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Early season rub lines aren’t random scars on trees—they’re timestamps. A fresh rub with moist shavings and bleeding sap tells you a buck was there hours ago, not weeks. The side of the tree that’s shredded points to his direction of travel, and a series of them strung together is a breadcrumb trail from bedding to feed. Read them right, and you’re not just admiring bark—you’re intercepting a deer in one of his most vulnerable windows.