Anyone have a trail cam over a mineral block or trophy rock?

Anyone using a generic mineral block or a trophy rock and have a trail cam over it?

 

Would love to try it, however it is illegal in good old Illinois. Most people out of state will not believe this, but they actually sell mineral blocks, trophy rocks, etc. in a lot of places even though it is illegal to use. Illinois has some great hunting, but following all of the weird rules is tough.

 

I've tried about everything you can think of but for whatever reason I've never tried either of those.

 

Many of them here. Next few pulls should be good.

 

Not this year but couple years worth last few years

 

Trace Mineral blocks used to work great for me, i haven't put one out in 3 years though. Ive been trying the Monster Raxx/Lucky 7/Deer Cain's but i havnt had near as much luck. I did put out some 5 lbs mineral blocks and it looks like ill have to go with 50 pounders again.

 

I had one over a Trophy Rock for the first part of the year and they hit it really good. Trophy Rock is mostly salt so it attracts them pretty good.

 

Trophy rocks don't hold up well in the wet weather we have been having.both of the ones I put out are gone,one in two weeks. The trace mineral blocks hold up much better and under $6 here.

 

I ran multiple cameras on trophy rock last season with good results. That said I have only Monster Raxx out this season. You do have to keep the rock elevated. It lasts a long time, but on one site I have placed it on the ground in an established site and when the rain came and pooled up it dissolved the rock over night. Otherwise on one site the deer hit it all winter and when spring rolled around there was still an 1/8th of it left.

 

Yep

Using a mineral block.
My son-in-law regularly runs cattle on this particular pasture so it's legal.
The deer are hitting it almost every day.

RC

 

Pg 15 of the Illinois Digest of Hunting & Trapping Regulations:

Hunting Deer Over Salt, Mineral or Bait
It is illegal to take deer by the use or aid of
bait or baiting of any kind. For the purposes
of this Section, "bait" means any material,
whether liquid or solid, including food, salt,
minerals and other products that can be ingested, placed or scattered in such a manner
as to attract or lure white-tailed deer. "Baiting" means the placement or scattering of
bait to attract deer.An area is considered as
baited during the presence of and for 10 consecutive days following the removal of bait.


To me this means you can use mineral, block, or bait, up until 10 days before you hunt that land. You can keep it there year round... as long as you don't hunt that property. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Only over my Monster RAXX sites. Used the Trophy Rock for a few years back in the day but didn't get consistent results. Mineral block we only tried once and didn't get much of a reaction from the deer whatsoever.

 

Siman/OH

How were the deer utilizing the mineral blocks? How did you have them placed? Would they eat the soil around a mineral block as it dissolved? If you farm, could you have your soil tested by the local ag dept, see if it is different in any way?

 

I placed a trace mineral block by a stump every spring from 07"-10"and the deer visited all summer long. Pretty simple. I abandoned the spot 3 years ago though because a logging road got put in basically on top of it.





I have yet to replicate that success with any bag mineral mix.



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You will have to define success a bit.

Do you have black walnuts in the area of the bag mineral sites?

 

Success...deer visited every night. A few different mature bucks would stop in a few times a week. I consider that success.

Yes, we do have Walnuts. My farm is named Walnut Valley Farm...lol

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How close have you put bagged minerals to walnuts?

 

....i dont have exact measurements. Probably at least 100 yards. Ive put bagged minerals within a few yards of this old site and it goes untouched. They just dont work (for me).

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There is likely a reason. Walnuts produce quinone, which are bitter to deer. If minerals are mixed with that soil, I do not know what deer would do, though they do show a distaste for bitter.

Have you ever tried "stumping" a bagged mineral and see if the deer like that?

I am wondering if there is something in the soil they find distasteful.

It did not look like they ate much soil in that block picture, more chewed on the stump. Was the salt block on the stump at first?

I saw they ate the corn at the mineral site, showing it may again be something with the soil. Can you have the local ag dept test it?

 

I could...but i dont care enough to do all that honestly. If they dont like it so be it.

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