Blacktail rubs in depth

[CSG]

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to decipher whether a blacktail rub is from removing velvet in August or whether it is from marking territory during the pre-rut closer to Oct-Nov??

Do they do one rub in a certain area? such as velvet coming off in the thick bush and territory marking happens on trails?

Do they stick to a certain type of tree for marking territory?

Thanks

[Keta1969]

They love willows in the rut but will rub whatever if there are no willows,the rubbing in the rut is more fierce and harder than in the spring, rubs will look fresh, shavings on the ground,broken branches also sometimes the ground will be scuffed up. From what I've seen velvet rubbing seems to be a gentler process kind of like they have an itch, not prove they are the baddest ass in town.

[hunter1993ap]

look at the tree, if you are hunting in November cut a small portion of bark beside the rub. if it looks the same colour as the rub its probably fresh. if its a pine or fir tree look at how much sap has run. feel the bark if it is dried out or still wet.

[quadrakid]

I once watched a blacktail rubbing off his velvet. He was actually rubbing on a bush as opposed to a small tree.

[redthorn]

look at the tree, if you are hunting in November cut a small portion of bark beside the rub. if it looks the same colour as the rub its probably fresh. if its a pine or fir tree look at how much sap has run. feel the bark if it is dried out or still wet.

Sort of... The idea is right here, but NEVER NEVER NEVER touch the Rub itself. This is a signpost, and they deposit bits of scent from the glands by the eyes in the rubbing process. You will always see them sniff a rub before rubbing over it. You will leave a nasty ol' human odor on their sign-in sheet and spook your buck, if not burn that rub and area.

Pick a tree of the same size/type nearby and shave that with a clean knife blade ( not the same one you sliced bacon with that morning or gutted a fish with last month) if you do want to test freshness.

Observe from a distance, and you might get to handle the antlers, not just the rub. I generally stay 4-5' away from the rub if I see it.

[hunter1993ap]

redthorn, do you hunt mule deer as well? I've never hunter blacktails but judging how old the rub is, is relatable. I have always found mule deer seldom return to trees they rub. I have seen the odd tree hit multiple times, but it seems for the most part they don't return. I might have been a little complacent about touching rubbed trees but I havnt noticed that it pushes the deer out of the area, but then again blacktails could be slightly different. and for the most part I don't touch the rubs. once I touched a big rub and had the buck return and beat the tree within a few days of me being there. where ive hunted mulies the rubs seem to be scattered in a very big area, like he roams a large piece of real estate. its all a learning game, and its nice to learn something new, I know scent is a huge part of being successful.

[Ferenc]

They love willows in the rut but will rub whatever if there are no willows,the rubbing in the rut is more fierce and harder than in the spring, rubs will look fresh, shavings on the ground,broken branches also sometimes the ground will be scuffed up. From what I've seen velvet rubbing seems to be a gentler process kind of like they have an itch, not prove they are the baddest ass in town.

x2 on the willows with the shavings on the ground

[CSG]

hunter1993ap

I hunt blacktails and mulies, jack of all trades but definitely a master of neither. Rubs have never been a big part of my mule deer hunting, maybe because I never looked for them. But when I am out blacktail hunting they play a big role and i notice that when you find "the spot" there is usually multiple years of rubs in a small area and sometimes on the same tree.

My theory is that mulies have such a big area they call home that they will mark out the boundaries of their territory and so the rubs will be spread over a big area. Blacktails on the other hand I think tend to come back to the same little sweet spots and rub the same trees year after year

Curious to hear what others think

[CSG]

Heres another question, when looking at a rub from velvet and a rub from marking territory, will the rubs look different? Will the territory marking be bigger and on all sides of the trees and will the velvet rubs be smaller and on one side like the buck stood there and rubbed off his velvet?

[redthorn]

redthorn, do you hunt mule deer as well? I've never hunter blacktails but judging how old the rub is, is relatable. I have always found mule deer seldom return to trees they rub. I have seen the odd tree hit multiple times, but it seems for the most part they don't return..........

I do hunt Mule deer, but not in a very targeted way. Generally we have areas we know somewhat well, but not like how we know our Blacktail areas. We are not close enough to mule territory to really get into scouting and patterning and observing and targeting them. We are those awesome guys from the lower mainland that everyone up country loves to hate on. We come up to someone else's valley and shoot their deer on a weekend if we get lucky. But at least we hike around for them.

Most blacktail will consistently rub the same tree yearly. We see the same trees usually rubbed down every year, and if the dominant buck gets eaten, another buck will usually continue marking the tree the next year. They hold to a tighter range than Mulies, so they put up and maintain a very good series of signposts so they know who is around.