liquidorange

does anyone thats not a deer cocaine salesmen know if the red trace mineral blocks for livestock are beneficial to deer in any way and if it is safe for them. i know its not gonna make for monster antlers but i do think salt licks are beneficial especially this time of the year for fawn health and bug control.i read one book that says to use just regular salt but if they can use the minerals without harm i would like to give it a try. the label on the red trace bricks say something about the copper in it isint good for sheep so thats the reason i would like to know if its safe for deer for sure.

Josh_E

we' ve used it before... look at it this way.. if you have a farm and there are deer in the surrounding area.. dont you think that the deer are going to lick the blocks for the cows also??? use em! it wont hurt anything in my opinion.. I do not know how much nutritional value there is so if u use it I dont know if it will help any but shouldnt hurt

HighBow

I have used the blocks and the bag loose type also with great success, The does really hit it hard this time of year since they are milking and need the extra for the fawns.

c903

The trace mineral block containing copper that is used for cattle is also recommended for deer, but not for sheep.

I spread several throughout my hunting areas along with ground pits containing rock salt used for making ice cream. Just make sure the mineral blocks and the salt are not too close to your stand if your state has laws governing hunting over or near food plots.

The deer will start consuming the mineral block(s) and salt in early spring through mid summer.

liquidorange

i love this board. its nice to get answers so quickly to questions i have pondered for years. i have been putting out bags of pellet salt from home depot as well as the cattle red trace mineral blocks and they are really ripping them up right now. i had to replenish my sites 3 times already. i put a cheap 79$ bass pro trail camera on one of the sites and i cant wait for the results i would like to comment though that during the hunting season here in new jersey i hunt close to these mineral sites and have only seen once last year that a yearling came in late in the season and actually took a mouthfull of the salt and dirt and ate it. i have never seen a full grown buck or doe come in and use the site during late september till end of january. thats why i think its important to get these minerals and salt out now if your gonna help the herd. thanks!

rcd567

My local feed store has deer blocks. Kind of a mineral-salt block with some molasses thrown in. The deer like them and I believe they are good for the Doe' s who are nursing. I think Tractor' s Supply has them too.

liquidorange

i tried a couple different times to use the deer block with the corn and molassas and oats in it but they wouldnt touch it at all. i use to buy horse sweet mix which is a mixture of corn molassas and i think alphalpha oats. its lighter and cheaper than bagged corn butthey didnt seem to like that too much either. then a guy told me that the oats in it go bad quickly and get mold when thrown on the ground and the deer know that it is gonna get them sick.

PA Hardwoods

I got a mineral recipe off of this board last year from a guy who got it from a wildlife biologist. I don' t have it with me but it had trace mineral salt in it, ice cream salt (not rock salt), and some other type of mineral cn' t quite remember what exactly it was. But I bought all of this at my local Agway cost me about 35 bucks total for all of it combined. I had enough to do 5 or 6 licks and freshen them up a couple of times each. The deer seem to love it I haven' t put any on since last august and the deer are really tearing the licks up. Maybe if you ask on this board somebody else has the recipe and they could post it for you. It has to be safe since a wildlife biologist sugessted it. One thing I do remember is that you have to get the trace mineral salt and the other stuff with no medications in it.

MAD_Hunter

We use some of the red trace mineral in our mix. The deer really love it. We have some pics out of what they are doing and you can look at them at www.sccoutdoors.com . This is the time of year that minerals are most benificial to the deer. You should look for something that helps mainly in these 3 things, Antler development, Weight gain and milk production. If you help these 3 things then the whole herd will benifit. Don' t forget in QDM that there is no overnight fix. If you want results it will take alot of planning and a whole lot of action.

c903

Here is a recipe that is very close to a formula I have used in " mineral pits" for sometime with very good results. I have witnessed that deer have eventually established feeding routes (patterns) that take them through the " pit" areas from spring through the first (approx) two weeks in October.

I formulated my recipe after having a discussion with a deer biologist I met in the field several years ago. The small difference in the recipe in the following link and my recipe is that I use a cattle block to obtain the Dicalcium Phosphate and Trace Mineral Salt, and granulate the block and ice cream salt together with a 60-year old Hobart commercial coffee grinder.

HOWEVER, if you are not familiar with cattle blocks, or do not want to take the time to research all the scientific names of all the minerals in a certain type of block, I strongly suggest that you use the posted recipe (link). Some cattle blocks contain Urea, particular protein sources, and fluorides that could be very bad for deer...or cattle, if too much is consumed per day.

This posted recipe appears to be very specific and safe.

http://walden.mvp.net/~gam/Mineral%20Page.htm