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Feb 12th, 2024
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 sam houston national forest scouting...
#1679271
09/18/10 11:51 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 35
txhunter25
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 35 |
i just went to the shnf to scout, i am finding a large amout of scrapes and rubs...all fresh and looks to be visited every day.. does this mean we are already in the pre rut stage..also does this mean that the buck could be mature? at one of the locations i found a magnolia tree 22 inches around that a buck has been rubbing, does that mean he has a huge rack lol just wandering.. ur insights will be much appreciated...
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: txhunter25]
#1679544
09/18/10 03:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,832
Kawabuggy
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,832 |
You may be on to something-according to Larry Weishuhns Rut Calendar as seen here on Versus.Com: http://www.versus.com/blogs/rut-map/ the rut is already going!!!!! Even more amazing about the most recent map is that Texas is the ONLY spot in the entire US, Mexico, & Canada that is experiencing rut activity! Should be great hunting for opening of archery. Not so great for rifle, until the 2nd rut gets going. I checked some scrape & rub areas that have been used repeatedly the last 4 years in a row and as of 2 weeks ago-no new activity! I hate to do scouting this close to opening though as it may spook a big deer from his normal travel routines. So, I'll have to wait & see what happens on opening day at the locations I've already scouted/selected. Best of luck to you this season! You bow hunting, or rifle, or both? Me=both!
A hog is nothing more than a bullet receptacle.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Kawabuggy]
#1679593
09/18/10 04:30 PM
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 14,144
glens
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 14,144 |
Have you ever scouted the sabine national forest around toledo bend lake?
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: glens]
#1679642
09/18/10 05:06 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,832
Kawabuggy
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,832 |
No. Have never been there myself.
A hog is nothing more than a bullet receptacle.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Kawabuggy]
#1679656
09/18/10 05:12 PM
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 14,144
glens
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 14,144 |
We inherited a place down the road from Fin and Feather on Toledo Bend Lake and was wondering. You simply walk out the back door and miles of Sabine Forest.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: glens]
#1680090
09/18/10 10:07 PM
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 5,044
Eland Slayer
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 5,044 |
Size of the tree has nothing to do with size of the buck.....I've seen 1.5 year old six pointers tearing up huge trees. lol. On the other hand.....I've also seen big mature bucks destroying pencil thin saplings as well.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Eland Slayer]
#1680464
09/19/10 01:39 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,954
huntwest
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,954 |
This time of year bucks are using trees to rub off their velvet. They usually use bigger trees with more backbone for this. It takes more than a sampling to get the velvet off and I am convinced their antlers much itch like heck because I have watched deer rub trees for 10 minutes non stop with bloody horns.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: huntwest]
#1680537
09/19/10 02:04 AM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,832
Kawabuggy
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,832 |
My wife called me at 7:30P to tell me that she just saw a buck chasing a doe. She is in the Woodlands having dinner with her sister. She is telling me that there is a 6 point buck basically glued to the rear end of a doe in the subdivision where her sister lives. It sounds to me like the rut really is on.
A hog is nothing more than a bullet receptacle.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Kawabuggy]
#1683690
09/20/10 04:33 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 934
hornedfrog
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 934 |
Saw a buck chasing a doe this morning.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Eland Slayer]
#1683728
09/20/10 04:52 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 31,963
txtrophy85
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 31,963 |
Size of the tree has nothing to do with size of the buck.....I've seen 1.5 year old six pointers tearing up huge trees. lol. On the other hand.....I've also seen big mature bucks destroying pencil thin saplings as well. somebodys grandfather told their dad that back in 67' and now its gospel. kinda like the bigger the scrape the bigger the buck type deal. ive seen three different bucks come and piss in the same scrape in a matter of hours
For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: txtrophy85]
#1683857
09/20/10 05:47 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 163
KOP
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 163 |
The diameter of the tree does not rreally matter but what you can look for are other trees next to the tree he is rubbing. for instance; if there is a tree behind the tree he is rubbing look to see if there are any marks were his antlers are hiting. Depending on the distance of space between trees it could mean that it is a large deer.
I caint spel so good. Git off mi bak
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: txtrophy85]
#1683863
09/20/10 05:49 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
only time I take tree size into account is if a deer is raking a telephone pole. That kind of gets your attention.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: rifleman]
#1685303
09/21/10 02:31 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 35
txhunter25
OP
Light Foot
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OP
Light Foot
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 35 |
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: glens]
#1687102
09/21/10 07:57 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972
Team Hillbilly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972 |
We inherited a place down the road from Fin and Feather on Toledo Bend Lake and was wondering. You simply walk out the back door and miles of Sabine Forest. pretty good area how far are you from the camp ground??
Team Hillbilly
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
Paralyzed Veterans of America
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: txhunter25]
#1687119
09/21/10 08:02 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 156
Texan0718
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 156 |
Be careful on any public land you hunt. Back in the '80's my folks had a place at Flamingo Lakes that bordered the SHNF north of Montgomery. My brother's and I tried hunting the forest several years in a row and always had problems with other hunters. We always wore lots of orange, the more the better, because a lot of people "noise" or “movement” hunted. That means that when something made noise or they saw movement in the brush they shot at it without bothering to identify what is was. After getting shot at several times while exiting the woods for the car we started wearing lots of hunter's orange, even when we were just scouting the area before hunting season because a lot of people also went up there just to go plinking. If we spotted another hunter we tried to be courteous and not interfere with their hunting. That was not always the case with other people. Several times we had set up ground blinds to hunt in only to find someone else in them or that someone else had been hunting them and trashed the area around them. And the locals were a whole other issue. Many of them treated the forest as their own personal property and resented anyone not from that area coming in to hunt. The final straw was when they shot up my brother’s car while we were hunting. Luckily for us a game warden drove by while they were in the process and arrested them. They told him that we were trespassing on their hunting spots and they didn’t like it. Turns out they hunted on the other side of FM149 from us, more than 2 miles away. Good luck!
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Texan0718]
#1687143
09/21/10 08:09 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972
Team Hillbilly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972 |
Be careful on any public land you hunt. Back in the '80's my folks had a place at Flamingo Lakes that bordered the SHNF north of Montgomery. My brother's and I tried hunting the forest several years in a row and always had problems with other hunters. We always wore lots of orange, the more the better, because a lot of people "noise" or “movement” hunted. That means that when something made noise or they saw movement in the brush they shot at it without bothering to identify what is was. After getting shot at several times while exiting the woods for the car we started wearing lots of hunter's orange, even when we were just scouting the area before hunting season because a lot of people also went up there just to go plinking. If we spotted another hunter we tried to be courteous and not interfere with their hunting. That was not always the case with other people. Several times we had set up ground blinds to hunt in only to find someone else in them or that someone else had been hunting them and trashed the area around them. And the locals were a whole other issue. Many of them treated the forest as their own personal property and resented anyone not from that area coming in to hunt. The final straw was when they shot up my brother’s car while we were hunting. Luckily for us a game warden drove by while they were in the process and arrested them. They told him that we were trespassing on their hunting spots and they didn’t like it. Turns out they hunted on the other side of FM149 from us, more than 2 miles away. Good luck! Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm other then a couple of drunks once and other hunters crossing through the area we've never had a problem you will need some hunter's orange, and stay out of my forest ya hear lol
Team Hillbilly
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
Paralyzed Veterans of America
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Team Hillbilly]
#1687151
09/21/10 08:12 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm other then a couple of drunks once and other hunters crossing through the area we've never had a problem you will need some hunter's orange, and stay out of my forest ya hear lol
if you mean the Zavalla area forest then 10-4. See more folks toting banjos through the woods than rifles. 
Last edited by rifleman; 09/21/10 08:12 PM.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: rifleman]
#1687158
09/21/10 08:13 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972
Team Hillbilly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972 |
yep they patrol the edges lol works too
Team Hillbilly
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
Paralyzed Veterans of America
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Team Hillbilly]
#1687186
09/21/10 08:20 PM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 15
sac-a-lait
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 15 |
I have hunted the SHNF for 12 years and never had any problems, you will see an occasional hunter.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Team Hillbilly]
#1687228
09/21/10 08:32 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
yep they patrol the edges lol works too I believe you..keep them on your side of the lake. 
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: rifleman]
#1687233
09/21/10 08:34 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972
Team Hillbilly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972 |
hummm I don't need them either, I guess they do move a few deer around
Team Hillbilly
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
Paralyzed Veterans of America
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Team Hillbilly]
#1687245
09/21/10 08:37 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
lol, anyone I see over our way I assume has a traveling meth lab. Sad thing to say, but it always appears that way when you go up river and see all the mess they leave behind.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: rifleman]
#1687281
09/21/10 08:51 PM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972
Team Hillbilly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,972 |
yep and you need to keep them up river for sure
Team Hillbilly
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
Paralyzed Veterans of America
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Team Hillbilly]
#1687301
09/21/10 08:56 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
Attoyac...not Angelina, not wanting you to think I'm a 'Crest bumpkin.
Last edited by rifleman; 09/21/10 08:58 PM.
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Re: sam houston national forest scouting...
[Re: Team Hillbilly]
#1687319
09/21/10 09:01 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,262
Texas Dan
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,262 |
A friend mentioned he has already found some scrapes and rubs in the area where we hunt in East Texas.
As for what size bucks rub which size trees, I tend to go with those who say that both big and lesser bucks will rub small trees and bushes, but that mostly big bucks rub big trees. That seems to make sense to me, as larger and older bucks want something with more resistance and "fight" in it.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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