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East Meets West HuntHunting Adventures Gear Training Preparation Conservation Author: Beau Martonik
The East Meets West Hunt Podcast is your resource for all things adventure hunting. This podcast is for the hunter that loves planning and preparing for the hunt, just as much as the hunt. Whether it's deer hunting for big woods mountain bucks, chasing elk in the Rocky Mountains, and anything in between, we will talk to successful hunters from all over to provide the EMW community with useful knowledge and motivation to continue to live their life through a series of adventures. Language: en Genres: Sports, Wilderness Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ep. 498: What Deer See at Scrapes That You Never Will (New Research)
Episode 498
Tuesday, 7 July, 2026
Beau Martonik breaks down a peer-reviewed study from the UGA Deer Lab published in December 2025 that found whitetail rubs and scrapes emit measurable UV photoluminescence that deer can detect and humans can't. Beau covers the core finding, what's causing the glow in rubs vs. scrapes (more specific than most coverage reported), a timing detail that most outlets got wrong, and what the study doesn't prove. He connects the science to six years of personal trail camera observations — including a 2020 signpost rub experiment where a buck would show up within 24 hours every time the rub was freshened — and lays out six practical takeaways for how this changes how he's thinking about hunting scrapes and rubs this fall. Topics include: why deer can see UV light and humans can't, why the downwind scrape-checking rule may be more complicated than conventional wisdom assumes, what doe scrape activity might tell us about two-way signpost communication, and why urine in the scrape is the signal — not the scrape itself. 00:00:00 — Intro 00:01:51 — The 2020 Signpost Rub Story 00:05:32 — What Hunters Have Always Assumed 00:07:27 — The UGA Study Breakdown 00:09:01 — Why Deer Can See UV Light and You Can't 00:11:17 — What's Causing the Glow 00:13:36 — The D'Angelo Quote 00:14:13 — The Timing Detail Most Coverage Got Wrong 00:17:52 — What the Study Does NOT Prove 00:19:14 — Bucks Approaching From All Directions 00:21:02 — Activity at Last Light 00:23:16 — Tree Species and the Licking Branch 00:25:29 — October vs. November Scrapes 00:27:25 — Does Working Scrapes 00:29:51 — Urine Placement and the 2020 Rub Revisited 00:34:02 — Six Practical Takeaways for This Fall 00:44:19 — Close Resources: Full study: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.72618 UGA press release: news.uga.edu/a-glow-up-in-deer-communication/ Enter the Deer Camp Giveway! - https://eastmeetswesthunt.com/pages/deer-camp-giveaway Instagram: @eastmeetswesthunt @beau.martonik Facebook: East Meets West Outdoors Shop Hunting Gear and Apparel: https://www.eastmeetswesthunt.com/ YouTube: Beau Martonik - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJon93sYfu9HUMKpCMps3w Partner Discounts and Affiliate Links: https://www.eastmeetswesthunt.com/partners Poncho Outdoors - Poncho Outdoors makes tough, sharp-looking, no-BS apparel for hardworking outdoorsmen who put in the time year-round. Go to ponchooutdoors.com/EASTMEETSWEST to save $10 and free shipping Amazon Influencer Page https://www.amazon.com/shop/beau.martonik Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
