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Mineral Sites
Habitat Improvement
Messages posted to thread:
Early Bird 09-Mar-18
Scar Finga 09-Mar-18
Moons22 09-Mar-18
t-roy 09-Mar-18
drycreek 09-Mar-18
jstephens61 09-Mar-18
Early Bird 09-Mar-18
Fuzz 10-Mar-18
DanaC 10-Mar-18
spike buck 10-Mar-18
Early Bird 10-Mar-18
CAS_HNTR 10-Mar-18
Ogoki 10-Mar-18
drycreek 10-Mar-18
Early Bird 10-Mar-18
Woods Walker 10-Mar-18
t-roy 11-Mar-18
Ambush 11-Mar-18
Huey 11-Mar-18
Bow Crazy 12-Mar-18
GhostBird 12-Mar-18
grubby 12-Mar-18
Early Bird 12-Mar-18
Bestbowhunter 12-Mar-18
Early Bird 12-Mar-18
dm/wolfskin 12-Mar-18
dm/wolfskin 12-Mar-18
dm/wolfskin 12-Mar-18
Bestbowhunter 13-Mar-18
Early Bird 25-Mar-18
Early Bird 25-Mar-18
Corn bore 25-Mar-18
BOWNUT 26-Mar-18


Date:09-Mar-18

Hello all, Do you guys establish a mineral site near(within shooting range where legal) a tree stand. If not where do you like to establish them?

Ray

Date:09-Mar-18

yep, but we can only use salt blocks and minerals used for cattle here in AZ. It's spotty, but it still can work. This would be near ground blinds and tree stands.

Date:09-Mar-18

Be careful. I know a guy that took a deer during bow season in Nh. The local warden reached out to him to see if he could bring a warden in training to the kill site to teach him some things. "Yup, go right ahead". Well, there was residue from a mineral site in front of his stand. (He removed all the minerals long before the season, but there was still residue). Well he was cited, license revoked for a year and they took the deer.

By: t-roy
Date:09-Mar-18

Not legal to do so in Iowa. Also, the vast majority of deer, for the most part, abandon the mineral sites shortly after the bucks shed their velvet in early-mid September.

Date:09-Mar-18

We don't have those stupid laws here, but I don't hunt over my trace minerals. I always put them where I think deer feel safe, which is usually in or near bedding areas. I have my doubts about how much they help the deer anyway, so I'm using them to get pics of deer. I used to use the granulated type, but now I've switched to the trace mineral blocks for cattle. It's the salt that attracts them anyway.

Date:09-Mar-18

Not in Illinois.

Date:09-Mar-18

My first year hunting ohio, I believe it is legal. I am looking to put a trail cam on a mineral site, which is near on of my stands. Has anyone seen any negative effect when using minerals..

By: Fuzz
Date:10-Mar-18

Fuzz's embedded Photo

I've never seen negative reactions to mineral links that have been there awhile. As always, deer get spooked by "new" things that suddenly appear the day before season opens. As posted before, I've noticed that bucks use them heavily from early spring until about the1st of Sept. Does tend to use them all year but they can go in streaks too. I've had very good luck with Lucky Buck granular and Trophy Rocks.

By: DanaC
Date:10-Mar-18

I just use the 50 lb. red salt 'cattle' blocks from a feed & grain store. Put one on a big stump and it will last a year plus. Then they'll gnaw the stump!

Date:10-Mar-18

spike buck's embedded Photo

Date:10-Mar-18

Thanks for the posts. I bought 1 trophy rock, 1 pail of lucky buck and some Grandpa Ray's. I am going to try them a see which work best in my area. I have a couple of spots in mind and they are going out next weekend.

Date:10-Mar-18

I like them for setting a trail camera over.....besides that I don't think they are anything for hunting season

By: Ogoki
Date:10-Mar-18

This is not what the op was exactly asking . I had 5 mineral licks going last year on different farms. Not at stand sites and had a camera on each. I used dicalcium phosphate and red trace mineral salt. On all 5 cameras had abundance of does and bucks . By late August my pictures were almost NONE. A dairy farmer put me on to this combination and see others here have used the same.

I am not a wildlife biologist but my conclusions were that the does were not nursing the fawns as heavy then and the antler growth was done or near done. Just my thoughts . I gave a friend several buckets of this . He used at stands . He didn't have any luck hunting at those stands, but had pictures like i did.

Date:10-Mar-18

drycreek's embedded Photo

This is what I use them for. I like watching antlers grow (on bucks that I'll probably never see in the flesh :-( )

Date:10-Mar-18

Nice pics!! Something to keep things exciting.

Date:10-Mar-18

I'm in Illinois also so it's a moot point for me. But I do have horses, which I put salt/mineral blocks out for. With horses there's a time of the year (mostly winter/spring) when they literally devour them and then it'll change over to where they barely touch them because the new grass is beginning to grow and they get what they need from that. My guess is that deer are probably very much the same.

By: t-roy
Date:11-Mar-18

I disagree that they don’t really do any good. I can’t say they increase antler growth, but I do believe they help some with the overall health of the deer.

By: Ambush
Date:11-Mar-18

Deer need minerals, as do all ungulates. Find a good natural lick in an area with a varied ungulate population and it will look like a wagon wheel with trails coming to the hub.

There was a study done in Utah, I believe, that's intent was to study the affects of feeding migratory deer. There was a side study where samples were taken from all the deer that died, including road kill, in the area. They discovered that deer not only used the supplement minerals, but that they "chose" the minerals their bodies needed when they needed it. Pregnant does picked different minerals than non-pregnant does and bucks different again. Preference changed with conditions and season. For that reason, I always put out blocks or granulate of different mineral contents, side by side, all from the feed store. And the preference is seasonal.

In my area (mainly mule deer) the deer hit the minerals very early spring and continue all summer to pretty much quit by the end of August. Fawns will keep it up much longer and moose year round.

So, yes, minerals benefit and attract ungulates. At least in mineral deficient areas.

By: Huey
Date:11-Mar-18

Spring and summer. They are done using them by hunting season.

Date:12-Mar-18
Bow Crazy's Supporting Link

Here is a great article from QDMA on minerals.

Date:12-Mar-18

GhostBird's embedded Photo

I'm like drycreek... I use them in front of trail cams to watch antler growth.

By: grubby
Date:12-Mar-18

I think you could kill a buck over them early in the year, I know people who have. I don't hunt over them. I do have several on my property and run cameras on them. As far as them helping the deer?? I'm sure they do, maybe more the does than bucks but they are a great inventory tool.

heres what I use: 1 part Di-calcium phosphate, this is a dairy feed additive bought at feed stores. Comes in 50lb Bags at around $11.00 you need one bag.

2 parts Trace mineral salt, the red and loose kind without the medications. Comes in 50lb Bags you need two bags.

1 part Stock salt, ice cream salt. Comes in 50lb Bags you need one bag.

Directions:

-Use a 3 pound or similar size coffee can to use as your measure for each part of the mix.

-Mix all together well but not until read to use, keep ingredients separate until ready to put to use.

-Dig or tear up a circle in the soil .

-Mix your mineral mixture with the soil. -I add about 6 gallons per site every year.

Date:12-Mar-18

Thanks for all the great responses. At the very least I will set up a site for a camera. Thanks also for DIY recipe I am going to give it a try.

Date:12-Mar-18

We use 50 # Di-calcium, 50 # Trace mineral salt and 50 # Stock salt. The lick do decrease in early August. At that time we add a 5 gallon bucket of dried molasses to the mix. They just keep hitting the licks. We also take a small weed tiller with us. Till up the ground, pour the minerals on and till then together. They hit the licks much harder when the minerals are tilled into the dirt. We have seen a big increase in larger rack bucks. BTW, we do this on our lease in WV only.

Date:12-Mar-18

BB, do you hunt near them?

Date:12-Mar-18

dm/wolfskin's embedded Photo

Date:12-Mar-18

dm/wolfskin's embedded Photo

Date:12-Mar-18

dm/wolfskin's embedded Photo

Date:13-Mar-18

Yes we do.

Date:25-Mar-18

Early Bird's MOBILE embedded Photo

I was at the property for the past couple of days, hung a few stands and put in the first mineral site. I used Grandpa Rays with some lucky buck. Here is a pic of the mineral site and a very nice rub I found.

Date:25-Mar-18

Early Bird's MOBILE embedded Photo

Oops, here is the mineral site.

Date:25-Mar-18

Illegal here in SD........but,but pallets of the stuff in stores that sell hunting products!!

By: BOWNUT
Date:26-Mar-18

I use the red cow ones. I have watched does and bucks lick them while hunting. They might not use them as much during hunting season but they create a pattern that the deer check on daly. Kind of like a dog to a fire hydrant looking for scent and marking it. The deer will follow other deer scent to it whether they use it or not. I get photos off mine year round.


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