Rubbing tree project

[j-bird]

OK - I tried the ropes last year and they seemed to work - so this year I want to try to get the deer to rub some saplings, just to see if I can do it.

The location is in the open near a foodplot. So it sticks out pretty well. I cut a piece of 2" heavy wall PVC pipe to about 24" long and drove it into the ground. I cut the sapling and stuck it into the pipe and then used a screw to secure the sapling in the pipe. I then took one of the ropes I know the deer used last year and put it up in the tree (secured with duct tape). I then removed the lower limbs and scared up the trunk some. I also took a shovel and removed the grass and worked a bare spot as well.

What can I add to encourage the deer's curiosity to start using it early?

FYI I have my trail cam set on video only about 10 or 15 yards away.

 

[wiscwhip]

Take a leak under it.

 

[West Branch]

Take a leak under it.

+1

But please don't share the video.

 

[wiscwhip]

Yes, back to the trail camera, please!

 

[j-bird]

Take a leak under it.

I did! BEFORE the cam was put up! I'm a little camera shy!!!!

My ground has virtually ZERO clay in it - is there anything I can/should do to try to get it to hold an odor?

 

[Brush Creek]

we tried about 6 rubbing trees last year. Only one seemed to have received much attention.

 

[j-bird]

we tried about 6 rubbing trees last year. Only one seemed to have received much attention.

What made the one of the six stand out in your opinion? I'm new to this concept so share what you can.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

I don't think scent is going to make much of a difference either way, J. I'll be honest, I don't try to get them to rub on my scrape trees, but that's just because bucks tend to revisit scrapes more than rubs. I'm NOT suggesting that getting them to try to do both is a waste, as I can see it helping a smidge, and every little bit helps. I just do too many to make it worth the extra time/effort, IMO, in my particularly circumstances.

All that said, I'd just leave it go now and let nature take its course.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

What made the one of the six stand out in your opinion? I'm new to this concept so share what you can.

I'll be interested in B.C.'s response, as well. For me, it's almost all about sticking out like a turd in a punch bowl somewhere that deer are already concentrating. Other that it being a tree species that deer commonly use for scrapes (and rubbing, in your case), about the only other specific thing that I've noticed helps tilt the odds in my favor is when that tree is "bushy" on top, which makes it stand out more. I do get great results on some that aren't "bushy," as well. I've just noticed that "bushy" helps. I suspect it would for rubbing, too, but that is speculation on my part.

 

[j-bird]

I will be thrilled if the deer just show some interest in it - rub, scrape or other wise. I'm not betting the farm on it working in any capacity - I just thought it would be a neat little experiment.

Now it may be 100% coincidence but the biggest buck we EVER caught on camera was near one of these we 1/2 ass tried a few years ago. This photo helped get me out of bed on those cold dark mornings (I think I have shared this pic a few times) - that tree in the back is "planted" like what I am trying to do now.



I also plan on setting up a buck decoy near this location as well so maybe I can put on a little show and get "Mr Big" to do something really stupid!!!!

 

[tooln]

I put one up last year and it was visited by every deer in the neighborhood. Was going to put up another yesterday but I forgot to take the post hole digger. Maybe I will get it tomorrow.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

i've been toying with the idea of putting in a scrape/rub tree as well. I have a great mock scrape location at about 17 yds from my primary stand and it is just a branch from a maple that i tied down to the right height, it also helps that it is directly at the entrance/exit of the main trail into the plot (i made the trail by hinging). But i have an AO bush on the upper side of the plot that i have made mock scrapes on in the past, and have also just let the bucks start the scrape on their own. The only problem with that AO scrape is that it is at about the maximum extent of my effective range with the bow (44 yds). i kinda want to get rid of the AO, but dont like the idea of getting rid of consistent scrape/cam location. But if i could get rid of the AO and create an alternative a little closer (35 yds or so) i'd be game. Both the tied down maple branch mock scrape (at 17 yds) and the AO scrape (at 44 yds) are on the same plot, I run a cam on each, and I rarely get the same bucks using both with any consistency. Thats not to say that i dont ever get a specific buck to visit each scrape, but it seems as though the buck will hit one, then maybe a few days later i might get a pic of that same buck at the other, but rarely do they seem to hit one, then make their way over to the other and hit that one a few mins apart. The scrapes are about 50 yds apart on a straight line. I can also say that some bucks only ever hit one and not the other.

 

[browndog]

I just put two more rubbing posts in today also. I put some in last year and two of them had pretty decent action. I think location is the biggest key and the type of tree you put in. Poplar seems to work the best by me. I didnt do anything special with it except for taking a leak underneath the branch that hangs to the right. Here are some pics from a poplar I put in last year on the edge of a bean plot with a corn plot to the left. This poplar rub tree had the most action last year. No real interest until early October.

 

[Brush Creek]

Our trees were all in a field, 4 of them were next to mineral sites. I would say the licking branches were not great. All but one of the trees were locust. We used them because they rub them naturally but they only rubbed one. 2 or 3 got the occasional lick on a branch. Not sure why they didnt pay more attention to them. Plenty of pictures with them in the mineral right next to the tree. I will look through some pictures tommorrow when my work ethic starts to wane.

 

[sandbur]

I keep forgetting to try this (more a curiosity than anything). Good luck with it j-bird. Hope it works for you

 

[homegrownbucks]

If you could mow or weed whip the grass shorter for a few yards around the tree that may help some. As Steve said turd in a punch bowl, the more it stands out the better.

 

[sandbur]

I didn't catch that yesterday....duh! you got a trail cam set there too Art?

My trail cam has stayed in the closet for the last three years!

This is a large HP cutting that I dropped in place last spring. The deer were on it immediately. It still has a bit of green. I might add a bigger tree with a licking branch.

 

[browndog]

Here is one I worked on yesterday. I went with a bigger poplar for a rubbing post(in background)The cedar post is from last year. I drilled holes near the top of the cedar post and the I cut oak branches that were from previos scrapes for years and pushed them in the drilled holes. I put screw on an angle where the branch goes in so they don't spin around. I'll be moving the cam on the cedar post soon and it will be watching the posts/scrape in vid mode. This is an area between a soybean and corn plot.

 

[dipper]

Why did u get all crazy with pvc and just bury the branch into the ground like a post? U just have to pack it in good like u would a post anyway.
I've had a lot of usage out of most of mine, but not all Locations are as good as others. Last summer I buried spruce posts along the edge of a food plot, which will support Apple fencing. They didn't get touched till November, but everyone eventually got shredded. That was pretty neat. I'm gonna wait till October to put mine in.

 

[j-bird]

I put the PVC into the ground as it was much easier to drive into the ground vs digging a 2 or 3 foot hole. Ground here is like concrete right now. I intend on using these same areas every year and I figured the PVC would be much easier to work with in the future as well.