Owen county.
I haven't hunted yet, but my 1 scouting trip (hike with the dog) yielded NO scrapes or rubs yet in their usual locations. I will also be out this weekend.
I was just talkin bout this with my girl last night.
This weekend we is renting a few movies and gettin one of them rooms downtown with a hot tub. I'll letcha know how it all went down by Monday.
It's still a bit early, the bucks are coming out of their reduced movement "lull" period though. Middle of next week I'm betting we'll see a bit more activity. My hunting partner has been out at the farm all week and between his observations and the cameras there have been a few bucks on their feet during the day but they aren't running the does yet. The bachelor groups have begun to break apart and our biggest buck has run his partner off to a different part of the farm. Another dynamic duo which were partnered up all summer have parted ways as well but they're both still hanging out in the same areas.
I have seen a small group of rubs that first appeared 3 weeks ago but no scrapes. There were 2 bucks running around with each other up to 2 weeks ago but I am not sure as I have not seen them since. I wont be out this weekend but will next weekend for sure. Hoping to do a little rattling during the day to see if I can bring anything in
The cur, myself, and my K 22 poked around the woods behind our little place in Perry County this weekend and I did not see any rubs nor did we run any squirrels...
Im in western Vigo county and I haven't noticed anything at all. I'll be out hunting some turkeys this weekend though and I'll report back. So far no scrape or rubs have been seen. Even checking the places they are each season I have nothing to report as of last weekend.
Rubs are places on trees where a buck rubs the bark off with his antlers and forehead. Scrapes are places on the ground where a buck will dig up the ground a bit, usually clearing the ground completely of all leaves, grass, vegetation ,etc. You'll see small scrape marks in the soil from his hooves. The buck will leave his scent there in an attempt to both attract a mate and also mark his territory. A lot of times you'll find a small twig or branch above the scrape broken as well.
The general consensus is the bigger the tree that is rubbed, and the higher on that tree, the bigger the buck that did it, but that's not always true. Also, the bigger the scrape and the higher up the tree that he breaks off a limb, the bigger the buck, but that's not always true either.
If you hunt a lot of contested public land, some guys are known to even fake a rub or scrape. Some do it to prank other hunters, and others do it to perhaps try to mess with the dominate buck in the area and try to challenge him. Not sure if that works or not though....
Now that I completely read your description, we may have a little bit of all of what you described. I will have to get the trail cam back out that way once I convince my 12 year old that there are no coyotes stalking his bus stop.
Henry Co. Last weekend seen 2 scrapes hubcap size and several rubs (8-10) and a couple (2) on trees as big as a softball... I will be back this weekend to revisit the area if the wind is right.. I have another woods 120yrs from where I seen the scrapes and rubs but haven't been in it yet, waiting on the right wind for it..