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One more question

A couple other things....I can’t say that even after probably 20 hours of scouting I never saw anything that looked like a scrape, licking branch, etc. admittedly, the soil is loose and sandy but a well used scrape should still have been evident...no? Do these coastal scrub whitetails not scrape very much? Got 4 or more bucks on cam but zero rubs either? I also don’t see “trails” like what I’m used to seeing up north. The deer here seem to drift through an “area”.....like a subtle funnel along the edge of dense Titi along side more open oak/pine cover. Getting all my trail camera action in just such a spot...thick Titi Edge with fairly dense oak-pine. Got coyotes, jet black coyote, raccoons, does and bucks.

The rubs are usually smaller down her in Fl. the deer aren't very large either. I took a 6 pt 170 lb buck in SC last year and if I get a 120 buck in FL this year I'll be happy. I've come across a few scrapes this off-season.

Generally, the size of rubs and scrapes are in relation to the size of the buck. Here in florida, our species of deer are much smaller so their signs are also much smaller. As for their travel, they do use trails but not as much as up north and that, in my opinion, has to do with topography. there tends to be hills and mountains pretty much anywhere north of fla. I'm sure those deer walk the same path through mountains for ease of travel, but continue to do so out of habit even when not around mountains. We have a lot less changes in altitude here, so a deer veering off course probably isn't going to result in them falling to their death. i would also like to remind you that because of our warm climate, the rut is a lot more sporadic and difficult to predict. So while the rest of the country is just preparing for rut situations, your area may have just finished, or has been over for 4 months. There are some decent articles on florida rut activity that can explain it better than me. A little bit of research and you'll find what you're looking for. Good luck out there

I'm in South Central Flagler county and have been seeing plenty of scrapes, although I've yet to see any rubs. I spotted two bucks the other day and both were still in velvet so I'm assuming I'll start finding rubs any day now. The spot I'm focusing on is on sort of a ridge bordered on one side by a canal and a palmetto flat/pine forest on the other. Inside the pines it really opens up and although there are a few "main trails" there are probably a dozen just meandering through the same area. So yes they use trails, but like outdoorpat said they don't strictly.

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