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. Minerals

heres my recipe, 50 pounds of trace mineral salt, 50 pounds of horse minerals, and 50 lbs of rock salt. makes about 4 licks
im sure that the products offered by various companies are more specifically tailored to a deer's diet but it comes with money and i personally believe more product less quality is the best way to go here
 
I'm still waiting to see scientific evidence minerals do anything for free-ranging deer. Several researchers have tried to show benefits and could not.
 
BSK said:
I'm still waiting to see scientific evidence minerals do anything for free-ranging deer. Several researchers have tried to show benefits and could not.
i understand what your saying in regards to antler growth, but i have seen some studies which proved that, "potassium?" i believe helps with lactation in does. also the salts are necessary on some scale for the deer to live. if nothing else, its a good way to keep them here
 
mineral sites might make a difference in a deer if it stood over that site for 4 hours a day ,7 days a week, 365 days a year

deer do not need salt to live

mineral sites do not keep deer on a property,.. good habitat and cover do that.
 
deerchaser007 said:
mineral sites might make a difference in a deer if it stood over that site for 4 hours a day ,7 days a week, 365 days a year

deer do not need salt to live

mineral sites do not keep deer on a property,.. good habitat and cover do that.
For starters, most soils are lacking in Sodium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Cobalt, Selenium, and many other essential elements that are contained in trace mineral salt and have shown to be important to deer. Deer are definitely attracted to both sodium chloride (NaCl-table salt) and calcium chloride (CaCl-rock salt) licks. Scientists think that both sodium and calcium are necessary elements for many bodily functions of maintenance and growth, and deer (somehow realizing this) seek out sources of these elements lacking in the soil.
this was cpoied and pasted from a kent kammermeyer article. i wish i could find a better one but, in my understanding salt makes up a part of the blood stream in every mammal. since the body does not produce its own salt then the deer have to find it somewhere else, deer, of course, do not normally die due to lack of salt, but they do need it as do humans. salt can also be overdone as in humans but 50 lbs of salt per acre (kammeremeyers suggestion) would not hurt the deer population, and probably it would help it
 
hard country,

Yes, all of what you said about nutritional requirements is correct, but there is no evidence providing those things at mineral/salt licks benefits deer in real-world situations. When comparing deer that have access to mineral licks versus deer in the same area that do not, there is no difference in animal performance.

I use salt licks simply because they are great locations for photo-inventorying the resident summer population.
 
BSK said:
hard country,

Yes, all of what you said about nutritional requirements is correct, but there is no evidence providing those things at mineral/salt licks benefits deer in real-world situations. When comparing deer that have access to mineral licks versus deer in the same area that do not, there is no difference in animal performance.

I use salt licks simply because they are great locations for photo-inventorying the resident summer population.
no arguments here bsk i was simply refuting deer chaser's statement that "deer do not need salt to live" and also dis agree with him on the "mineral licks dont keep deer on a property, good habitat and cover do that"
im no expert, but there are many needs in a deer's diet and i know that deer actively seek out sodium, so if you dont have it, others will.
i would like to see more studies done on this. particularly on deer that live in overpopulated areas and feed on less than desirable browse. i believe that a deer with a normal diet would not especially benefit from this, but starving ones might.
i really wish i could remember the study on phosphorous and calcium supplements which aided does in lactation. i cant find it but if i can i will post.
 
Deer absolutely will seek out salt. In fact, there have been studies showing some deer traveled great distances to access it. However, I don't think it "holds" deer on a property. Even food plots won't "hold" deer on a property, although they will attract them to the property. The problem is, most feeding occurs at night, and deer will travel to and from their feeding areas during darkness.

The only thing I have found that will truly hold deer on a property during hunting hours (daylight) is good-quality cover and sanctuaries from hunting pressure.
 
BSK said:
Deer absolutely will seek out salt. In fact, there have been studies showing some deer traveled great distances to access it. However, I don't think it "holds" deer on a property. Even food plots won't "hold" deer on a property, although they will attract them to the property. The problem is, most feeding occurs at night, and deer will travel to and from their feeding areas during darkness.

The only thing I have found that will truly hold deer on a property during hunting hours (daylight) is good-quality cover and sanctuaries from hunting pressure.
again i agree cover is needed to keep deer around, but the more you have that the deer want, the less the hours they are off of your property and the more they are reaping the benefits of a proper habitat program
 
hard county said:
BSK said:
Deer absolutely will seek out salt. In fact, there have been studies showing some deer traveled great distances to access it. However, I don't think it "holds" deer on a property. Even food plots won't "hold" deer on a property, although they will attract them to the property. The problem is, most feeding occurs at night, and deer will travel to and from their feeding areas during darkness.

The only thing I have found that will truly hold deer on a property during hunting hours (daylight) is good-quality cover and sanctuaries from hunting pressure.
again i agree cover is needed to keep deer around, but the more you have that the deer want, the less the hours they are off of your property and the more they are reaping the benefits of a proper habitat program

Having "some of everything" is definitely the way to go. But if I had to pick just one habitat management practice, or of someone asks me what the most single powerful player is, the answer is good-quality and well-distributed cover habitat.
 

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