I have to fess up that using a fake rubbing tree as a tactic to bring in a big buck was not our original idea, having borrowed the concept.
But, what the heck, it sounded like an interesting project, so we tried it.
The idea is really simple. Find a good cedar tree with a trunk size of about 6 to 10 inches in diameter and about 6 to 10 feet in length. I found just the tree on some wooded property near where I work. The cedar had already been blown down by a windstorm, so it was the perfect candidate.
Marvin Moak of Raymond brought his chainsaw to partner with me on the project. He cut me a good 8-foot log out of the tree and trimmed all the limbs off making it a smooth pole.
The hard part was drilling two holes through the top of the log pole perpendicular to each other for inserting opposing trimmed tree limbs to create fake licking branches.
Have you ever tried to drill an inch hole through a green cedar pole?
Me neither, and I hope I never have to again without the use of a super-heavy-duty drill and a long wood drill bit.
It was back in September before the 2013 deer season that Moak and I “planted” the artificial rub tree out in the middle of a food plot roughly 75 yards from a ladder stand I have hidden back in the edge of the woods overlooking the plot.
We cut two green limbs to slide into the holes drilled in the rub post for licking branches. We have to admit we did the whole project with a measure of skepticism, but still it was an intriguing project.
Hunters in camp asked why a cedar tree?
Most every deer hunter does know that bucks love to rub on a cedar tree. It is because of the aromatic scent of the cedar oil when a buck exposes the wood fibers by rubbing the tree.
What happened that 2013-14 deer season, you ask?
Well, in a word, nothing. The artificial rub tree was not touched.
But, late in the 2014-15 past season, as I was riding my ATV through the plot past the rub post, I stopped to inspect the cedar pole.
Whammo!
Our fake rub tree had been hit. It had been torn all up and down on one side. My error was not posting a camera nearby to catch the action.
We won’t make that mistake this year.
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