WhiteTail Deer Mineral Mix.

[Grouse]

I saw this on the other board. Looks like something to do in the off Season.


WHITETAIL DEER HOMEMADE MINERAL MIX RECIPE

Ingredients: Makes 200 lbs. for about $23.00

1 part Di-calcium phosphate, this is a dairy feed additive bought at feed stores.
Comes in 50lb Bags at around $11.00 you need one bag.

2 parts Trace mineral salt, the red and loose kind without the medications.
Comes in 50lb Bags at around $5.00 you need two bags.

1 part Stock salt, ice cream salt.
Comes in 50lb Bags at around $2.00 you need one bag.

Directions:

-Use a 3 pound or similar size coffee can to use as your measure for each part of the mix.

-Mix all together well but not until ready to use, keep ingredients separate until ready to put to use.

-Dig or tear up a circle in the soil about 36 inches wide and about 6 inches deep.

-Mix your mineral mixture with the soil.

Maintenance:

-Replenish in 6 months with fresh supply of mineral, and then each year there after.

 

[Rifleman]

Will this help with antler growth?

 

[Grouse]

Good question. I will check out the ingrediants with the local feed store this week. We'll see what they say.

 

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

Will this help with antler growth?

From what I've read, the calcium and trace minerals will, and the deer are start looking for salt when their diet consists of more moisture laden foods - Spring and Summer. Their use of salt and mineral licks taper off in the fall and winter.....

 

[tennesee]

I have a ? How much of the mixture would you put in the 36inch circle that is 6 inches deep,I am new to this,also where I hunt I have to walk quite a long distance so i will be carrying it in. Thanks in advance.

 

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

I'd bring in as much as I felt comfortable carrying. After all I'd have to buy enough for 200# total, and it isn't expensive, so why not take enough back to last for a while? 50# of mineral/salt mix here in N. Central Indiana lasts about 6 months.......

 

[laker]

You do NOT want to put the salt in the lick. The reason is simple, what does eccessive salt do to humans high blood preasure, and causes you to be more thuristy, especially in the summer months. The deer love the salt and will lick it up like crazy but the salt does not help them in any way. Your best bet is to stay with the red trace minerals and that is it. The deer will dig great big holes in the ground to get to it and it greatly aids in antler development. I raised deer as a hobby for several years and learned alot about their habbits, a deer will destroy a mineral lick when a buck is growing antlers and a doe is lactating but a deer will rarely go to a mineral lick in the fall. If you really want to help the deer out feed them a 16 -18 % protien pellet like Antler king or Purenia Antler Max or a good quality deer or horse food. This is your best bet. If you can supplement their feed all year round you will see a difference in a year or two. You will also see alot more deer, you can do this in any state and it is even legal in states that dont allow baiting if you dont hunt directly over the bait site.

 

[Admin]

Last I knew Deer feeding was Illegal in Illinois. I believe it was implemented in 2002 when CWD was found in northern Illinois. If you want to feed deer in IL, I'd contact the DNR. Hopefully the answer you get is right.

 

[Joe Name]

I know of a guy that put out some deer cain or something like that in the spring, arrowed a nice buck 100 yards away from where he put it .Later that winter he was bragin on it,the game wardens heard about it and arrested him,took his mount and a healthy fine. In Indiana it says that all bait most be completly removed 10 days prior to hunting but I have not seen anything on distance to be conciderd hunting over feed. Can anyone tell me or direct me to the regs on this subject?

 

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

In Indiana it says that all bait most be completly removed 10 days prior to hunting but I have not seen anything on distance to be conciderd hunting over feed. Can anyone tell me or direct me to the regs on this subject?

Joe, I couldn't find anything relating to distance, but it also said "remove bait 10 days prior to hunting and affected ground"

That's something like not hunting migratory waterfowl over bait. I know of a guy that feeds the ducks and geese on a lake, and there have been a couple of duckhunters that set up their spread a few houses down (they came in a boat). I don't know if they knew of him feeding, but I wonder what would have happened if the Game Warden was there??

 

[HighTechRedneck]

I guess that I'll have to change how I do my licks if salt is bad. I had always assumed that the calcium in the salt was a good thing.
Every year shortly after fire arms season is over I go to the Wal Mart and buy whatever they have left on clearance as far as mineral, and a 50LB bag of water softener salt. Then I go buy a bag of the trace mineral for dairy cattle at the feed store. I dump everything in 1 spot around the 1st of the year so that has leached it's way down into the soil before the deer start using it in the spring. When it warms up the deer hit it hard. I have used the same spot for the last 8 or 9 years and there is a hole approx. 5' diameter and close to 2 feet deep. As a rule of thumb I NEVER hunt within sight of the lick.

 

[HighTechRedneck]

Where can you buy a mineral mix that does not contain salt. I have done a little research, every livestock mineral mix that I can find, and every deer mineral mix that I have previously used contains salt of some kind.

I probably will not be mixing the water softener salt in my lick anymore, but there is still the fact that every one of the mineral mixes that I have ever used contains salt. Unless I find a mineral mix that does not contain salt I will have to continue using at leas the ammount of salt that they contain.

 

[laker]

Find one that has the least amount of salt. Whitetail Institute's products do not contain salt and have worked very well for me.

 

[HighTechRedneck]

I'll have to see if I can find any of the Whitetail Institute stuff localy. Nobody around here will have it until closer to deer season which sucks, but IF I can find some I'll have it for the lick next summer.