Rubs and Scrapes in Early September???

[builtright716]

After being afflicted with the "Fever" for the last month or so, I have been spending alot of time in the woods. This past weekend, my boys and I stumbled upon the start of a rub line in a patch of oaks that are steadily dropping acorns. I thought, "no big deal" and figured this was just during the night time feeding patterns of a few bucks, as there was droppings and tracks everywhere. However, it is now Thursday, only 4 days later, and after venturing around the trails and once again coming to the oak stand, we found an obvious scrape line with 6 scrapes spaced apart through 150- 200 yards of trail. All had licking branches broken overhead. We found about 7-10 more scrapes on main travel corridors with not quite the same noticeable pattern as the first 6, and 10- 15 more rubs, a couple of which were on sizeable trees. The area that I'm talking about consists of maybe 15 acres as a core, but surrounded by 4 or 5 hundred acres of brush, swamp, and hardwoods. I have hunted this area for at least 12 years, and have never encountered activity like this so early. We had a drastic temperature change that has coincided with all the activity, and that is what I would guess is the cause. I live in Western NY. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Buckstopshere]

Wow! Very cool. Thanks for posting. Yes, this is perfect timing and coincides with when the rut will be full blown this year.

This sign was the first week of September, about 10 days after the Full Moon in August. We will seen the same thing happen in the first week of October and then again, the main peak of scraping will occur the first week in November, and then a final peak in this phase of the rutting activity will occur in the first week of December.

It probably occurred the same way back in 2002, and then in 1994. Both other times the Harvest Moon, the Full Moon in September coincides with the Autumal Equinox as it does this year.

My scrape areas have not shown that kind of action yet and maybe it is because the deer are in the acorns, because we here in Allegany County are having a bumper acorn year in some woodlots too.

[gipper]

from my experience early sign like this is made by a dominate buck . If  you have a trail cam you will know exactly what you are dealing with. I wouldn't play around in the area to much.. Set up and get out of the area. Good luck

[MuzzyLoader]

from my experience early sign like this is made by a dominate buck . If  you have a trail cam you will know exactly what you are dealing with. I wouldn't play around in the area to much.. Set up and get out of the area. Good luck

A very dominate buck indeed Cliff!  I agree with you... don't play around in the area too much - he'll be driven to nocturnal behavior and no one will ever see him.

[builtright716]

There is a buck that I've been hunting in the area for the last 4 years. He was a 12 point and close to 300 pounds on the hoof last year. This is a very pressured area. He was shot at and missed from 10 yards last year by my friend, who was new to bowhunting. I jumped him one afternoon heading to my stand, and my father-in-law encountered him while he was climbing up in his stand. I have a cuddeback in the oaks overlooking his trail coming out of the dense brush. It's pointing right at one of his scrapes. I will probably check it tommorrow to see if it is the same monster from last year. I'll post the pics if I can figure out how.

[Buckstopshere]

A buddy and I were scouting this morning (9/11/10,) and found an area completely torn up with rubs and with a central scrape with smaller ones outside it. We estimated about 30 rubs of all sizes, including once broken 2 inch sapliing. Wow. I have never seen this much rubbing and scraping action this early. A few rubs, here and there. But this looked like something you would expect to see in early November! Hope to set a trail cam up there to see what the heck is going on and who is doing so much destruction to the future of the woodlot.  ;D

[builtright716]

post some pics if u get them

[Buckstopshere]

Here's a photo of the scrape and a couple rubs. After checking the shavings from the rubs, the oldest look like they were made about a week ago. Other shavings were a few days old and some looked very fresh, like maybe a day of so old.

[Nomad]

Ya a week ago I found a fresh rub on a 5 inch tree,backed out came back last night and hung a camera as it was to rain over night .

Next time it rains I plan to hang a stand during the rain in that area then will stay out till the season.

Good Luck.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Well that kind of stuff should be there. The bucks are coming out of velvet and they are ready to breed right when the velvet comes off, so you will find rubs and scrapes early. They will kind of die down a little then pick back up closer to the major parts of the rut. Its just one more sign of the season getting close! I would stay out of those areas as much as possible. Get your trail cams in, leave them for weeks at a time and get a set of binos or a spotting scope and watch the areas from a distance.

[builtright716]

Here are a couple pics from one of my trail cameras. The first of the year.

[Buckstopshere]

WNYBuckhunter: Well, I haven't noticed this kind of action this early in September, ever. Probably happened, I just haven't taken note of it and every year I spend a lot of time in September scouting here in Western NY and Norhtern Central Pa. For many years.

And you give good counsel, but it is more interesting to me to keep tabs on what is going on as the rut unfolds. I would guess that at this scrape, once the black cherry and acorns are gone, the activity will quiet down. This may be a scrape, peculiar to bucks as they reinforce the pecking order in a bachelor group.

As the bucks chase each other and put more space between each other, maybe the use on this scrape will diminish. I also wonder if does use this scrape too.

Lots of questions. And things change so quickly out there.

[Geno C]

saw a huge run in the woods yesterday! couldnt have been more then a few days old as i can see VERY fresh bark at the base...

[WNYBuckHunter]

Very true Buckstopshere. Other than swapping out my trailcam cards, after I trim out my lanes and put my stands up, I try to stay out of my areas until season rolls around. This week Im going to trim mine out and put up my stand blind. That will leave the area basically quiet for a while before opener. I will scout other areas a bit though, just to see if anything catches my eye. Just how I do it.

[builtright716]

Definitely agree. Tommorrow i am tilling a couple small fall food plots. I will put the finishing touches on my 3 man deer stand (for my two boys and me). I may set up my blind and another stand this weekend, then i'm basically done besides checking cameras until opening day. I actually think this helps the deer get used to me. I walk slow with my boys when we are out, sure we bust some deer, but they don't snort, just run. Then I get trail camera pics of them the following morning. I understand the logic of not overpressuring deer, and believe me, it's hard to control when I have a 4 yr old and a 10 yr old out with me in big buck territory, but there comes a time when the joy that my boys get from their biweekly walk in the woods is more important. Plus seeing the progress that my 4 yr old has already made this year in being a woodsman is exciting. My 10 yr old has made his own self bow out of a hickory stave, his own arrows out of cedar dowels and feathers, his own broadheads by flint napping, can start a fire using magnesium and steel, and can build a shelter out of his surroundings. My 4 yr old just started whispering in the woods, and stopped splashing in the puddles. They are a rare breed in the ever growing video game consumed world, and I love it.

[Buckstopshere]

builtright: Enjoy your boys. Every minute. I'm sure you are. A long time ago my boys were youngsters and I took them hunting, camping and fishing too. Those were great times...the best! Now they live and work out of state, but we talk hunting and fishing all the time and dream for a hunt together again. And share venison whenever we get together. Once you put the spirit in, never burns out. (Hope that doesn't sound too much like Ted Nugent, but I mean it.)

[builtright716]

My 10 yr old and I are going up to the adirondacks this weekend and hiking in to brandy brook about 4 miles back behind cranberry lake. Its going to be a fun weekend of survival and bear hunting. I haven't been there in over 5 yrs, but it used to be ground zero of a week long trip every year during deer season. The last time I was up there, I shot a 200 lb, 3 pt buck at 7:30 am about 5 miles out towards burntbridge pond, and I didn't make it out of the woods at rt 3 until 4:30 in the afternoon. I can't imagine what will happen if we shoot a bear this time.