No Blacktail Rubs?

[aorams]

Hello Forum Blacktail Deer Experts!

I'm looking for some help if you have a moment please...

The area I hunt is devoid of rubs after the last season! 

It is a logged unit, about a mile long by .5 miles wide that is gently sloped with a couple of sharp peaks along the edges of the timber.  In 2013 I killed a good size 2 point and this year my dad killed a forky and I killed a small 2x3 all within 1/4 mile of each other.  In addition, we found one gut pile in the area during the first week of general and a dead doe that had been shot and left.

I've been back in to check the post season condition of the area a few times since and have seen a lot of does as usual, and even jumped what I THINK may have been a buck today by the way it seemed to slither away rather than run(never laid eyes on it), but I have seen only ONE rub from this year!  None of the usual rub lines seemed to have been rubbed again this year...  I've walked all the normal trails,

What does this mean?  Did we overwhelm this area with hunting pressure?  Are all the bucks dead?  Did they move to a different area?  Should I be concerned or is this another test of faith these deer are so good at imparting? 

Thank you for your help!

[Tbar]

It sounds like you have a very good area.  There is a very high probability that there are still bucks (and probably a couple bruisers) in the area.  The first thing I would do is place a couple trail cameras.  One thing to remember is bucks often avoid main trails and instead use less pronounced secondary trails.

[bobcat]

One thing I learned with the use of trail cameras, is that the old rubs that look like they haven't been used in the current year, may actually have been been used, and possibly by several bucks. All they do is rub their foreheads on these trees as a way of leaving their scent in order to communicate with other deer, both bucks and does.

What happened is I set up a camera on a couple trees that had been rubbed for at least the previous two or three years. I put it up in mid-October, hoping to find out what size bucks were in the area. When I came back a month later, it looked as if those trees hadn't been touched. There were some deer tracks on the trail but I was really disappointed knowing that I didn't get any cool videos of bucks rubbing on those trees.

Well, when I got home and stuck the sd card in the laptop, I was surprised to see that I had at least three different mature bucks that had been visiting those trees regularly and rubbing on them. But you sure couldn't tell it by looking at the trees!

I posted several of the videos a couple days ago in another thread, but in case you didn't see them here one of them:


http://vid1140.photobucket.com/albums/n580/bdan68/ONeill%20East%202012/WGI_0030.mp4

[Firedogg]

 Those might not all be does.  The bigger bucks here around the house have shed their head gear. Can't find them laying anywhere yet.

  You're area sounds good. But activity this tome of years slows and has been a little different than normal it seems with this odd weather..

[Old Man Yager]

Cool video Bobcat, I wish I could see a buck doing that, and put one right in the ribs!!!

[fishnfur]

Yeah, Bobcats got some cool vids. 

Regarding the lack of rubs or new rubs, deer are a lot like other animals.  If the conditions of the surroundings are suitable and to their liking, they will chose that spot over a spot with less perfect conditions.  Even if every buck in that area was harvested last year (not likely), new bucks will pass through over the next year or so and decide that that spot is perfect for their home and set up shop there. 

Trout in a stream are a perfect example of this.  Catch the big trout behind that large rock in mid-stream today, tomorrow, another, probably slightly smaller trout (who got ran out of the area by the big one) will be sitting in that "best" spot in that section of stream. 

[fishnfur]

I was thinking a bit more about those old rubs refreshed a bit without any real new damage to the trees. 

I saw the same thing this year during the late rifle hunts in an area that had lots of old rubs and virtually no new ones.  On closer inspection, it is often easy to find deer hair hanging on the bark  in the rub zone.  I figured it was probably new, but like you, could not rule out that is wasn't leftovers from last year.  Bobcats description clears that up nicely.

Regarding the question of whether the deer will get back into their spring routine earlier this year - my guess would be yes.  I'm seeing Salmonberry leaves opening up everywhere and the ground is coming alive with the green carpet that covers everything till mid-summer.  I'm guessing the deer are going to take immediate advantage after a couple of months of eating nothing but twigs and the odd blackberry leaf.