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Horizontal rubs and rubbing posts..

Jackalope

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.

Was watching the Whitetails inc DVD last night that Todd from Wicked Tree Saws sent me and there was a gentleman on there that briefly mentioned a "Horizontal rubbing post". Now this wasn't your everyday weekend warrior. He had the mounts and sheds to back up his guff.

The premise was he would take a cedar post and put it horizontal like below. I read about some online and the little I could find from guys that had done it said they tore them up..

Another tactic was actually planting a virtical willow log or cedar log in your food plots. Put it about 2-3 feet deep and tamp it in. Leave a licking branch on it if you can. They said the deer are attracted to it like a magnet. recommended was 18 yards from the edge of the woods and your stand. They also said that the deer will get the thing to wobble, and once it does they hit it harder. In the picture below the guy just used a section of frayed rope to achieve a licking branch.

Anyone heard of this before.


 
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Jackalope

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News to me, but that plot I am planting this weekend would make a great place for the cedar post and licking branch trick...

Try it out. post that sucker in the ground 15-20 yards away from the timber edge. They said the deer enter the plot and go straight to it to scent check. You can nail and lash a licking branch to the post.

I have noticed odd behavior from deer before with objects such as this. A clump of saplings in a field always get rubbed. Seems deer like things that are a one off or unique. A few years ago the small beech trees held their yellowish tan leaves well in to December after every other tree had shed. Every beech with leaves i saw in the woods had scrapes and rubs under it. As solitary pine or cedar on a hillside of hardwoods will get rubbed. Things like that.
 
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bowhunter1023

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I heard of a guy who used white 5 gallon buckets to draw deer closer to his stand and stop where he wanted them to for a shot. They are curious creatures and playing on that is not a bad idea...
 

brock ratcliff

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Not only have I heard of it, I have seen it on a grand scale. Last year Brandon and I set up BECs on a property in MI. These people were world traveling hunters. They had zebras, giraffes, elephant, lions etc mounted in their home. They bought 360+ acres to deer hunt and manage in MI. They were nice folks, and a bit over the top. They paid Tony LaPratt to come to their property and lay it out for maximum deer potential. Food plots, hundreds of mock scrapes, and rubbing posts throughout the food plots. They also made deer beds in thick areas, and cut escape tunnels from the beds to the food. I kid you not, they had done a lot of work to keep bucks on their property. Tony's idea is that if you have food, bedding, and plenty of rubs and scrapes to keep them busy the bucks will not make it to your neighbor's place to get shot before sundown. They made hundreds of cedar rubbing posts complete with a cross section to hang licking branches from. All of this seemed a bit much to me, but the icing on the cake was the 20' tall dirt embankment they paid a man to make around the entire perimeter of their property...they really don't want the neighbors seeing their deer!
 

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brock ratcliff

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BTW, they spent a fortune for Tony to come to their property and give all these suggestions. Some of you with your own ground and a lot free time may want to try some of these tricks out. Feel free to PM me, I asked 'em about all the tricks. I figured they paid a lot for it so I may as well get the knowledge they paid for since they were sharing. :)
 

brock ratcliff

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Oh yeah, Jay Greggory has started setting cedar poles to get buck pics... He said they can't resist 'em. And honestly, though we don't have many cedar trees around here, the ones we do are always torn up!
 

at1010

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I have heard of it, and i have heard it works great! I guess for some reason as brock said the deer just love cedar trees. There is a large forum about this on the QDMA forums.
 

Fluteman

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Wish I would have taken a picture of it last year. I found a small tree, about 3" in dia. that was bowed over like an arch due to a larger tree falling on it. A buck, whom I believe yo be the heavy eight from last year, rubbed that thing up one side, through the arch, and down the other. At the highest point, the arch was six around six feet.


I've also seen, as Joe said, many bucks use a clump of brush as a signpost, the same way people write on public restroom walls! LOL
 

"J"

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So if I can't get my hands on any cedar treees I can use a cedar landscape timber and get the same results?????? And use a piece of rope for a licking branch???? Sounds like a trip too busy beaver is in my future..... :smiley_crocodile:
 

jagermeister

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Damn, I gotta find some cedar posts!

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I'm surprised those guys divulged so much info to you about Tony's tactics, Brock. I'm pretty sure he makes guys sign a contract saying they won't share his strategies with anyone else. A real good friend of mine paid for and spent a week up at Tony's "school," and he's reluctant to share anything with me about it.
 

Rutin

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Ted Miller is the guy to you refer to making the horizontal rub post, hes had ALOT of success with it bc he has primo ground in Iowa with very little pressure and only shoots bucks over boone. I talked to Todd about this tactic for awhile at the deer and turkey show and he doesnt have as much luck as Ted bc he doesnt have the land sancutuary like Ted does. It would require a chunk of land that could house deer year round since its used as a social site vs an actual rub line. Its more for the deer to let each other know whose still around. Its def a neat concept and would like to see more people try it to see if it would work around this area.
 

RedCloud

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Hmmm. Seems I have some ceder split rail just laying around outside since I took it down last year. Maybe I will see what I can do with it one of these days ;)