One surefire way to learn if there is buck activity in your area is finding fresh rubbings on small trees, saplings or fence posts.
Before the season starts, I have a buck indicator trick I like to use in or around the fields of my hunting property.
Harvested agricultural fields are prime spots to check for rubs, but saplings don’t always grow in the ideal places for bucks to rub their antlers.
I have the perfect solution.
Once crops have been harvested in late summer or fall, I like to create my own rubbing posts, planting them in the fields and places where I wished saplings grew naturally.
What you want to do is create these rubbing posts from the trunks of tree species that bucks love to rub on.
Just after the crops are gone, I go into the woods and cut several saplings — poplar trees work well — with diameters of 1 1/2 to 2 inches.
Using a handsaw, I cut down the saplings and saw them into approximately 6-foot lengths.
With a machete, knife or hatchet, I sharpen one end of the post and hammer it into strategically selected locations with a small sledgehammer.
I drive the post about 18 inches into the ground, which should be deep enough to hold it firmly in the soil when a buck starts pushing it around.
Usually, I position my man-made rubbing posts 15 to 20 feet out in the fields, preferably in the corners and in low spots where bucks normally like to find rubbing trees.
When a buck enters the field, he will immediate notice the “new” tree in this ideal location and go right to it. Bucks don’t seem to have any problem rubbing these posts!
If bucks are present, it doesn’t take long for them to hit the posts, and you’ll be able to tell when they do.
The posts are removable, so you can pull them up after the season so there’s no chance of damaging farm equipment.
I hope Buckmasters fans will try this out. It’s the perfect solution for creating rubbing posts in places where no saplings are growing naturally.
If you have a unique or special tip you’d like to share with Buckmasters fans, please email it to huntingtips@buckmasters.com and, if chosen, we will send you a cap signed by Jackie Bushman, along with a knife!
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