Spring ScoutingSelf guided whitetail deer hunters interested in scouting rub lines will find this series of pictures on this page representative of the variety of rubs found in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. Not that rubs in the mid-west are different than anywhere else, it is that these pictures add one more fragment of information about our deer hunting lease land and scouting.
The first picture is of an individual shredder rub found in a small wood patch
found as part of a scouting trip prior to hunting lease contracting.
The last three are of rubs on traditional rub lines. It is
commonly accepted that trophy bucks make big rubs. It is also commonly
accepted a traditional rub line has mature deer returning over the years.
Members are encouraged to pre season scout their potential deer hunting spots, select tree stands, etc. The membership is for a 365 day year starting the day of membership allocation. Scouting and shed hunting in late winter or spring, glass fields pre season, scouting trails, rubs and scrapes, etc. The only limitations to be encountered are two. The first is that we have large corporation land holdings run by businessmen that seek minimum resource expenditure and maximum gain, or simply put they negotiate seasonal rather than year long leases. The second is that while a perfect 200 acre deer lease may produce the best hunting we have it may be connected to 1,500 acres of useless land. That type of lease will most likely be on our delete list to be replaced as soon as we find something better. Non-resident hunters without the benefit of pre-season deer scouting will be placed on lease land with this quality of sign. We do encourage the non-resident to come early or spend the first couple days of the hunt scouting the area before selecting their stands or hunting leases. Do not consider this quality of rubs a scarce item. They can be found by anyone willing to walk.
Current season rub. All the trees on this rub line are of this general size. Large trees suitable for deer stand are near by and were left entirely untouched by the bucks using this line. The attraction of this one spot on this farm is unknown. The overall area is unremarkable. The only possible benefit of this site is it is nearly in the center of the property well out-of-site of any road, house or other typical indicator of human presence. This observation is only conjecture with only the minimal corroborating observations with other traditional rub lines. During all the time scouting this one deer lease we saw a few deer overall and one with a respectable rack.
Classic traditional rub line indicator of a current season rub on the very tree rubbed on an earlier season. New on the old.
This rub line had as many previous season rubs as well as current season rubs. Many of the rubs killed the trees on this line with the various ages of the rubbed trees indicating a long history of buck activity. To our knowledge the deer working this line has not been harvested. |
