J Pike,

Can you expound on that more?

I thought supplements are called just that, "supplements", because it adds to their nutrition and diet. Your comment makes it all sound like it's hogwash and "salt" is the only benefit to supplements.

Thanks,

iSnipe

gyro the powder form works just as good but like Lead said it doesnt last as long. Pike

"If it aint broke dont fix it" It just works very well for me a many others. I am not here to debate. I am just sharing outdoor tips with fellow hunters that is my reason.

iSnipe it is hogwash, the whitetail deer's digestive system cannot process the mineral supplements and deposit them in their skeletal frame. There has been numerous studies done on this very topic starting way back in the 1950's and not one of them has shown any benefit from mineral blocks, licks, rocks and yes even super duper home made recipe's other than providing the deer with a source of salt. The only reason I use them is to get the deer to step in front of my cams. Pike

Yes jpike is right i only use this mix to bring the deer around.
Im sorry if you were mislead but this will not grow mega bucks
it is just simply deer treat

iSnipe here is an article by QDMA.'s leading biologist Brian Murphy, If anyone would write an article that supported using mineral supplements it would be him since his employer (QDMA) generates alot of advertising $$$$
from companies that produce mineral supplements on their TV show and their Magazine.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""A classic study on the mineral needs of deer was conducted at Penn State University in the 1950s. In this study, researchers did detect a difference in yearling buck antler development between supplemented and unsupplemented groups. However, these herds were fed a nutritionally deficient diet below what most whitetails would have access to in the wild. Furthermore, when the same deer were examined the following year as 2.5 year olds, no differences were detected between the two groups.

In a similar study conducted at Auburn University, researchers tried to detect differences in body and antler size between an unsupplemented and supplemented group. This study differed from the Penn State study in that both herds were fed a nutritionally complete diet. In addition, one group was provided a commercial mineral supplement. Over a four year period the researchers were unable to detect any differences between the two deer herds.

Without question deer need minerals, and they will readily use mineral licks. But why do they use these licks and why is their use restricted primarily to the spring and summer? Many hunters believe that it is simply because bucks need the minerals for antler growth and does for raising fawns during these months. However, several studies have shown that while deer readily use mineral licks high in salt, they rarely, if ever, use pure mineral supplements. If deer were lacking minerals, why wouldn't they use the pure mineral supplement even if salt wasn't present? No one can say for sure, but it's probably because most minerals by themselves are bitter.
Could the use of salt/mineral mixes simply be due to an increased need for salt? According to research, yes. During the spring and summer, deer operate at a sodium deficiency due to the high potassium and water content of the forage. This interferes with efficient sodium conversion in the body and increases the need for sodium. This makes deer actively seek out concentrated sources of sodium such as natural or man?made licks. Almost all soils more than 25/50 miles from a seacoast are low in sodium. Therefore, in these areas, salt may be just as necessary as calcium and phosphorus to whitetails during the spring and summer."""""""""""""""""""""'""""""""""""""""""""



Here is what CJ. Winand said in an article on this subject, who by the way is not only a well respected biologist but an editor of Bowhunter mag.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""Over the last several decades, biologists at Universities across the country have researched the effects mineral supplementation has on a bucks' rack. In most cases, they put deer in two pens. In one pen, the deer were feed their regular diet. In the other, the deer ate a mineral in addition to their regular diet. After a few years in most studies, researchers did not see a noticeable difference. Many biologists bring up the research every time a hunter brings up minerals. C.J. Winand, a biologist from Maryland, believes that minerals are hocus pocus. "All of the data available today says that mineral supplementation doesn't have a lasting impact on antler size. Research is being done regularly and until I see a study that shows that minerals help deer grow larger racks, I will continue to believe what I believe," Winand explained."""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "

Thanks for all the input everyone. Im not bill nye the science guy or nothing
but i know for a fact that deer love this stuff so if you enjoy being in the woods and seeing deer give it a try. GOOD LUCK

Sounds like you'd be much more of the authority on it than me.
I don't know much about the tail end of feeding and it's affects
on the deer, their diet and health.

Thanks for the reply.

iSnipe

J Pike,

Thanks for the additional reply/info too. Interesting stuff.

iSnipe

off to tsc...let ya know how it works.