Like the title says. What do you feel is the best mineral out there right now?im using infracktion right now
I assumed beneficial because he asked about mineral not attractant but as you know Sota...ain't always clear on the boards :D
It is really difficult to tie antler growth to effects of a mineral supplement. A buck in my area typically blows up after age 3 so it is hard to say if it is the mineral or age combined with maturing. I use the monster Raxx and get pictures of does enjoying the mineral as well as bucks.
I use a local company from Michigan, Pops Loose Moose. They sell a mineral attractant with little to no "salt". Ive also used Monster Raxx in the past and had success using as an attractant. My permanent sites are all pops though.
Yes beneficial. But like anything if it really is that beneficial it will attract them to come back often.
What I am saying is that salt is not a beneficial mineral. But that a good benificial mineral will make deer feel better therefor they will come back to it.
You have said multiple times that they have little to no salt in their product and they claim to have half the salt as others. But they are talking about Lucky Buck which has 64% salt. They have a minimum of 32% salt. There are a number of mineral products out there that are below that.
I've used a fair amount of different minerals and attractiveness Monster Raxx was the best. They tore a hole in the ground trying to get it faster than any other mineral I've used. Can no longer use minerals my area in WI. I don't feel any of the mineral products will do much if anything for antler growth, but that's my opinion. Still Monster Raxx showed the most attractiveness.
Monster raxx looks like some good stuff and I'm going to have to try it. I've always used the trace mineral blocks from southern states and the deer hammer it. Don't know if it actually benifits antlet growth though...
Salt is not only a beneficial mineral to deer but it is a necessity as it is to every mammal. It helps maintaining electrolyte and fluid balances in the body. It enables the brain and nerves to communicate and function properly. Salt is a life enabling mineral. When deer through spring and summer are eating 4-7 pounds per day of high water content plant material, they pee a lot and with it goes the salt from their body. Making salt available enables deer to eat more and any deer farmer or livestock man will tell you that food consumption is what puts on pounds and antler. Good clean water is the other necessity that goes along with the equation. They crave it because it's a necessity, not because it's candy as is often misconstrued. The other misconception is that it doesn't take a lot of it to fill requirements though. It's just one of those things that is needed to a certain extent but needed none-the-less. As far as minerals goes, mineral needs could be addressed through healthy soil fertility and PH (calcium amendment) but since most soil in the US is deficient in several minerals, salt licks make for a convenient delivery method. Deer bones and antler growth benefit most from Calcium and Phosphorus at roughly a 2:1 ratio so no doubt getting them to increase their intake of Calcium and Phosphorus through salt intake is going to provide benefits from both angles. Salt doesn't directly impact mineralization of antler and bone but it can help the body function more efficiently and in so far as that...indirectly impacts body frame, weight and antler growth, provided the mineral intake, calories and fiber are available. It's health and fitness, no different than a body builders diet...limiting factors like a chain is no better than it's weakest link.
Great post, Covey. While I'm clearly no expert, what you said seems logical to me. And I try to apply logic whenever possible as it seems to be lacking around me these days. On topic...I used to buy whatever mineral was on sale. This year I tried Trophy Rock exclusively. Seems to work no better nor no worse than what I've used in yrs past. I will say I prefer blocks as they seem to last longer in the weather.
Thanks, just what I've gathered from reading a lot of university and livestock studies and from personal observations over the years. I use trophy rocks a lot, A LOT. I like them a great deal but there does seem to be some inconsistency to them. I think I've bought about 40 so far this year and of those there are always a few that seem to deteriorate unevenly. Some will melt away smoothly while some others have solids in them that are either insoluble or dissolve much slower than the rest of the "rock". The deer seem to shy away from the ones that dissolve unevenly (or bumpy). I use both trophy rocks and I still mix range mineral salt loose in bag with Di-cal Phosphate at 2:1 and pour out about twice per year at the trophy rock locations. Deer eat a hole in the ground everyplace I pour it or they'll eat a stump apart for it if I pour it on a log, stump or stick of wood. I've never used Tom's Monster Raxx products but I have looked at their ingredients and it looks like he has some solid science and research behind it as well. I wouldn't be afraid or against using it either, from what I've read on the label it looks fine. A lot of very capable people use it and endorse it, certainly more convenient than trying to mix up several hundred pounds in buckets for folks that only do a few sites. I just like the DIY nature of mixing it and it's more feasible for me in our scale to do bulk bag DIY mix and trophy rocks. I used to use the big red livetock blocks as well and they always seemed to work fine but the TR are "all natural" and that's what my landlord prefers so that's what we use.
Ive never used Lucky Buck before, are you saying Pops Loose Moose uses Lucky Buck with their own mineral?
No. I said that they claim half the salt of other minerals. They are using Lucky Bucks percentage for their claim of half. They are using a mineral with A LOT of salt to base their claims.
There is less than %30 sodium in a 3 lb bag of pops mineral, it works well for me so I will keep using it.
I never said you shouldn't stop using it. If you like it and it works for you that is great. I was just pointing out you shouldn't say they have "little to no salt" when it is at least 32% and use more salt than a number of different types.
