I have used a little bit of everything including homemade recipes and so far there have been 2 that have worked the best for me. I' ve never had very much luck with the store bought powders. The deer would diddle around in them but that was all. This year I tried some of the Whitetail Addiction liquid and had really good luck with it. Three of my friends had the same results with it as well. The other is a home brew that I was told about. It is much more beneficial for the deer due to the large amount of minerals it contains. You end up with 300lbs of salt, minerals, and molasses for around $60. The recipe is listed on my website below as well as the instructions under the Mineral Sites button. The bad thing is right now is not the best time to be starting a new mineral lick. Don' t get me wrong, the deer will still use them some through the winter but the best time is spring until early fall.