What kind of Mineral block or Minerals
- Thread starter earlytime
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50lbs dicalcium phosphate, 100lbs trace mineral salt, 50lbs stock salt. Buy it all in bulk from your local coop or tractor supply store. Much much cheaper than buying the prepackaged brands. Mix all into 5 gallon buckets for portability. Start putting it out in March/April. Freshen your licks again mid summer, then once again in late Aug/September. Establish licks anywhere in close proximity to trails or food sources. Set them up in a depression so rainwater will pool and help dissolve the salts. Set up a camera and enjoy. Licks are very beneficial to does getting ready to fawn and bucks putting on horn. They will get hit heavily from May through August.
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catman529
Well-Known Member
I've used Redmond #10 mineral salt since 2014 and the deer dig a hole for it. It's the same salt as trophy rock but granulated. 50 lb bags at the co op and cheaper than trophy rock, but it's the same exact stuff.
There will be a lot of opinions on this topic, so just sharing what works for me. My guess is I've established 60-70 mineral licks over 45 years, including on a 4,000 acre trophy management lease I managed in west TN…so I do have some experience. Lots of good advice in the first post. I keep it simple and agree with catman…Redmond Mineral #10 is the best. Buy in 50 lb bags granulated. A new lick I'll start it off with two bags. Doesn't have to be near water, and some of my best licks have been far from water. It should be in a good traffic area. Best to establish now into early spring and I'll refresh twice a year. Here's one I started in early February last year and by end of March already had over 3,000 pics on it. By end of summer there were 3 separate holes about 1.5 feet deep and 2 ft across.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
With CWD creeping in, I'm thinking about abandoning our salt licks. For the last 20 years, I've used 1 bag of trace mineral in march and then 1/2 a bag replenishing those licks around the end of June.
Wolverine72
Well-Known Member
Wolverine72
Well-Known Member
Jcdeerman ..I was thinking the same thing.
Thinking it's better to be safe then sorry.
Thinking it's better to be safe then sorry.
If its about nutrients go with a good mineralized salt. If its about powerful attraction, go with straight white mixing salt. Many minerals have a bitter taste. We would have to pull white salt blocks to get cattle to consume minerals to protect against medical issue like grass tetanus.
I use Redmond's also and mix with dicalcium phosphate and #678 mineral from coop.
All the above is correct. I do the mixes on a couple sites and it works out well. But I also keep a Trophy Rock on all of them, and have the rock sitting atop a stump pedestal. Some of my sites are only that because it's easy to just backpack in a rock rather than a bucket of mix. To be honest, I think location seems to be the biggest determining factor in how well a site will get used. All of my sites get used most during spring/summer, but certain ones seem to be a steady year round draw. The pic is one of them. Right in middle of rut and that bruiser is hitting mineral.
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This is what I've been doing for years. It's a firewood chunk cut flush on bottom and bowled out on top. I use a 1" boring bit to drill a bunch of 3-4" deep holes all over the top. Between being bowled out and porous from the holes, it holds a lot of the mineral. By hold I mean the mineral & salt permeates the wood little by little over time. My two oldest ones are almost like concrete now. They must weigh more than 50lbs, way heavier than they ever were naturally. It does quite well at keeping the deer's faces off of the ground. They'll lick all over the sides and top but not often do I catch them licking the dirt.
I fill the holes and bowl with the salt/dical/min mix then lay a Trophy Rock on top.
Pic on left kinda shows a clear-ish pic of the pedestal. I'll take a closer pic of the top if you'd like. The middle pic shows how they use it. The last pic also shows how they use it but it's a different, generally much busier site with two pedestals. TSC was out of rocks so I subbed it with a white salt block. Notice the deer lick the wood, not the actual rocks or blocks. I assume it's because the wood is already saturated with mineral & salt. They continue doing that even if I haven't refreshed the site & no mineral is visible.
I have no idea if this is any safer for the deer than licking dirt, but I would have to think so. If nothing else it makes me feel better and makes for cool pictures.
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backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Not able to use them here anymore due to cwd. If I was establishing a new site, would start it off with a trophy rock. Near the water would be great, so long as your site is high enough it is not flood prone. Once established any trace mineral block will work.
Omega
Well-Known Member
Unless you just want to spend more, use one of these for under $8:
Trace Mineral Salt Block, 50 lb
I once mixed my own but this one has most of the same minerals and works great.
Trace Mineral Salt Block, 50 lb
I once mixed my own but this one has most of the same minerals and works great.
When we were allowed salt blocks prior to CWD being found here, this is what I used.Unless you just want to spend more, use one of these for under $8:
Trace Mineral Salt Block, 50 lb
I once mixed my own but this one has most of the same minerals and works great.
Deer 1
Well-Known Member
This ^^^^Unless you just want to spend more, use one of these for under $8:
Trace Mineral Salt Block, 50 lb
I once mixed my own but this one has most of the same minerals and works great.
