Mineral issues

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

So I never get great activity on my mineral sites.. ice tried making my own. I've tried lucky buck, Trophy rocks, a&w and a few others.

Mostly get does and fawns on camera for the first 3 days or so then it goes dormant.

 

I've moved the minerals and got the same few deer to eat off it for 3 days then dormant again..

 

They aren't always eating it either.. seems most pics they are just standing in it or walking through it. Very few pics eith nose to the ground..

 

I've also tried mixing with soil, and laying on top of soil.. I'm going to try a rotten log next..

 

Could it be the deer have enough minerals and dont really need my help?

 

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

 

 

[SlugsnArrows]

So I never get great activity on my mineral sites.. ice tried making my own. I've tried lucky buck, Trophy rocks, a&w and a few others.
Mostly get does and fawns on camera for the first 3 days or so then it goes dormant.
 
I've moved the minerals and got the same few deer to eat off it for 3 days then dormant again..
 
They aren't always eating it either.. seems most pics they are just standing in it or walking through it. Very few pics eith nose to the ground..
 
I've also tried mixing with soil, and laying on top of soil.. I'm going to try a rotten log next..
 
Could it be the deer have enough minerals and dont really need my help?
 
http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com
 
 

How close are you to a water source?

I have a few sites 20-50 yards from Creeks and right off their main trail and mine get hammered. One of my sites went through 3 trophy rocks last year!




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[BHC]

Lucky Buck worked to good....it got expensive!!!!  Kept the bears away

[MZ7Extreme]

I can not stress it needs to be by water and in good soil. If you have no water within 75 yards they will not hit it as good and if your soil sucks that's a double whammy.

Slugsandarrows is spot on...

[mattg1500]

Rotten logs are key. Would you eat dirt? I save old logs from fallen trees and cut them into 4' lengths. 1 nice soft log will be gone come September. Ive used antler king and a mix of my own. Di cal is nasty tasting to deer but its what helps antler growth and strength. Use only 1 part di cal to 2 parts mortons salt 2 parts trace and some flavoring. I used a small bucket like lucky buck and would fill it with dical then dump in a barrel. Then fill that bucket twice with mortons and dump in then 2 times with trace and dump in then id use apple flavor electrolytes for horses or dried molasses.  Mix the barrel up good and then just scoop what u want to take in the field. I have found the fine table salt works better than the mixing salt for me.

[Lunatic]

They don’t hit it every day. This site was quiet for 3 day but they were back yesterday. 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Lunatic

[LPJR]

Jack says you do not need to put minerals down. He has it covered........

[Lunatic]

30 minutes ago, mattg1500 said:

Rotten logs are key. Would you eat dirt? I save old logs from fallen trees and cut them into 4' lengths. 1 nice soft log will be gone come September. Ive used antler king and a mix of my own. Di cal is nasty tasting to deer but its what helps antler growth and strength. Use only 1 part di cal to 2 parts mortons salt 2 parts trace and some flavoring. I used a small bucket like lucky buck and would fill it with dical then dump in a barrel. Then fill that bucket twice with mortons and dump in then 2 times with trace and dump in then id use apple flavor electrolytes for horses or dried molasses.  Mix the barrel up good and then just scoop what u want to take in the field. I have found the fine table salt works better than the mixing salt for me.

Not an expert here and in fact this my my first year mixing my own but, from everything I read you don't give them enough DiCal. I am also don't know how dical tastes to deer but I mix dry molasses to my mix which is sweet with very strong aroma. I mix one part salt, one part dical, one part trace minerals(which include some additional Dical, and one part molasses.
I also think dirt is the natural way for deer ti get minerals.

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

Yea I set up 2 spots on my land- one is a few steps from water.. the other is 100 yards from water..

I wonder if ph level of soil plays a roll..
I know the ph by my pond is 4.8.. and its 5.8 in the wooded area higher ground..


http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[Pqreturn62]

Have you seen any pictures of fox peeing on it? Last year I had 5 reds (litter) all hang out by my minerals 24 hrs a day. The second they found it and started pissing on it regularly the deer refused to come back. I had a good healthy herd of 7, 3 being fawns, that I was trying to bulk up for the winter in hopes of rebounding the local numbers a little by me. They were on the minerals regularly for almost 2 months but vanished almost immediately when the fox claimed it. I’ve never seen that happen before, and regularly see fox at my minerals and bait sites, but this time was significantly different being that the numbers were so high and that they were pissing on the site all the time.

[JHbowhunter]

4 hours ago, JerseyJaysTaxidermy said:

 

So I never get great activity on my mineral sites.. ice tried making my own. I've tried lucky buck, Trophy rocks, a&w and a few others.

Mostly get does and fawns on camera for the first 3 days or so then it goes dormant.

 

I've moved the minerals and got the same few deer to eat off it for 3 days then dormant again..

 

They aren't always eating it either.. seems most pics they are just standing in it or walking through it. Very few pics eith nose to the ground..

 

I've also tried mixing with soil, and laying on top of soil.. I'm going to try a rotten log next..

 

Could it be the deer have enough minerals and dont really need my help?

 

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

 

 

 

yes - there is some of that. But - bottom line is deer are not going to go tremendously out of there way for it, has to be in an area they want to be "anyway".    I have seen sites start hot then go cold then come back again.   They will ALWAYS care more about food and safety. 

[JHbowhunter]

1 hour ago, Pqreturn62 said:

Have you seen any pictures of fox peeing on it? Last year I had 5 reds (litter) all hang out by my minerals 24 hrs a day. The second they found it and started pissing on it regularly the deer refused to come back. I had a good healthy herd of 7, 3 being fawns, that I was trying to bulk up for the winter in hopes of rebounding the local numbers a little by me. They were on the minerals regularly for almost 2 months but vanished almost immediately when the fox claimed it. I’ve never seen that happen before, and regularly see fox at my minerals and bait sites, but this time was significantly different being that the numbers were so high and that they were pissing on the site all the time.

I always get pics of foxes in the sites, even taking a dump on it, hell they have even sh%t on top of mineral blocks.  Never seen the deer completely abandon as result.  Usually a good rain flushes that out. 

[hunterbob1]

4 hours ago, LPJR said:

Jack says you do not need to put minerals down. He has it covered........

Urine in one hand don't count!Now on the other hand that's protein.

Edited April 15, 2019 by hunterbob1

[mattg1500]

13 hours ago, Lunatic said:

Not an expert here and in fact this my my first year mixing my own but, from everything I read you don't give them enough DiCal. I am also don't know how dical tastes to deer but I mix dry molasses to my mix which is sweet with very strong aroma. I mix one part salt, one part dical, one part trace minerals(which include some additional Dical, and one part molasses.
I also think dirt is the natural way for deer ti get minerals.

From experience I have just seen that they prefer a soft log over the dirt. When the logs gone the just paw and dig around but not as active as when the logs there. I never tried dical but I remember years ago Mossy Oak had an article about the bitterness of dical and thats why the flavoring and salt help. I have also mixed sodium bi carb in which is supposed to help them with digestion. Again this is only what I have noticed in my area in Pa. In NJ I have not had enough consistency to say yay or nay on it. I also believe what your neighbors do affects you a great deal. If you have 10 mineral sites in a 50ac area they are less likely to visit. IMO

[megavites]

Pqreturn62 nailed it. Fox love to pee in them. You could try freshening it up or adding some dried molassas