mineral blocks
 

Does anyone have any thoughts on what mineral block is best or how to make my own?

Thanks!

RE: mineral blocks
 

I have a friend that had problems with his water softner and had to dump the brine tank. That was 4-5 years ago and the deer are still eating the dirt in the area. Many years ago my uncles would make a thick brine and dump it over old stumps, the stumps would be eatin' up. My way of thinking is something like this is better than a white or brown block of salt on a stump.

RE: mineral blocks
 

dry mineral works better for me than a block.do a search on here for mineral mixtures or blocks. there are several mixtures on here. or you can get dry cattle mineral in bags.

RE: mineral blocks
 

I buy all mine at the local ag store like TSC. If you want a mineral block make sure you get one, alot of the trace mineral blocks are just that, trace. If you look at the lable before you take it off you will see it is like 98-99% salt and very few minerals. You can buy mineral blocks that are only like 45% salt and then they have alot more calcium and phosperus(sp) in them and other stuff to help them out more and deerseem to hit it harder then a trace block, the only down side is they degrade faster inthe weather then a trace block, will last about two or three months at most.Salt works good but it don't take much and when the ground is saturated with it they will eat the dirt. I put mine down and within a year the spot turned intoa nice larg spot. They will hit it hard in the spring and summer when the does drop their fawns and the bucks are growing racks, but I have only seen a couple of deer lick itin season. Don't waste your money on a "game" block from the magazines, you can get a fifty pound block from the ag store for about six bucks and the powder form in the bags is about the same price. Here is a pic of my site.

RE: mineral blocks
 

I haven't been able to find a trace mineral block with a good amount of actual mineral. I got one that had the least amount of salt (but still 90 some %) and more P and Ca. I was a bit concerned that it may have things that aren't good for deer. But I assume if it is ok for Cows and goats, it's ok for deer(?).

RE: mineral blocks
 

I looked at the list on a deer block and compared it to the cow/horse block and they looked the same so I think they are interchangable. I do know that you cant put them around goats because they contain copper and that somehow harms goats, or so I have been told by a guy at the ag store when buying my block he wanted to make sure their were no goats in the area I would be deer hunting. you should be able to find a block with higher minerals if you check a ag store in your area.

RE: mineral blocks
 

Here is the best thing you can do for deer when givingthem minerals:

2 50lb bags of red trace mineral
1 50lb bag of stock salt
2 50 lb bag of dicalcium phosphate

mix it all together and dig a 5 or 6 ft hole 3 ft deep and mix it with the dirt.

You are at the right time of year when the deer will use it the most, bucks growing racks and does feeding youngsins.

Trace mineral will give the deer the minerals that they don't get in there feed but need. The salt is for flavor and attraction and has absolutly no nutitional value at all. The di-cal is a supplement of calcium and phosphatethat is the 2major ingrediants in milk and antlers.

I have been doing this mix for 6 years now and you can tell a diffenece in the deer. this coming from a farm that used only salt blox.

RE: mineral blocks
 

We usually mix 50/50 loose trace mineral salt and di-cal and dig it ininto aclay soil area. We have put it in plastic troughs, but I think they eat it in the dirt better.

RE: mineral blocks
 

This is the way to go, and only costs a fraction of what you pay for a block. My neighbor told me of this mix after showing me trail cam pic of bucks visiting it. I ended up arrowing one of the bucks and wonder how much bigger he was due to the minerals he provided. It is a great place to set up trail cameras thru the summer months.

RE: mineral blocks
 

Would a tractor supply place carry Dicalcium phosphate. Rich