sawdust piles
 

Several of the spots I hunt have old sawdust piles. These piles always have lots of deer tracks on them. Does any one know what attracts the deer to the piles. I have a theory that as the piles decompose they become a mineral lick. Has anyone heard anything about this?

RE: sawdust piles
 

unfortunatly i'm not much help to your ?, but ive noticed same thing out bk of my house where i've cut down many trees, they have pretty much beat the snot out of it-over tha last couple of years. not as much of a pile anymore. be interested to see what others have say. srry no help.

RE: sawdust piles
 

One of the piles used to be several feet high (my buddy grew up near the property). It is now level with thhe ground.

RE: sawdust piles
 

Did you ever dig down in them??/ they are warm under there .Give off heat. Maybe that is one reason.especially up north

RE: sawdust piles
 

Being you're from Maine, which i understand gets very cold, i think cardeer's point is valid. One other thing i think could be a reason is the smell. they could be attracted to the smell of that stuff. a pile of sawdust will eventually blow away in the wind and erode, so i dont think deer are directly responsible for this. i think maybe they like the smell of it, as some bucks have been known to rub on cedar trees because of the cedar smell.

slayer

RE: sawdust piles
 

It has salt in it.

The sawdust has a small amount of salt in it and the deer smell it.

That is what I was told by my uncle and old timers.

And maybe other minerals since the tree roots draw it up out of the soil.

And when it is cut up it releases it.

thats my 2 cents

RE: sawdust piles
 

i'm not an expert in horticulture but doesn't saw dust contain sap???

RE: sawdust piles
 

I guess you really can't call them piles anymore. The area was logged probably 70 yyears ago. the 'piles" are the same level as thhe ground. They are also way past the heat generation stage. All that is left is a fine powder that no plants grow in. This makes me suspect high salt or acidity. Thanks for the thoughts so far

RE: sawdust piles
 

It's called salt and pure curiousity. We have these huge (12-16ft high) dirt piles around my place and the deer just get up on top, enjoy the view and walk down the other side.

RE: sawdust piles
 

We still have a stand that we call the saw dust pile. I do not know how long ago it was a saw dust pile but it is still a great stand.