Good-sized trees with scars that have healed and thickened over the years, and upon which current bucks rub their antlers each fall, are “sign-posts.”
Some biologists believe these trees are rubbed mostly by older bucks (3½ years and up). One theory is that mature bucks deposit pheromones on the rubs, and this plays an important role in the dominance and subordination process in a herd.
Does and all sizes of bucks have been observed interacting with sign-posts—they often nuzzle and smell them—but generally only mature bucks rub them hard.
Sign-posts are typically blazed in areas with high deer traffic, often near trails and scrapes, and should be markers for your strategy.
While you won’t hunt over a sign-post per se, it makes sense to scout out from the big rubs…look for cover edges, funnels and trails where bucks travel…find pockets of acorns and other spots where they eat…and hang tree stands there.
