Mineral Lick Products

[Jerry D]

What is everyone using for mineral licks?

I have done the bags of dical, salt, and trace minerals.

Recently I've switched over to http://www.sweetlix.com/products/C16/wildlife.aspx

The poured block #11204. Its clean and easy. I dug in the blocks after rifle season so approx Nov 10th and the deer used them a lot this spring and well into the late summer. My concern is the mineral percentage is too low. Only 1% calcium and phosphorus.

I also am looking at the pressed blocks but unsure how long they last.

Thanks!

 

[Jason Broom]

You ask a good question, then make an astute observation, though maybe not the one you think.

The first approach you used is probably the best. I use the rock-hard cattle mineral blocks like the Champion's Choice linked to below. However, you picked up how much the deer use the block you put out during spring and into summer. That's because their diet is so high in moisture-laden foods during this time that they urinate more frequently, losing sodium in the process. This results in a critical need to replace that sodium, to maintain a proper electrolyte balance. In a very real sense, this is one of just a small handful of reasons to justify putting out a trace mineral block at all.

If you're concerned about the trace minerals, such as calcium an phosphorus being too low, the place to fix that is in the soil...not with a mineral block supplement. Properly amended food plots address that need more effectively, with obvious additional benefits.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...hUKEwjsm7z4sM_WAhVDQCYKHVG-B_sQ9aACCDU&adurl=

 

[DocHolladay]

We have a had a couple failed attempts at food plots at our lease and use supplemental feed and minerals because, A). Our plots are so small, we have roughly 2 acres worth of plots for a 500 acre lease and B). we are limited to what we can and can't do to the trees(the lease company allowed us to extend 2 plots this year to get us to 2 acres and we had to beg to get that). This year, we got everything right and have food coming in all the plots. We back off supplemental feeding in the fall to just two sites so we can legally hunt(can't hunt over bait), but help keep the deer around. We figured out that if you put the mineral by a supplemental feeding station, they don't touch it because the feed has a mineral package in it. They will utilize it next to a food plot if it is close to where they walk in or walk out of the plot. What we usually do is to put a mineral site on a trail leading to or away from the food plots and supplemental feed stations. They will use it every time. We have tried putting minerals next to water and they don't use it as frequently or at all for some reason, even though the deer experts say it is best so they can drink water after the mineral/salt site dries them out. They will drink water out of a mineral lick though.

I only have a 2 acre plot and a mineral site at some private ground locally, with no supplemental feed. I make a mineral product that is as low in salt as my state allows and the deer hammer it at both places. It has a higher mineral content than a lot of the other "deer" minerals on the market. There are a few products that have more minerals than what I make, but with my state mandated salt content(51% minimum), my mineral is limited to how I have to mix it. I asked a few of our Wildlife Officers about the low salt content in other mixes and they said that they didn't care, as long as there was no grain in it. I think the deer will utilize mineral sites even if you have the ground right. It just might take a little experimenting to figure out exactly where they want the site to be. For us, a trail in the woods or a trail just in the edge of the woods leading to or from a plot has been the best.

I don't care what product you put out for your deer, as long as you have one out there for them to use when they want it. High mineral, low mineral, high salt, low salt, makes no difference.

Here are 4 labels. Trophy Rock(very similar to livestock mineral blocks), Champions Choice, SweetLix and the other is what I make. I asked for vitamin testing also for the mineral I make also, but they didn't do it(kinda disappointed).

Here is the Champions Choice-

Here Trophy Rock-

Sweetlix-

Here is mine-

 

[DIY]

DH - I am also on a lease with a limited amount of food plots. I have observed most of the same things you have, although I do have a mineral site near a pond and it receives a lot of visitors during the summer.

I have tried several mineral products and have settled on Redmond 10 Fine for most of my mineral sites. It is a natural product that is essentially made of fine crushed Trophy Rock. It comes from the same mine as Trophy Rock and is sold by the same company. The major difference is that Redmond 10 Fine isn’t marketed at the hunting community. The deer on our place love it and a 50lb bag costs much less than an equivalent weight of Trophy Rock. I do still purchase a few Trophy Rocks each year because I like to put them on large stumps in strategic locations. When I do that I also sprinkle some Redmond 10 Fine around the base of the stump.

I have learned the hard way that the deer in our area do not like formulated supplemental mineral products like Whitetail Institute 30-06. They have abandoned every mineral site where we have tried those products. Now we only use pure salt or a natural product like Trophy Rock or Redmond.

If you can find Redmond 10 Fine at your local coop or a feed store, I highly recommend trying it out.

http://www.redmondagriculture.com/products/10-fine-mineral-salt/

 

[Drycreek]

I use the American Stockman hard, red blocks from TSC. They are used a lot by my deer from the last of the season until up into summer. I use them mainly to get pictures, but I can't see them helping herd health that much, but I'm sure they don't hurt it either. Mostly salt, but there are trace mineral also. Sometimes there is a polite discussion as to just who's block it is !

 

[rlb165]

DH - I am also on a lease with a limited amount of food plots. I have observed most of the same things you have, although I do have a mineral site near a pond and it receives a lot of visitors during the summer.

I have tried several mineral products and have settled on Redmond 10 Fine for most of my mineral sites. It is a natural product that is essentially made of fine crushed Trophy Rock. It comes from the same mine as Trophy Rock and is sold by the same company. The major difference is that Redmond 10 Fine isn’t marketed at the hunting community. The deer on our place love it and a 50lb bag costs much less than an equivalent weight of Trophy Rock. I do still purchase a few Trophy Rocks each year because I like to put them on large stumps in strategic locations. When I do that I also sprinkle some Redmond 10 Fine around the base of the stump.

I have learned the hard way that the deer in our area do not like formulated supplemental mineral products like Whitetail Institute 30-06. They have abandoned every mineral site where we have tried those products. Now we only use pure salt or a natural product like Trophy Rock or Redmond.

If you can find Redmond 10 Fine at your local coop or a feed store, I highly recommend trying it out.

http://www.redmondagriculture.com/products/10-fine-mineral-salt/

X2 on the Redmond 10 Fine Mineral Salt.
This isn't scientific, but early this summer, I started 2 salt licks that are a little over 200 yards apart. At first, both only had salt used for swimming pools with saltwater systems. Both licks seemed to get about the same amount of use.
I poured some of the Redmond Mineral Salt on one of the licks a few weeks ago. As far as I can tell, the salt-only lick hasn't been used since, while the Redmond lick seems to always have fresh tracks.

 

[rlb165]

View attachment 9769 I use the American Stockman hard, red blocks from TSC. They are used a lot by my deer from the last of the season until up into summer. I use them mainly to get pictures, but I can't see them helping herd health that much, but I'm sure they don't hurt it either. Mostly salt, but there are trace mineral also. Sometimes there is a polite discussion as to just who's block it is !

That's a really cool picture Drycreek!

 

[DocHolladay]

The first pic is from the private property that I hunt. It has tripled in size this year. The pic is from August 6 and has actually grown in size since. It has gotten deeper and slightly wider. All the rest are from our lease, except the last one and it is from a fella that buys the mineral I make. The small picture with the DU hat is the same spot as the one below it with water in it. Just different times of the year. I have a picture of a tree stump that he poured it on, but for some reason it comes out small when I post it here. The bag is 11" long for reference.

 

[j-bird]

I simply use a trace mineral block from rural king....it's a 50 lb block for like $8 and lasts me 6 months or better sitting on a stump. I have had people say the deer will not directly lick the block....that is garbage. I have cam pic and video after another of my deer licking the block like a giant popsicle!!!!!

 

[DocHolladay]

I simply use a trace mineral block from rural king....it's a 50 lb block for like $8 and lasts me 6 months or better sitting on a stump. I have had people say the deer will not directly lick the block....that is garbage. I have cam pic and video after another of my deer licking the block like a giant popsicle!!!!!

They will bite it sometimes too.

 

[Drycreek]

I simply use a trace mineral block from rural king....it's a 50 lb block for like $8 and lasts me 6 months or better sitting on a stump. I have had people say the deer will not directly lick the block....that is garbage. I have cam pic and video after another of my deer licking the block like a giant popsicle!!!!!

Speaking of popsicles.........

Wow, don't know how I posted three pics. Sorry....

 

[j-bird]

View attachment 9793 View attachment 9793 View attachment 9793

Speaking of popsicles.........

Wow, don't know how I posted three pics. Sorry....

We get it, we get it......you have a mineral block....."On a stick!" I have seen it done that way or hung from a cord/wire from a tree branch.....to avoid it being carried off by coons or work-over by hogs. You use some sort of a drill bit or something to put the hole in the block? I always feared the block fracturing....

 

[gasman]

I also use one of the cattle type mineral blocks on a stump. Biggest problem now is the porcupines eating the stumps in the spring to get the salt from it. A few more years and I will need a new stump.

 

[j-bird]

I also use one of the cattle type mineral blocks on a stump. Biggest problem now is the porcupines eating the stumps in the spring to get the salt from it. A few more years and I will need a new stump.

If you don't want to change the location.....wait for a tree to come down in a storm and cut you a "stump" from it......essentially bring the stump to the location. I prefer a stump vs the deer digging a hole in the ground, but that is just me. I have seen deer eat a rotting stump for the salt trapped in it before as well.

 

[Drycreek]

We get it, we get it......you have a mineral block....."On a stick!" I have seen it done that way or hung from a cord/wire from a tree branch.....to avoid it being carried off by coons or work-over by hogs. You use some sort of a drill bit or something to put the hole in the block? I always feared the block fracturing....

Well, first I made a cap for the t-post with a piece of square tubing, then welded a short piece of rebar to it, then I drilled a hole in the block with a masonry bit. Voila, a popsickle ! I did it because I couldn't keep the hogs from wallowing on it, which made the deer not use it.They did the same thing with granular minerals in the soil, so I tried this. I never had a pic of deer actually using it, but maybe that will happen with time. I kinda got those out late this year, we'll see what happens next year.

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'm in a high rain area. I like to use 44lb Redmond Natural blocks. If I put out a bag of salt, it'd be washed away in no time. I can get Redmond blocks for $13/block.

 

[Berserker]

I have tried lots of licks over the years. Couple gave me holes in the ground in the spring, but most left me wondering if its deer or rain wering them away.

Poured gallons of mollasse as on stumps, with no sign of anything.

Couple weeks ago I took coffee can of farm salt and buried. They uncovered it. Will check again to see. I have heard you can't let them have pure salt cause it throws body in imbalance. Makes sense. Which is why I buried it and didn't dump on the ground.

50lbs of cow salt is really cheap too. Since it doesn't have iodine you can use it on hides too. But I am wondering what to add to it, with respect to minrals.