So I’ve killed a pile of deer, but not many big bucks. All the racked bucks I’ve seen or killed have been bc I was hunting either a food source or transitions between cover or some other funnel feature in the terrain. FWIW, all but one were killed on public land where I happened to be in a funnel.

That being said, I’m trying to understand what exactly the rubs I saw today are telling me. Obviously a buck and I assume a big one according to the size and height of the rubs. Here’s the scene.

There’s a saddle in the mountain above a big cut that narrows to a logging road. I started at the head of that cut walking up the road bed and immediately started seeing rubs about the size of my thumb. They progressively grew larger in size and frequency till there were about 20 within a 30 yard circle. The largest in the immediate area about the size of my leg. About 40 yards from that there’s one on a cedar about the size of a basketball. The bark is stripped to about 4’ high and all these are really fresh.

All these are in a fairly straight line coming from the cut and following the saddle.

I know bucks leave scent on the rubs and I assume it’s a sign post and a means of communication with other deer, but what does this tell you and how would you hunt it?

The yellow dots are the approximate location of the rubs and how they follow the road bed. You can see the saddle.

Whew. That’s steep!

I'm gone say I'd be spending some time in there and figure out where he's laying his head down. I've always heard when you find a concentration of rubs like that your in a bucks core area. I wouldn't booger it up but I'd definitely be in there

I started seeing and killing a lot more big bucks when I quit hunting rubs

I would use the rub line just as a means of establishing a line of travel…..basically connect the dots. What you still have to know though is….Where is he coming from???......and…..Where is he going to??......If I had to guess on the second one I’d say he’s traveling between drainages at night using the “air drainage” effect as a means of locating any hot does in the area. Scent is pressed down to the ground at night and has more of a flowing effect across the landscape. Bucks use it to their advantage. If I had to guess at where he was bedding, I’d say its probably somewhere around the military crest of that ridge….exactly where might change from day to day depending on the wind direction.

If you have large “sign post rubs” that have been rubbed for years, then it’s probably pointing you to a main searching route for numerous bucks.

He’s coming in there after dark and staying on the first or second bench down to bed. He uses thermals in the evening to scent check for does that may be on top because the cooling air sinks down the draw in the evening. He has a quick escape route. Around the bench or down the mountain if he was to be bumped. Love hunting those mountain deer But I’m just about too old for it now.

Getting late in the season now to rely on sign much. If you're not careful you'll be hunting behind. Rubs and scrapes are something you gotta strike while the iron is hot.

I'd offer 2Dogs a cheeseburger from Shorty's to sit down with me and that map. He's half mtn goat.

Hunt the scrapes, not rubs. When bucks start chasing scrapes are just about useless too. Hunt the does then. Only time I’ve hunted rubs is a creek crossing or maybe a road crossing.

Really not been hunting that long, so help me out
1. why is that area of dots being refered to as a saddle?
2. "military crest of the ridge" please explain?
3. using the benches?

A saddle is a terrain feature in which there is a lower pass across a ridge. I assume they call it that because if you look at a horse saddle it’s higher at the front and back but lower and more narrow where you sit. Deer like this bc it’s the shortest and usually easiest path to cross a ridge. If you look on the map and see the tree stand waypoint, that’s there bc there’s a steep high wall around that point and that cut is where the deer funnel to to get up on top or down below the side. They have to come through that narrow gap.

Using benches is typically deer will use the area just below the brow to travel. Once again if you look at the tree stand way point, the next major elevation line is essentially a bench and that’s in fact where the trail turns and runs under the brow. That’s why I sit there bc I can cover about 100 yards through the woods in 3 directions and all those deer travel that route and come up through that narrow cut.

I’m not familiar with that second term.

"Military crest is a term in military science that refers to, "An area on the forward or reverse slope of a hill or ridge just below the topographical crest from which maximum observation and direct fire covering the slope down to the base of the hill or ridge can be obtained."

I don't see what I consider a saddle on that map It’s a low spot between two high ridges.

My wife will agree and it's in the hard headed area.

I usually see a big rub flurry about a week or so before pre rut and the bucks are busting up. They seem to rub most at night around food sources where a lot of deer are gathered.? I use them more of an indicator of where we are in the rut process. The bucks we kill the first week of chasing will have lots of bark around there bases. Thickest stuff close to lots of rubs or in the mtns I like to hunt a couple of benches above the sign.

There’s a saddle in the top right section but not a huge one. I’ve got a similar spot/layout I’ve been hunting. Bucks will bed with their back to the wind watching the steep holler to the south. Difficult spot to hunt because you need to be in there before he beds. And the thermals are to his advantage lol. Otherwise hunt the main trails leading to it.

Alternatively you could slip in from the south and setup and have someone slip through from the north and push him out. Still hunt through it. You don’t want to run him out of the county lol.

How open is it in there? Seems like you could sit with a rifle and cover a good portion of that top if you set up right. I wouldn’t get too hung up on rubs and scrapes. What the rubs and scrapes will tell you is that he is in there or has been there. Depending on where your at, the bucks could already be hunting the does and have abandoned the sign. I like the drainages going to the top. Looking at the picture there’s 3 or 4 that point towards the middle. I’d get down wind with a rifle and try to cover that area in the middle. I would suspect the deer are bedding on some steep benches or off the points with the wind in their favor. If nothing else you should learn something for next go around.