and raked it like your referring to but that wasn't the case here...a real good buck is tearing this tree up every year.
I found a single shed in this same vicinity 3-4 years ago that is huge with a lot of mass, thick beams and tines...just can't seem to get my sights on the old boy...and I suppose it's just as well as it's becoming part of the annual interest and character of hunting this bottom every year...

 

[RC]

Sorry Roundball, wasn't questioning that rub was made by a real nice buck.. jes wonderin if there was any truth to the "lower they rub, bigger they are" thing? gees, if he's pushin that tree over ya better be real careful when ya do get yer sites on him! :shocked2: he might rub you the wrong way :rotf:

 

[roundball]

"...wonderin if there was any truth to the "lower they rub, bigger they are" thing?..."

I'd never heard that one but it does seem to make a little sense...this one is rubbed right down to the ground.

What really struck me about this particular rub is the apparent size & strength of the buck...because there were several "strips" of bark, several inches long, where something heavy and strong was pushing while goring the tree at the same time to peel off long strips of bark like that...had to have some size, power, and leverage to do that...not some little pencil size basket 8 pointer making little 2-3" chatter marks, but something plowing it's forehead in long strokes up and down the trunk.

 

[RC]

yep, noticed yers is pretty close to the ground, hope ya get a chance at him next year probably a dandy,an don't ferget the camera!.....NOW, seein how you started it..hehehe..what's yer opinion,and anyone elses,of why a bucks neck "swells" up? heard..the rut makes them swell, well after seeing rubbins like that one and noticing how many :shocked2: a buck makes and what it actually takes to "debark" a healthy tree, I'd say muscle growth in the neck is why they swell up like that,not the "rut"...I know if I took a horn and went out and made "rubbins" like that and as many as they make my arms would sorta grow up a little..be sore too but bigger..that's just my opinion,but dang it makes alot of sense too me! what cha think? RC :hmm:

 

[Mad Professor]

Give me a couple of days for a photo. I've got an 8 inch maple worked on.

We have moose here but I'm sure it's not one them, they take trees as tall as me. :shocked2:

 

[RC]

hey M.P. i've seen big rubbins,i hunt the adirondacks..still they always amaze me..some are jes awesome! so what do you think swells the neck,,rut or rubbin? RC ....(gee gotta be someone that'll agree with me...seems...hope..dang it it makes perfect sense...to me :shocked2:

 

[jethro224]

RC, It's both! The rut kickin' in boosts the bucks testosterone levels and gets him all worked up so he rubs. The exercise from the rubbin' builds muscle. Since he's pumped fulla "steroids" already he get's huge fast.

 

[Maynerd62411]

I found a rub that looked about like that, this year. The tree was about 4" thick. The bark was just shredded off. Only deer that came thru there, in 3 days, was a fork horn....and I got him. :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

I found a rub that looked about like that, this year. The tree was about 4" thick. The bark was just shredded off. Only deer that came thru there, in 3 days, was a fork horn....and I got him. :thumbsup:

Guess that means "boss hog" is still out there.
A dollar to a doughnut he never shows his face in daylight hours...not those kind of deer...they've managed to survive, been shot at, possibly even hit...now live their lives in dense thickets by day and move only at night

 

[Slamfire]

Wal send him over the hill, we know what to do with them bucks on this side. :rotf:

 

That indicates a very aggressive deer and you can not use this as a reliable gage in itself to judge the size of the rack or the deer. Sure, it helps, but by itself it is not a good way to predict the deer or rack size. He has his property staked out and he means to let every other buck and doe know it. He could be a young buck with a feisty attitude and 4 points. Or a real monster who hates that tree. One thing for sure though is that I would make sure i had this area covered in deer season.

 

[Rocky Johnson]

Bill that don't look much different than the view from my blind other than the green stuff,only green here in deer season is the pine.
More than one buck will rub the same tree?
:winking: Rocky

 

[roundball]

That indicates a very aggressive deer and you can not use this as a reliable gage in itself to judge the size of the rack or the deer. Sure, it helps, but by itself it is not a good way to predict the deer or rack size. He has his property staked out and he means to let every other buck and doe know it. He could be a young buck with a feisty attitude and 4 points. Or a real monster who hates that tree. One thing for sure though is that I would make sure i had this area covered in deer season.

Small bucks rub small trees...big bucks will occasionally rub small trees...but only big bucks rub big trees...and they particularly like aromatic trees like cedars.

 

[roundball]

Bill that don't look much different than the view from my blind other than the green stuff,only green here in deer season is the pine.
More than one buck will rub the same tree?
:winking: Rocky

In the places I hunt it's common place to have a few scattered evergreen 'Holly' trees on the landscape...I clip off a small limb here and there and stick them in the ground as part of the blind.

I have one spot where there's a cluster of 20-30' Holly trees around a big pine...I hang a stand 10' up that pine and it's the best natural blind you could hope for...and the good news is it produces deer every year.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I know of no fast rule about how low down a tree a big buck will rub, for the reasons stated. However, there is a limit to how far up a tree a little buck CAN rub. To that extent, paying attention to how high a buck has rubbed a tree, or if he has left any of his velvet in the branches overhead of a trunk rub, or broken off branches overhead, will give you a good indication of his size.

I look at the tracks, as there is a correlation between the length and width of deer tracks, and their age, and size. Since most deer are killed before they reach age 3 1/2 years old, any track of a deer that is 4 inches long or longer is a Monster, and that rare animal who has been smart enough, and lucky enough to survive.

Obviously, if you find such tracks at a scrape, showing pressure to indicate the animal who left the tracks also did the scraping, tells you that a large buck is in the area some time. Does also check scrapes, and rubs, and I have found doe tracks in scrapes on many occasions, often long after weather has destroyed the tracks of the buck that made the scrape or rub near it.

Remember, scrapes and rubs are sign posts to the animals, with messages left for others to read, in the form of odors, and glandular secretions.

 

[KyFlintlock]

That big ol rub would wake me up at night!

Thanks for the pics. Can you post a pic of hte shed you found from him?

thanks
wess