Just curious on people’s thoughts on using minerals. I’ve been consistently using lucky buck the past 3 yrs….not sure if I’m sold or not as far as rack growth. I go through about 20 buckets a yr on 200 acres. 3 sites.
I use trophy rocks and I am sure it does help some with antler growth and other mineral needs for the deer, but I use it mostly as an attractant for the trail cams. The mineral benefit is just a bonus.
I think you would have to use one heck of a lot to really see any difference in antler size along with supplemental feeding. I am not willing to go that far. Mineral sites and food plots is plenty in my opinion.
Trophy Rock for Trail Cam inventory.. If it does anything to antlers that you could notice in wild populations is debatable. I know they really like it, but I think it helps them with digestion of the greenery over antler growth.
A couple things on minerals. Content is everything. There are so many brands on the market boasting inflated results. It’s tough, but to have any benefit you need to put out the highest concentrations of mineral with no fillers.
Next is timing. Late winter and spring when whitetail are most depleted of good sources is critical. Suplimenting what they they need is a healthy start. Continued through summer is key. By late Aug, there is very little benefit as most good sources are abundant and the variety they need. Too many guys start mid summer and by then any benefits are almost too late.
EHS has a great product that has better ingrediat listing than most
https://www.extremehuntingsolutions.com/productdetail.php?Big-Buck-Mineral-Formula-new-Vasodilator-technology-8lbs-22
I use the homemade “4 bag” recipe found almost everywhere on the interweb. The mix is cheap and easy to make and handle.
Here’s the recipe. All ingredients are available from Fleet Farm or any feed store.
1 bag Di-calcium phosphate
2 bags trace mineral salt
1 bag stock salt
This makes 200 pounds of mineral. If starting new mineral sites, this mix will let you start up to 2-3 sites in March and then refresh them as needed in about late May or June. To start a site, I usually put down about 30 pounds right on the ground. Then I top it up with about 30 more pounds in Mid-June. There is, of course, some loss as rain dissolves the salt.
Store excess in 5-gallon buckets with tight lids so it doesn’t clump.
I absolutely believe that this mix produces bigger racks in my area. Just to call out, the key is “in my area”. I’m in NE MN where there is acidic soil and almost no natural calcium in the water, so the area is very, very mineral poor compared to areas like SE MN, SW WI, IL, IN, etc where almost all the water and soil has natural CA and other minerals. If you already live in a mineral rich area, the results probably will not be as pronounced because your deer are getting plenty of mineral anyway.
Since I started multiple mineral licks on my property going on 6 years ago, I have see much faster rack size growth in bucks in their second and third year and we have none of the small crooked Frankenstein oddball racks that used to be common on my property. These screwball racks were, IMO, a sign of lack of minerals in the deer’s diet.
Even if there was no rack benefits, I’d put out licks anyway just to be able to watch deer and other critters on the trail cams.
Grouse
I agree 100% Grouse. If you are in an area where the soil and water lacks almost everything it is a HUGE benefit and can be noticed relatively quickly. Our farm happens to be in the rich soil ag area of west central MN, so the affects of mineral sites is less noticeable.
Which is why I put less stock in mineral sites at our farm and concentrate on food/protein.
Good info.
We have poor drained soil, so anything I’ve tried that sits on the ground, gets soaked in and diluted with marginal use. Have gone to just fleet farm mineral blocks, I know, HORRIFYING! Buy them on sale and like ten at a time. Have four site’s on forty acres, again horrifyingly to many. Reason for running four is simple, had one and got so sick of wolves hanging around in the fawning season, wanted to give the deer more options to help fawn survival. It’s helped spread the deer out and gives them less chance of being totally patterned by predators. We have lots of bear’s, wolves, coyotes, a pair of gray foxes, bobcats, fishers, pine Martin’s and probably a whiteface River Sasquatch running around.
With the wet soil and predator issue’s, I now cut stumps off fairly high, like three feet. Place a block on it and deer use it almost all year. It gives them a source of cheap minerals, at a height where they don’t have their head buried, so they have a chance to see predators coming. I know all the cons of mineral blocks vs a mixture specifically for whitetails vs cattle, but I’ve come to terms with it.
Our one neighbor thinks the combination of the food plots I’ve done along with the mineral blocks has helped and he’s been up there a long time. I’ve noticed less crooked racks and a slight uptick in spreads and early antler growth. Imo, it’s a comb platter of a good food source with food plots and the blocks.
I go through in late Nov or early December and put fresh blocks on the stumps and set the old blocks on a secondary stump. At home and up north the deer will hit them almost all year, so I’ll never not have blocks on stumps.
Not sure all the science or facts on them, but the does in our area produce more twins now and have bigger, healthier looking fawns. Like has already been said, they really draw in critters. Deer mainly, but we get everything from snow shoe hares to muskrats that chew on the salt soaked stumps.
Grouse,
I’ve tried that mix along with Trophy rocks and the deer walk right over the mix to get to the rock. Probably shouldn’t give them the option.
Grouse,
I’ve tried that mix along with Trophy rocks and the deer walk right over the mix to get to the rock. Probably shouldn’t give them the option.
Mine too. The first couple years they tore the ground up and dug holes with that mix. Then one year the wouldn’t touch the sites. I switched to the trophy rocks and they love em. I can’t explain it:???:
Grouse,
I’ve tried that mix along with Trophy rocks and the deer walk right over the mix to get to the rock. Probably shouldn’t give them the option.
It’s the calcium that the deer don’t find palatable I believe. The 4 bag mix is 25% di-calcium. From an article I read I believe I recall Trophy Rock is less than 1% Calcium by volume.
If your deer need encouragement I’ve read just add some dry molasses to the mix.
If your deer need the CA I’d say don’t give them a choice. I never have and my deer are all over the licks from May to September.
Grouse
Trace mineral salt is 98% salt, even when mixed as the holy grail of deer mineral (100 lbs trace, 50 lbs stock salt, 50 lbs dicalcium phosphate) you are looking at less than 12% minerals.
74% Salt
14.75% Inert Ingredients
5.75% Calcium
4.5% Phosphorus
1% Trace Mineral
Yes, but what I”m saying is that it’s the overall volume of di-Calcium feed additive (not the specific amount of calcium contained therein) that they don’t find as palatable and will not eat if you make an alternative available that doesn’t have it.
My guess is that if you put a pile of pure salt beside a pile of the 4 bag mix, they’d just eat the pure salt.
Grouse
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