Mule deer rub question

[huntinnewbie]

Cut some fresh toe dragging prints in the snow this morning. Decided to follow tthem and they led to 3 different fresh rubs on small saplings. Question is did I contaminate the site by following his prints? Will he be back to check his line and if so how often? Thanks

[GoOutside]

He will be back

[quadrakid]

You don,t have to worry about contaminating the spot. Sounds like your in a good area,hunt her hard,good luck.

[two-feet]

First priority is play the wind

[Ferenc]

Rubs tell a story .... the rub was it on the high side or the low side of the tree on the slope ... with a little bit more investigating it will tell a story ... maybe when it was rubbed... morning /evening ..... : )

[Wild one]

First priority is play the wind

This and bring a doe bleat ^^^

odds are the buck will come back but it can take days

[338win mag]

Keep hanging around the area, as there is at least one buck hanging around,, downwind as always and maybe you will see him or another bigger buck, good luck and keep us posted.

[dana]

Mule deer do not make rub lines. They rub to work their neck muscles and to work themselves up for the rut. With prerut rubs like is happening right now, they rarely will revist them. Sometimes a mature buck will work the same big rub over multiple years during peak rut. And I have seen them pick on the same tree again during second rut. But hunting rub lines is for whitetails. That being said, the best place to kill a muley is where they live. And if you have fresh rubs there you know there is a buck currently living there. In a couple of weeks he could be miles from that spot but currently, he will be still in the general area.

[Wild one]

Well that might explain why it seemed like it often took longer for MD to revisit a scrape line. Good chance I was seeing a completely different buck then the one that left the scraps to start by the sounds of it

[dana]

Well that might explain why it seemed like it often took longer for MD to revisit a scrape line. Good chance I was seeing a completely different buck then the one that left the scraps to start by the sounds of it

Exactly! One buck smells the other buck and is pissed off and beats the same tree to vent. Hahaha! While sometimes it might appear like a line to your eye, you need to keep in mind muleys are the most random critters out there. They were just picking on those trees because they were there. Nothing more than that. But during peak rut, if you jump a buck, one of the best ways to stop him is to beat of a tree yourself. Either carry a shed antler or just whack a tree with your rifle. Both ways gets their attention and they will turn around with their ears pinned back ready to fight ya.