WhitetailAddict11

No, that is not a rub either. That's simply dead bark falling off the tree, exposing the wood underneath. You have the right idea though. Here's a few more pics of rubs from over the years. Notice how most rubs have an orangish tint to them, and soft wood underneath. Thought this is not always the case, most often then will have that orangish look to them which often times is what will catch your eye when you find a rub in the woods.

If you can move to another stand without making a ruckus in the woods and walking through prime areas than make your move around mid morning and make it quick.

Old rubs would be what I would look for. Particularly old rubs on sizable trees. Scrapes don't tell the whole story, a small buck can make a lot of scrapes. If you're just looking for a place to shoot deer, general deer sign would suffice.

Long ways from me as well. Keep an eye out for seminars, outdoor shows, etc. where you would be able to surround yourself by guys and girls that hunt. Other than that, do some reading up on the type of hunting you would like to do so you have a good starting point and just sort of freestyle from there. Much of hunting is time spent learning things on your own and creating your own way of doing things, that's what makes some of us great hunters and others of us great story tellers.

I very much agree with this.

** haha! Now that's funny! ** I bought a Tikka T3 in .308 last year around the end of the season so I never hunted with it. I just got to fire it this past weekend and I'm incredibly happy with it. My last two shots after getting it hitting where I wanted were so nearly through the same hole that you had to look close to see it was actually two holes. Really excited to shoot a deer with it. The Tikka is the sister brand of the well respected Sako rifle manufacturer.

Is it just me, or has Remington really fallen off over the last 5 years? I saw in a Dick's Sporting Goods flyer today that they're selling a Remington 783 for $250 with a $40 mail-in rebate. Since when in the hell did Remington start making a rifle that sells for $210!? It's disappointing that the makers of one of the finest bolt action platforms ever created, the model 700, would turn out what I would assume to be a complete piece of crap. Yes, I realize I'm making an assumption here, but how good of quality can the components possibly be on a rifle selling for this cheap brand new.

My father wouldn't trade his Remington 700 mountain rifle in 7mm-08 for anything. Has always shot Hornady light magnums with 139g interlocks. That bullet is now known as Hornady American Whitetail. Same bullet, different name. Has had great luck with them over the last 12 or so years.

Good shooting wooly ol' boy!!

What a horse of a doe! Good looking drain hole you put in her too, got to love those Rage's. Based on your pics over the years you seem to hunt some beautiful property out your way. Great stuff man and congrats.

You definitely need to make sure you shoot your bow today and figure out what the issue was or is. In hunting and in life, one of your greatest tools is your piece of mind. If you don't believe in your equipment when that moment of truth comes, you are already behind the 8 ball. Confidence goes along way when you draw your bow on a critter.

I meant to include that it was one of my best years for seeing deer and I think a lot of that has to do with being mobile and trying different spots/areas.

I started doing the hang and hunt style last year, which in case you're not familiar with that, is a style of hunting where you carry in climbing sticks and a lock on stand, and hang the set and hunt from it. A style popular with a lot of guys because it doesn't require you to find a straight/limbless tree that is required for a climbing stand. Carrying in a lock on gives you more options when it comes to trees, however the trade off is that it's not always quite as quick or convenient. That being said, you are able to hunt a new area every time you go in the woods, and as we all know, typically your first sit in a new area is going to be your most productive sit if the deer are there. Although you were on the ground, it's all fairly relevant. Hunting from a tree definitely increases visibility though and may help with keeping your scent above their nose.

The only problem I have found is that like 2 out of the 6 nocturnals I have don't clip onto the my string they just sort of slide on. They are holding on just fine, but I find they don't fly quite as well as the ones that clip on. For that reason I hunt with the ones that clip on and practice now and then with the ones that just slide on.

Agreed. Sometimes the hardest part about bow hunting is deciding what move to make next when you've shot a deer but aren't sure where exactly your arrow hit. In fact the last two deer I've shot with a bow I never even saw the arrow or where it hit the deer, I only heard the "thwack". All I had to go off was the amount of of blood on the ground that let me know it was a good hit, but other than that, it can leave ya scratching your head.