Here is what the Guy says and a pic.

In the store:

Go to Orcheln's and get one 50 pound bag of the granual stock salt......the cheap stuff, but NOT the block. (it takes too long for the block to seep into the ground).

Then, go to the grocery store, and buy a box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. It is in the laundry detergent isle. Its in a yellow box, and is about the size of a small cereal box.

In the field:

(Here's how I do it, not saying its THE way, but I've had good luck killing does over them).

Pick a spot that's got a slight bit of a bowl to it, so it will catch water, and will preferably be a place in the shade. This way, it will stay wet for more of the year. Also make sure its going to be a 20 to 25 yard chip-shot from your bow stand, where you expect the deer to come in and stand from one side or the other.

I also try to make these licks in the middle of a squeeze point, so you can draw them into the sqeeze where you want them for an easy shot, and you can slow them down in the squuze so they don't just run through. This way, it will become a community sniffing ground for the deer too, since lots of deer will come through a squeeze point.

Tear up and pull back the ground in about a 6 foot by 6 foot square eith either a short tined rake, or a shovel, depending on the soil solidity. Make this about 4 inches deep or so, making the middle JUST slightly deeper than the edges (soon, the deer will do this for you, so SLIGHT means, SLIGHT, its just to help hold moisture in the top of the ground there). Pour the salt evenly into this hole, being sure to not make it too thick in one place over another. Then, take the AandH and sprinkle it evenly over the salt. Then, fill the dirt back in above it. I don't know that you need to walk over the pile to stamp it back down, but I always do.

Now......pray for rain to get into your lick. THAT'S IT! I try to freshen mine once every 6 months.

If you want to have fun, and see how big you can make the lick, every time you add to it, sprikle more salt and AandH further out.

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Just a week ago, I visited the place I killed my first bow buck 11 years ago. I freshened the lick I made there for 3 years. This lick is now.....NO kidding, knee deep and big enough to park a truck in. The tree I killed my deer in has died and fell, but that lick is going to keep ticking for a LONG time.

I've tried to make these in the past, to pull deer to where they don't want to go, and they don't work so well. But, if the deer are already going to be moving in the general direction, you better bet they're going to stop by your lick.

You'll notice in 3 month's time, or sometimes even less, that the deer have created direct travel routes RIGHT to the lick.



big rockpile