haystack

Pike, I have always questioned whether mineral supplements are necessary, due to the fact that healthy deer and huge bucks have been taken for decades. I will admit that for quite awhile now I have provided additional minerals in hopes of benefiting deer. Based on what I have read and my experience with cattle it seems logical that it would be an easy and fairly cheap way to augment what a deer might be lacking in their habitat.

But there is a huge difference in deer and cattle, and the fact that you can not always believe what you read. I know I have not been able to find anything to dispute what you have wrote. I have tried (Lol) With all that being said I will continue to provide mineral (not saying you said not to) I just enjoy helping wildlife, even if its not a proven thing.

And above all Pike, I appreciate your honesty! You could have claimed that those huge bucks you have on film is a result of that mineral block that you provided. Myself and probably many others would have wanted to know exactly what kind of block that was (Lol). I think we all share the same love of the outdoors and want to help the wildlife any way we can and that is what matters most. I thank everybody for the input on this topic, lots of good info!!

J Pike

I agree its all about helping wildlife and that is what matters most.
I like your going too will continue to put out 15 mineral blocks a year even if its just treat for the deer and help me get a pic or two of them
I only posted the info I provided in case some one wanted to spend their $$$ in ways that will benefit their herd. Pike

penninside08

pike,


you need a pa boy to hunt those bucks for ya?

J Pike

LOL, all my guys except for 3 are from PA. (York & Lancaster Co.'s to be exact )
I cant wait for June to get here and get the cams back out in the woods because Im going thru withdraw. This year we should have upwards of 15 cams out all summer and fall compared to 5 cams this past year. Pike

J Pike

Here is a couple more pics I thought I would post even though themineral blocks had nothing to do with drawing the deer in front of the cams. Pike

4evrhtn

So.... You claim minerals provide no benefit to the deer in any way shape or form and now you state the minerals have "nothing to do with drawing the deer in front of the cams"

Why do you purchase the minerals? I am not trying to be argumentative but trying to figure out your reasoning. I posted factual info and provided the name of someone who has done studies on protein and mineral consumption in whitetailsand written a book about it only to you state again " To date there has not been one study that showed any positive results in regards to mineral supplements, licks, blocks, rocks, benefitting deer" Post 19 I'll provide the name again... Rod Marburger. Read his book with the intent to learn something and you'll see the correlation.

My experience has been this. I have hunted many different areas and many different food sources year after year. The quality of the bucks have remained consistent year after year. The food was in abundance on these farmlands so, an implemented herd reduction program had no effect on the size of the buck in that area. Four years ago I began mixing my own mineral supplements. There has been a noticeable change since the first year of supplementation. The average buck had a 6 point rack or very small basket rack 8, Now the # of first year 8 points have increased by an estimated 20%, the 6 points have higher tine and/or beam lengths. The first year fawns are also bigger in body size being comparable to the doe who birthed them by the time rifle season comes in. Also the buck are bigger in body now than they have ever been on my land. The increased zinc supplementation aids testosterone production which equates to more muscle mass. A mineral supplementation which consists of 96% or more salt/sodium isn't a great benefit, this is why I mix my own. It costs quite a bit more than the mineral block at the feed store but from "my" experience there is a benefit to providing minerals at key times throughout the year and knowing what to mix with those minerals in order to get the deer to eat the minerals in larger quantities at different times of the year.
Nonetheless, nice pics, looks like our farm in Ohio.

J Pike

4evrhtn, The bucks in the last 2 pics didnt come into the blocks, as you can clearly see there is a powder (buck bran) that the deer are feeding on in the pics. Every other pic. I posted the deer were using the mineral blocks.
Why do I purchase minerals? Simply to draw the deer in front of the camera and to give them a source of salt.
And who is this Rod Marburger? Is he a biologist? Did he do a study thru a credited university, institute etc.?
There has been numerous studies done over the years and to date not one has shown and benefit (other than providing a source of salt) from mineral supplements.

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 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."""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "