Team
I need some hunting help here. I have a spot where the property runs alongside a major road. Recently I found a rub line that runs parallel to the road, about 100 yards from the edge of the property to the road. Do you think it's worth hunting near or is this more likely an evenng route. If it was on private property I would install a camera but it's on public land and in my experience a camera would go missing sooner than I could get back to it.
Thank you in advance.
I've killed lots of deer off rub lines and actively key in sometimes. There are some considerations. You're in NY it says. Rifle season just ended. It could alter any pattern. Food may be different, it could alter a pattern. The rut is over, changes things as well. I believe without knowing anything I'd key in on food sources nearest security cover but hunt them very gently as it won't take much to move them again.
Near a road right now I'd prob avoid. Any low hanging fruit has prob been harvested or molested. There are always situations where that's not the case though. You need more info. Is there any right now activity showing there?
About 6 weeks late...remember it for mid to late October next year 😉.
R
Solid advice thank you, I should of added that I was planning it for next year. Do you all prefer to be at the presumed start of the rub line or further along.
Ryan is spot on. Next year you will be hunting where he is going, not where he has been. You can follow the rubs to the thickest area and might show you were he is sleeping.
I have found that alot of travel routes often parallel to within 50 yards and closer of roads.
Yea don't over look spots close to roads.
You don't always have to get a mile back in to find deer.
As far as how/where to hunt it....I don't think of rub lines as "rub lines" but as buck travel corridors. What defines afternoon vs morning sit is the same as any travel corridor, relation to bedding, feed, and does. Hunt it like you would any travel pattern and let all the same things such as wind, access, cover, topography, proximity to doe travel/bedding/feed etc dictate how to hunt it.
Don't fall into the "which way was he headed" trap...Which side of the trees the rubs are on doesn't mean much..... Actually most of the signpost or territorial rubs I've actually observed being made or hit, with my own eyes, were made at 90 degrees to travel route....what I mean is, buck travelling a north/south trail headed north. Tree on right side of trail, rub ends up being made on southwest or West facing side of tree, if you see what I mean. Have a buck hit it from the other direction, now you have a rub basically facing west.
When looking at territorial or travel route rubs or rublines I am as much or more interested in historical older rubs than this year's rubs. This year's deer may be dead already. Historical rubs along with new rubs on the same line mean this travel pattern is used by successive generations of bucks for one reason or another....and likely will be used again in the future.
Now the next level is figuring out what the "for one reason or another" is. :)
R
Ryan Great point on historical rubs. That is a better indicator to me than anything else.
Oh, and as far as the road, I wouldn't worry about it. Couple of the better whitetail hunters I know (John Hale and Alan Altizer) set up near roads on public land quite often and even target those areas specifically to avoid the "gotta get back in 2 miles" crowd.
R
I have a ladder stand mounted in a corner coming around a large field. It is only about 100 yards from a road. I have killed four deer from it in four years. Not a lot of deer traffic but when they are there they are usually close, say within 60 yards and if they follow the main trails they pass within 16 and 18 yards.
It is about the location in relationship to where the deer travel, not where the cars travel.
As a fellow Long Island hunter don't let roads dictate where you are going to hunt. I learned that lesson a long time ago and wish I had have learned it sooner. As for the rub line, they can be hit or miss this time of year. If there are decent trails running along the rub line through oaks or heading towards thick laurels then definitely hunt it. I always consider is this the easiest safest way for a deer to go from one area to another. If it is I'll set up there to take a look. Good luck!
If you can figure out when the local bucks to that area start their lines I would set up a plan for that. I shot some nice bucks by knowing they liked to make a line every year same place and they would appear about the same time every year too. Remember, rutting is an activity triggered by amount of sunlight so when it gets going its pretty close date wise every season.
Be there when he makes the line or first day or two. He will check them often at this time any time of day if he feels secure.