With white-tailed deer, glandular secretions and scent-marking play a more important role in communication than do visual signals and vocalizations. The latter serve only immediate, short-range purposes, whereas scent-marks serve as an extension of the animal itself, and remain functional long after the maker has left the scene.
Mature white-tailed bucks scent-mark vegetation year-round, usually in a subtle manner,which is difficult to detect. During autumn, however, they establish highly visible signposts, referred to as buck rubs and scrapes. The hunter who can learn to interpret these signs will add considerable self-satisfaction, if not greater success to the hunt.
THE RUB’S SOCIAL ROLE
Few buck rubs are made while removing antler velvet, a process normally completed within 24 hours. Instead, most rubs are made by relatively few dominant bucks to advertise…
