Early mineral sites

jab0106

Ten Pointer
Just make sure it's one of those really expensive brands with a deer on the bag, and not from Walmart either..we all know deer won't eat Walmart corn or minerals :rolleyes:
I've noticed that when I take mine to the licks in a bucket (with a deer on it of course:D) that the deer eat it better than when it's delivered to them in a bag ;)..of course that may just be the strange and marvelous deer we have around these parts, YMMV


FWIW, we divide up 50# bags into buckets to carry to the sites. Also, I can't tell you how many Walmart bags of corn we have had rot or sprout right where we spread it. We also have had bears on camera tote off mineral blocks. And once we set out a block and cut up a maple tree to get a clean view on the camera, but all the deer only ate the maple leaves, like candy. The bears would roll the rock around out of curiosity.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I do the same thing, but our foolish rules say that we have to have a deer on the bucket.
I've had very little luck with feed blocks, but white or red blocks work very well. They just don't do much except attract deer. Very little mineral content to the red ones, none for the white ones.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
1 part dikal 2 part trace mineral 1 part white salt. mix and dump. they will dig a huge hole. $50 bucks will make a lotttt of this stuff. after having cams up, have found quite interesting that once the hole is started, does seem to hit the site when it's dry and every time it rains the bucks come drink the water that pools in the hole. only had this phenomenon broken once, by a doe showing up after a downpour, and she proceeded to drink the hole dry over an hour.

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That is illegal in my county due to we have an established bear season here.


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Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
what rule are you guys talking about? deer on the bucket?

any product used for deer that is anything other than non-processed food must be "deer specific" in counties where there is a bear season.
In other words, no using cattle blocks, mineral blocks, bagged trace mineral salts, range minerals...ect...if they aren't specific for deer on the package.

It is unlawful to place processed food products as bait in any area of the state with an established season for taking black bears. Processed food products or any food substance or flavoring that has been modified by the addition of ingredients or by treatment to modify its chemical composition or form or to enhance its aroma or taste. This includes: food products enhanced by sugar, honey, syrups, oils, salts, spices, peanut butter, grease, meat, bones, or blood; candies, pastries, gum, and sugar blocks; and extracts of such products.

The placement of commercially available mineral supplements specifically and exclusively marketed for attracting or feeding deer is allowed anywhere in the state, except on game lands. (pg 55)
 
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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
what rule are you guys talking about? deer on the bucket?

If you county has an established bear season you must use minerals and such that are 'specifically' made for deer...no processed foods or minerals allowed where there are bear seasons


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jab0106

Ten Pointer
I'm not baiting. I just tend to stumble a lot on the way to the horse barn. It is 15 miles away, I don't know many that can carry a bucket that far without tripping on front of a camera a few times. 🐮💩

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Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I'm not baiting. I just tend to stumble a lot on the way to the horse barn. It is 15 miles away, I don't know many that can carry a bucket that far without tripping on front of a camera a few times. ����

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Yeah, I have to run the bears off my mineral lick every time I go refresh it with the deer on the bag minerals...:rolleyes:
Dern Forsyth county is so full of bears they are as thick as flies...pesky devils....
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
Yeah, I have to run the bears off my mineral lick every time I go refresh it with the deer on the bag minerals...:rolleyes:
Dern Forsyth county is so full of bears they are as thick as flies...pesky devils....
Yep ... same for Orange County. No bear killed in 2014, and I'd be amazed if one was killed this past season. Very slim chance in was bear doing this to me. Could have been dogs, though. Anyway, just wondering.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Yep ... same for Orange County. No bear killed in 2014, and I'd be amazed if one was killed this past season. Very slim chance in was bear doing this to me. Could have been dogs, though. Anyway, just wondering.

as expensive as those trophy rocks are, you may have been the target of a neighbor re-stocking his own mineral lick at your expense.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I mixed my own until it was illegal, 1 di-cal-2 trace mineral-1salt. Now I only tote the buckets/bags with deer on them.

Now explain to me if you had mixed your own for years and put them out at the same spots, how in the world would anyone be able to prove whether it was a commercially available deer supplement or not.

I have found that deer usually start using my sites around February.

I just put some trophy rock bricks out. I stack them on top of each other over top my established mineral sight, let the salt leech into the minerals and soil.
 
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Greg

Old Mossy Horns
as expensive as those trophy rocks are, you may have been the target of a neighbor re-stocking his own mineral lick at your expense.
Possible ... but I doubt it. Wasn't big enough to be worth taking .. may the size of a softball. But it was gone the next day. I'm sure it didn't dissolve. This happened to me 2 or 3 times last year.

Anyway, yeah, in any case, it makes a case for using the powdered stuff.
 

Lonehunter

Six Pointer
Has anybody ever had chunks of salt / salt blocks / trophy rock 'dissappear' in a day or so? I don't think they were licked down. I think they may have been carried off ... like by a neighbor's dog, maybe?

I had ants carry away a red mineral block one tiny piece at a time one year. Put one out and went back several weeks latter and found Ants all over it. The bottom of the block was gone. Looked a lot like wood that termites had been working on.
 
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