jgbennett6

yep..basically what everyone else says, i usually go with how high the rub is off the ground.

whitetailsoldier

well I won't gloat but I've had the pleasure of seeing alot of deer make rubs. Here in northern IL we have the round, I mean round racks I was in a tree and saw a big 8 pointer so basketed it was having a hard time rubbing his brow tines, His main beams practically kept his head away from the tree. Don't get me wrong I bet he would only score maybe a 100 but he was so twisted it was beautiful! Anyways the biggest rack I ever saw make a rub made two parelell vertical gashes about twelve inches up and down.
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Look for one of my next posts.
I'll show you a fence post that has been getting rubbed for probably the last 20 years its awesome!
I found it pheasant hunting and thought it was a beaver until i saw the shreads of wood underneath it!

whitetailsoldier

I dont want to be the punk of the post, but I've noticed where i live the lower rubbs are prodominently older bucks...wheather this is longer necks or having to reach lower to penetrate the tree with the brow tine and the G2'S will often penetrate the ground. Alot of rubs can be rub/scrapes with the older more mature bucks.......

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two birds with one stone, maybe.........
not to say older bucks don't take the high road either, anything goes in the woods!

dukemichaels

cool pic Mauser...

The rub is probably the most poorly understood aspect in deer hunting and of deer behavior. Generaly.. (I believe) that whitetails are individuals. They all have their own distinct personalities. Some rub high, some rub low. Some bucks search out specific tree species.. and some don't. But generaly speaking only larger bucks rub larger trees (much larger than the tree in the pic.)

From what I've witnessed in the deer woods.. if a rub is on a tree about the size of my forearm.. than he's probably a shooter for me. And often times, several deer will rub the same tree over and over again. Sometimes several years in a row.

squirrelkilla23

Here's a post you might wanna check out. It was in the trail cam section under the title "big rub, little deer" http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1886076

dukemichaels

Like I said before.. many deer will often rub on the same rub. On top of their 'melon' they gots a gland. They rub this gland over the tree while sharpening their own skills and strengthening their neck muscles. A little buck rubbing on that big old rub only means he has been there.. and whatever else their scent tells other deer.

Probably tells the other deer to stay away.. some dude has gotten clever and hung a camera on this tree! He's on to us!

archer58

Interesting post and interesting answers.
I look for gouges from brow tines for bigger deer.
Also, if the back side gets rubbed and smaller saplings growing close to
the rub tree are marked it's a bigger deer.

bloodcrick

nice rub!!