I got permission to hunt a 40 in northern Minnesota and am basically allowed to do whatever I want on it. I purchased a couple of bags of Monster Raxx and intend to put it out in front of a couple of cameras, but I wanted to check a couple things before I did. MN Regulations state that you cannot bait during the season and all bait must be removed from the hunting area 10 days before the season. There is a clause that states that minerals are not considered bait so long as they do not contain anything but minerals, in other words, no fillers or sugars (dextrose, sucrose, etc.). Does Monster Raxx fall in the category of a mineral or a bait? In addition, I've read in other forums that hunting over the minerals directly is possibly illegal, though I could not find anything in the regulations that stated this, or if so, how far from said minerals one would have to be. Finally, I read a lot of responses that said that by September the deer were not likely to frequent the mineral sites. That the majority of them only went to the sites while building antlers in the summer. This idea seems wrong to me. I would think that the deer would be more interested in visiting those sites as their food selection became scarcer in the fall and winter months, but any information on this would be greatly appreciated.
Call your local DNR. Talk to the officer in charge of your area. It's simple to make the call and I'd rather be safe than very very sorry. As far as deer visiting mineral sites. They will visit all year long.
