I have no hard evidence that the licks we put out have an effect on the antler growth, but the sheds we have found and the bucks we have harvested over the last 4 years has increased in both length and mass. I would say that an average of 5-10 inches of growth per side. Now, like I said, I cannot prove that the bucks used our licks extensively, or been able to compare year to year. We are still working on acquiring enough cameras to cover all the licks and travel areas to get an accurate inventory of the bucks on the 1000 acres we manage. Plus we don't know 100% what the neighbors are putting out.
We have several different food plots along with about 10 lick sites. Our plots consist of the normal plants, clover, rye, brassicas, beets, etc. The licks consist of this recipe I found for the licks on a website.
1 part loose stock salt
1 part DiCalcium Phosphate
2 parts loose trace mineral salt.
All can be acquired at feed stores. The Dical is a little harder find though. Usually have to go to a feed store that grinds their own feed. I think for 200 lbs of total mineral costs about $50. We put a total of about 25lbs per site in the late winter and 12 lbs to refresh during the summer. Most activity is seen from March through July. We see a lot of Doe activity as well as buck activity.