Elk Rubs: How to Read and Understand Them

It was day two of a solo elk hunt in Montana. Midway through the morning, when I’d still failed to raise a bugle, I hiked down the ridge to take a closer look at the rub line I’d been working.

From underneath the open pines on the flat above, dozens of rubs left no doubt elk were there, or so I thought. I stayed on top of the ridge because it was easier to cover ground and better for broadcasting calls. When I got to the first rub, I was shocked and embarrassed. The feeling got worse at the second and third rubs I looked at. Every rub I inspected on the hillside revealed the same story. They weren’t fresh.

From afar, the dozens of rubs I focused hunting near looked new, the white bark appearing wet through binoculars. But when I closely studied the trees I found the glistening to be dried, clear sap. It got worse. Not only were the strips of peeled bark hanging on the trees, dry, they were curling on the edges. The shredded bark on the ground was also dry, even crinkling to the touch. It was a rookie mistake that could have been avoided had I just taken time to hike down the hill and look closely at the rubs when I first laid eyes on them. The mistake cost me valued time on this archery hunt.

It took two more days to find elk, nearly three miles away, two drainages to the north. Not only did I misread that rub line, I also guessed wrong. Given the height and similarity of each rub, I figured I was chasing one herd bull. But when I caught up with them, I found multiple cow herds, each with their own herd bull and more satellite bulls than I could count. The next two days I called in 11 bulls to within 40 yards.

Valuable Sign

Rubs are one of the most valuable signs an elk hunter can study. The progression of elk rubs starts with the stripping of velvet in mid-August. As soon as the velvet is stripped, testosterone levels begin to spike, which is the start of the pre-rut. With the beginning of the rut only a couple weeks away, elk rubs continue to build.

The rubs I misread on the Sept. 1 archery opener were at least a week old—too old to focus on in terms of hunting. They may have been two weeks old, or older. Exactly how old was hard to say. Day and nighttime temperatures, wind, even how deep the rubs are, along with the physical condition of the trees all play a part in aging rubs.

I’ve seen bulls make rubs from mid-August, through September, and very heavily into mid-October in multiple Rocky Mountain states. I’ve called in a number of bulls in October in areas where I’ve found fresh rubs, even wallows. I’ve seen fresh Roosevelt rubs in late October, with the latest being made on Nov. 9th. I once watched a Roosevelt bull mount a cow on Thanksgiving day, after incessant bugles gave away its location. As with most animals, the males of the species are almost always ready to breed once the pre-rut kicks in, so I credit these late rubs to scenarios where a cow missed being bred the first or even second time around.

Cows are only receptive to breeding for 24 hours once they reach estrous, and while they’re rarely missed being bred during their first heat cycle, it does happen. If they’re not bred, cows will come into heat 21 days later. They’ll have up to three estrus cycles. Not only can this explain why you’re seeing rubs well into fall and early winter, but why late-arriving calves pop up.

Late Season Bulls?

Two summers ago I picked up multiple calf elk on trail cameras that were born very late in July, two months behind normal for the area. Counting back 245 days from when a calf is born—that’s the gestation period of elk—revealed when those cows were bred. If you’re seeing fresh rubs in late fall rifle hunts, don’t be afraid to call.

I’ve found late season rubs are most often made by satellite bulls. This is because the big bulls are in seclusion, licking their wounds and trying to put on weight before the onset of winter. A big bull can lose up to 20% of its body weight during the rut and they won’t risk injury in a late season fight and burn more calories to potentially breed with only one cow. While late rutting bulls aren’t as eager to come to calls as they are during the peak of the rut, their bugles will reveal their location, giving you a starting point for a game plan.

From mid-August into early September, rub lines can cover a lot of real estate. These are rubs often made by herd bulls as they attempt to gather cows that are strewn about, or on the move. Multiple bulls will take part in developing these early rub lines, explaining why there might be so many rubs in one area. This is also a time of testosterone buildup, meaning the sight and scent of rubs will trigger more bulls to rub on nearby trees.

Rubs are a sign to other bulls to keep away, that the area is taken. Rubs also let cows know what bulls are in the area. In addition to the physical rub, pheromones from the bull’s preorbital glands are deposited on the tree and bark, sending further signals to bulls and cows. The more intense the testosterone build, the more violent the rub will be. Bulls often rub trees for several minutes to strengthen neck muscles in preparation for fighting during the rut.

Urine Equals Aggression

Bulls sometimes rub-urinate when making rubs on trees. The more a rub area smells of urine, the more aggressive I’ve found those bulls to be, meaning they’re more reactive to calling.

I’ve also seen numerous bulls rub their forehead on stumps, clumps of brush, even the ground and low-hanging tree branches to spread the pheromones from their preorbital glands. They’ll also rub and urinate at the same time. Throughout the entire rut, I’ve noticed that young bulls sparring will often motivate one or both of them to make rubs, but these pale in comparison to rubs made by bigger bulls which are often on larger trees, reach higher and are more destructive.

As the peak of the rut builds, look for rubs near wallows. Elk are herd animals, meaning mass breeding takes place within a cow herd, usually within a short window. This equates to calves being born in the same timeframe, thereby increasing their survival rate based on safety in numbers. Bulls rely on wallows to cool off and spread scent, and can have more than one within their established territory. Rubs often surround these wallows, a herd bull’s way of marking its territory. Find these rubs, then study the trees for fresh mud deposited there from the wallowing. Some trees will be caked with mud that’s dried, revealing a bull is using the wallow and the rub regularly.

Trail cameras I’ve set on wallows have revealed as many as six bulls using one wallow in a single day; the herd bull, of course, with the rest being satellite bulls. Often more than one satellite bull enters the wallow at once. While a bull will often rub its body up against trees near a wallow, I’ve found very few rubs next to a wallow. The rubs are made on the perimeter of the wallow, often 50 yards or more away. How far away rubs are made from wallows depends on the habitat. Thicker habitat often finds rubs closer to wallows. Rubs in combination with wallows hold a lot of valuable information for hunters to capitalize on, including which directions bulls are moving and how recent their activity.

Territorial Rub Lines

The first thing I look for when a rub is located are older rubs. Early season rub lines are often by themselves. Territorial rubs will be surrounded by older rubs. In many areas I hunt I’ve documented rubs being made for seven consecutive years or more. In places where I hunt non-migratory Roosevelt elk, I’ve found rubs in the same places for over 30 years. Such a history of rubs—even over a few years—tells us the habitat is ideal for cows to thrive in, and where the cows are during the pre-rut and rut, bulls won’t be far.

Should events like wildfires, intense winter snow and ice storms, even mass logging change the habitat, elk may leave the area. One of my favorite elk hunting spots when I was in college was loaded with elk. Extensive clear cuts followed by wildfires have left the area void of elk for over 20 years. They left and never came back.

From my experience, pre-rut rubs are more abundant and linear compared to peak rut rubs. This is because random bulls can make them at anytime, be they trying to compete with bulls, appeal to cows, or just blow off steam. Pre-rut rubs also seem to occur more frequently at the same elevation, often along a bench or sidehill.

Peak rut rubs are often high on a ridge and can extend to the bottom of a canyon, depending on where cows are bedding, feeding and drinking. While a herd bull will try to corral the harem, it’s never contained in as tight of quarters as it’d like, meaning the bull has to travel and stay ahead of the herd. Water availability, food sources, predators, storms, fires, even human activity can cause elk to shift feeding, bedding and watering locations and influence how they reach them, thus where bull rubs will be made.

Be it summer scouting, hunting the rut, even post-rut hunts, the closer attention you pay to rubs, the more you’ll learn about the elk you pursue. The result will be an increased understanding of the elk rut process and how bulls communicate with one another and display their dominance, which ultimately equates to an efficient game plan and more meat in the freezer.

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