I hunt on a pine tree farm and keep seeing what looks like rubs. I had a friend go down with me and he said buck only rub hardwood and not pine trees. Is that true?

your friend is on crack.

They will rub on pines. Not as much on our place near Trinity, but my they tear them up at my Dad's place near Athens. Hogs will rub and cut on a pine tree as well.

We've had a little 100 track in east Texas since 1962. It's considered a tree farm, however we do have a mix with oaks, hickory, sweet gum etc.... I've seen more rubs on sapling pines than the hardwoods. Scrapes are a differant story though. They like the little over hanging branches from the hardwoods to rub scent on.

Out here about 60% of the rubs I see are on sappling or young pines.

They will rub on anything that will push back.

Never given it much thought but I agree now that I think about it. I can't remember ever coming across a scrape where a buck was using a pine limb for a licking branch. Perhaps the taste and rougher bark on a pine branch just doesn't settle with them.

We have a cpl of those on our field every year. But they do seem to prefer oaks/holly/magnolia trees for their scrapes.

Haha!

nicest way I could think to put it....they rub anything they can get their antlers on..heck, last year we even had one that decided he wanted to rub a telephone pole.

This is a great thread. My lease is 75 percent planted pines and 25% hardwood bottom. I have been going over and over the hardwoods looking for rubs and have had no luck. Its been very depressing. This weekend Im going to scavenge the pines and see what I find!!!

Post some pics up of these pine rubs!

I have Hunted east Texas since I was a little kid and the deer will deer up a small pine. As another THFer said your buddy is on Crack.

look on the break where pines switch over to hardwoods.

Yes, once you've found enough scrapes and rubs, you can easily identify the places where bucks are more likely to leave their signposts.

You can also determine when a buck is most likely to be using a rub by adding things together. For example, a rub that appears on the opposite side of a young tree from a bedding area is most likely being visited in the early morning when a buck is returning from his overnight feeding activity. That same rub, appearing on the bedding side of the tree or bush, was more likely made in the evening when he was leaving his bedroom to feed.

Sadly, such wisdom that was shared with me by the men I hunted with as a kid, is quickly being lost to a new generation that views hunting strategy as nothing more than watching for something to show up and eat.

your friend has no idea what he is talking about!

but what if it appears the deer has done doughnuts around the tree.


I found one this weekend on a small tree growing under a feeder I pulled the plug on but haven't removed from the property. I think my spike from last season that was on it everytime it went off is trying to sucker me into putting a battery in it and filling it up.

I hunt East Texas, our property has a mix of pines and hardwoods with very few small cedars mixed in. I see the occasional pine and hardwood hit but its almost always a cedar thats been rubbed. Don't ask me why.

We see that as well with the cedars. My guess would be they prefer their scent.


edit: and see it with the cypress trees as well as we get down closer to the river bottoms. But I chalk that up with the deer like to travel the dry slugh beds and bow up anything small enough to get their horns on.

Ditto

actually have visual confirmation of that when I was scouting some public land a few weeks ago.

+2.. i'm in Fayette.. were on part of the lost pines... all the rubs have been on small pines..off main trials.... have two fresh scrapes located too!

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1285332220000[/img]

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1285332243000[/img]

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1285333190000[/img]


just a few... ..but yeah... all our rubs are pine only~

chris


i can post more examples too...

i thought id post a few more examples.... These are all within the last month or 2...

again, Fayette co.

more rubs...

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1285333190000[/img]

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1286292358000[/img]

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1286292358000[/img]

scrape....These are two separate scrapes of two known trails...as for the rubs as well.. off two trails leading to my feeder.

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1286292335000[/img]


scrape is at the bottom of the pic... you can see my feeder up the way...

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1286292333000[/img] ]

and lastly..... the trial~

[img]http://api.photoshop.com/home_a951634a2c...d=1285332308000[/img]

Thanks for looking!.... Hope this helps the post!


Chris...

very wrong information. we hunt cedars in TX and i hunt pine plantations in Mississippi. THey rub anything they think they can tear up and look bad on

They will rub on anything. I have seen them rub fence posts.

I've seen rubs on pines, cedar, and tallow trees just to name a few - not sure if there is anything a buck wouldn't rake his antlers against.