I would like to give some of the bucks in my area a head start as far as antler growth goes this year. I have tried mineral blocks years before and the deer don't touch them. What do you guys recommend to put in front of trail cameras that will be beneficial and keep them coming into the cameras?
I've had alot of success with lucky buck mineral... great stuff! check it out at luckybuckmineral.com or mc sporting goods carries it, if you have one of those.
Try some BB2. Not cheap but is a great product. Here's their web site. http://www.bignjindustries.com/
About a month ago i made a new salt lick, I dug down about 4 inches and the put mineral salt in the bag form 2- 50 lb bags mixed into the dirt and then covered it in corn, cost about 25 dollars and put a cam on it and left it. I put this one in a thicket. We have a few along field edges that in the past have been hit hard. also i here vanilla scent trees that you would put in your car air freshener will bring deer in for pics.
I have been using MonsterRaxx minerals and it has worked great for me. There is low salt content and it has all the good stuff for my deer. I have noticed a dramitic change in my deer heards health since using this for the past 2 years. I would recommend checking them out.
Trophy rock is what I have been using. I have personally seen deer come into my parents back yard and lick the thing for minutes at a time. They seem to like it and the ingredients listed are very good for the herd.
Just a suggustion for the mineral licks, I've had better success with them by a water source then out by a food source. Protein pellets work good and are cheaper then most of the brand name stuff.
I concur with 130Woodman. When were using them they were more effective and hit harder (read: more often) when placed near water sources. On one property we found the best mineral lick was from a 25# (I think) block from Farm & Fleet. All I remember is that it had a pick of a deer and smelled like apples. It typically would take about a week for this to get just pounded. One year we went thru 4 in one location that was about 20 yards from a natural spring!! On the other property we found that Black Magic (not sure who the manufacturer is) was dynamite and the 25# blocks would hardly be touched. The Black Magic was a powder that was simple to use, but would not be touched until it rained. We have not used any supplements for a number of years now and have not noticed a difference in the health of the deer harvested or the rack quality. The negative is that we no longer get the quantity of mid-Summer pics we were getting during those years. I have a friend in North-Central WI who makes his own. If I remember correctly he makes around 200# from the local feed store for like $50-60. He got the "recipe" off of lake-link.com is all that I remember. Good luck!
