What's everyone using for minerals this year? Lets say that the main goal is to simply attract deer for inventory + give the actual minerals/supplements they need, what minerals would you set up? Looking at trying something new this year and want to see what everyone is using.
Trophy rock and deer cane liquid work great for me in Texas. I've tried trace mineral that everyone swears by from tractor supply and didn't have a thing touch it.
There is nothing, and mean nothing like Lucky Buck. That stuff is dynamite for deer. I can't speak to the nutritional value or anything like that, but as for an attractant I've never used anything better. Blessings.....Pastorjim Sent from my RCT6703W13 using Tapatalk
I use Artemix. I drop a block of salt in the hole and top it with the artemix and they beat it up. https://garlandanimalwellness.com/product/artemix-concentrated-mineral/
What else is everyone using? Lets get some discussion going! I used a salt block last year for picture inventory but then also used Purina Antler Max for the "health benefits."
I can't say I ever have. I really don't know how anyone could say that without some sort of scientific study on a particular deer or herd. As far as growing bigger or better antlers I think there are just to many variables on wild herd to know for sure. I just use the stuff I use because it attracts deer to my cameras. Blessings...........Pastorjim Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
Here in Idaho it is illegal to hunt near salt or minerals. I put some out in the spring time in my whitetail area just for hanging a camera on, well away from my stand. It is invaluable after the season to show what bucks survived the season and that's its main purpose for me, although the velvet pics during the summer are fun to see. My whitetail area has a few elk around, but it is mostly deer that hit it. I like to just put it around an old stump. When it rains the salt is carried into the ground along the roots and it seems to last longer. The site doesn't get near as tore up as the ones I find in my elk hunting area, the elk really go after it. I find salt licks all the time during archery elk season on public ground. They are usually very torn up. I've seen ones that were salted for several years in the same spot that are dug out 3' deep in a concave shape and are about 12' in circumference. Many of these are put out by rifle hunters hoping to hold elk in their favorite spots, but I've also found many with stands hung over them. So I guess all I have to offer to the conversation is that salt seems to attract them like wildfire, especially in an area like ours where it isn't a natural occurrence. They seem to really hammer them in the summer and then it slows way down by Sep/Oct from the sign I see around them. It then picks back up once snow starts to come, until there is too much and they move to lower elevations.
I have heard of a trick around here. Put the salt in a cotton bag, tie it shut and tie it on the top of a limb than hangs down. The Rain will dissolve the salt and it soaks into the ground. Plus the bag is out of sight and will decompose. Check on legality for this. I believe it is a no-no in TN.
For the past several years I have used the following with success Tractor Supply 50 lb bag of general purpose trace mineral ($15) and 50 lb bag of stock salt. ($7) I mix 3 parts mineral to 1 part salt in a 5 gal bucket. Pour on ground in a pile. I have 4 different sites on the property I hunt and refresh the sites 2-3 times per year. Deer have wallowed out holes at the site locations. I have also used water softener salt pellets with success, they take a little longer to dissolve. The deer don’t seem to mind I’m not using a “deer specific” mineral mix. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Does anybody put minerals on public land? I have a 20 lb trophy rock in my pack right now for hiking with and intended to set it in the general area of a spot I found last year. Just hate to end up with so much sign somebody else finds it. Maybe a smaller rock?
A mineral block from tractor supply, and a bag of mineral supplements seems to work fine out here in NC
The ones I find on public land are noticeable from the freeway type of trails going to it...or right on the side of an atv trail. Put it well off of any atv trails / old skid roads, most people are lazy and won't get out into the timber more than a 1/2 mile or so. Burying the block so it's flush with the ground might make it less noticeable?
I'm going for inventory only (I have one mineral site on 50 acres). I ended up with the following (I should have just went and got stock minerals but won't have the time to get to the co-op anytime soon). 2 bags of crushed trophy rock Bucket of Lucky Buck Bag of Purina Antler Max Haven't had much luck with the regular trophy rock so thought I'd try the crushed stuff.
