Research in Tennessee supports this. You can use a 1:1 or 2:1 (two parts salt and one part dicalcium phosphate) ratio for your mineral site. Making your own deer mineral isn't hard, nor is it expensive. There are commercial and "homemade" granular mixes available. Clovers and Perennials- Are you planting for now or the future? A good wrinkle to add here is to mix up the recipe used in the video -- that'll give you about 100 pounds of mix -- and then blend in some sort of dry attractant to help the deer find the location quickly and to add some additional flavor value that might keep them coming back for more. The form it is in (block versus granular), location of the mineral site, soil type, salt content, competition, aggression of other deer, how long the site has been established and a host of other factors all affect how much a mineral site will be used. When formulating free choice minerals, or any feed product for that matter, the vital elements include the ingredients used along with the percentage of those ingredients and the resulting percentage of actual nutrients (i.e. Using the right ingredients and amounts, hunters can create a mineral recipe that will help to keep deer healthy and help to promote a healthy hunting season. If deer were lacking minerals, why wouldnt they use the pure mineral supplement even if salt wasnt present? All of these minerals are necessary for deer to maintain their health and help to keep their coats shiny and strong. The third site on Farm C was discarded due to a camera failure. I have found that mineral sites located in sandy areas are utilized less than mineral sites in heavier soils. The placement of a homemade deer mineral lick on your property is an important factor in encouraging deer to visit and use the lick. Place the lick in a location that has a lot of natural cover. WATCH: 3 Things Youre Doing Wrong with Your Mineral Sites. The higher the numbers the more you are typically getting out of it. This mineral will be for sale in the next 2 weeks!! Mar 18, 2010. Because of this, I normally recommend at least one site per 40 acres to minimize site competition, with more sites needed in areas with higher deer density. Over the years, with the use of thousands of trail camera photos and a lot of trial and error, I have figured out a few factors that influence mineral consumption both positively and negatively. ! 2 parts Trace mineral salt, the red and loos kind without the medications. They know that deer typically begin using supplemental minerals around spring green-up and continue until early fall. Spread evenly the remainder of the bag of salt. The Importance of Knowing Intake 2023 National Deer Association, All Rights Reserved. Wildgame Innovations, for example, has all manner of attractants that have a powerful aroma that should help deer find your mineral site more quickly and may add a flavor component that the deer love. Stockpiled Forages, The Key to Growing Big Bucks. According to research, yes. Lesser amounts of other minerals were found including potassium, barium, iron, aluminum, zinc, strontium and manganese. In contrast, most studies on whitetails have focused on the impacts on body weight and antler development. Without question deer need minerals, and they will readily use mineral licks. Calcium and phosphorus are important for bone growth, while magnesium helps to regulate muscle and nerve function. For example, for many years, it was commonly accepted that adult bucks did all or most of the breeding. We've learned that a multi-pronged approach to providing deer minerals is best. What Minerals Should Be Included in a Homemade Deer Mineral Lick? Ingredients 2 cups = Oats 2 cups = Cornmeal 1 cup = Brown sugar 1 cup = Molasses 1/2 cup = Vegetable oil Directions In a large bowl, pour in molasses, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. My best advice here is to use an attractant with an aroma or flavor that's natural to your area. Simply use a bucket with nearby pond or creek water to do this. And make sure you locate your mineral site near a water source, because deer will need to drink after theyve eaten minerals. All Rights Reserved. By delivering mineral in this way, youre exposing deer to greater risk of parasites and diseases. Over the past five years or so, I've really started to fine-tune the system that I use for running trail cameras in the spring and summer months, and it's a system that revolves entirely around mineral sites. Believe it or not, in those early days little of the whitetail information we now commonly take for granted was known. Comments on this site are submitted by users and are not endorsed by nor do they reflect the views or opinions of COLE Publishing, Inc. Over a four year period the researchers were unable to detect any differences between the two deer herds. One is to start by hanging your cameras on the fringes and then work your way toward bedding areas if deer movement warrants it. However, the formula I used for this mineral is a fairly standard formula used in many deer mineral products. Continue with Recommended Cookies, Home Recipes The #1 Best Deer Mineral Recipe. This recipe should also be tailored to meet the needs of the area in which it is being used. Mineral sites do exactly that. in Food Plots, A different approach, Research is learning what is wrong about a forage. More Info At www.huntingnet.com Our deer blog is one of the longest-running and most popular ones out there. Those actually were wonderful days to do research, as my colleagues and I picked the low-hanging fruit of knowledge. Type of mineral formulation affected total deer use of baited sites, with a high salt formulation receiving over four times the number of daily visits from deer as other formulations. Since deer tend to like salt, placing a mineral lick in a location where there is water is the best way to attract them. WHITETAIL DEER HOMEMADE MINERAL MIX RECIPE. Mike Clerkin heads to Buffalo County, Wisconsin to bowhunt whitetails. Strongly consider buying a bag of rice bran or other attractant like apple extract that may entice deer to eat the minerals. ). This would equate to an average ounce-per-head-per-day intake of .29 ounces. Trace mineral salt contains mostly salt, which is what the deer are actually looking for, and various other trace amounts of minerals such as zinc, manganese, iron all of which are found in hardened deer antler. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Once youve tagged that big whitetail deer, take a look at some of our most popular venison recipes like our Old School Deer Jerky Recipe or the Delicious Deer Backstrap Crockpot Recipe, What Is A Piebald Deer? You can provide deer these minerals and supplemented nutrition a variety of ways. I've mentioned this before, but here is the recipe I use with prices. Even in the deer world, we are continuously finding that what we thought was fact one day is completely disproved the next. There also is 5 flavors that are natural to deer. Dump no more than 25 lbs per deer lick per application, Lightly kick a little dirt on top of the mineral to make it apear as natural as possible. In its own way, western Kansas is quite beautiful, that is, of course, unless you like a lot of trees. We routinely give our cattle minerals, Larry said, and we wondered if it would be possible to make a mineral for deer?. This should be followed by developing a food-plot or native-plant fertilization program to ameliorate any deficiencies. Email: info@deerassociation.com. For example, in much of South Texas (which is broadly deficient in P), low rainfall makes trying to grow traditional food plots a fools errand. Instead, we apply 50 pounds per acre of triple-superphosphate (0-45-0) fertilizer to native brush. Want to get a bunch of trail camera photos during the times of year when it's typically difficult to do so? If you stand in the middle of Highway 400 just west of Dodge City and look out at the horizon, you can get a good understanding of why people once thought the Earth was flat. The sites attract deer and pose them for short periods in the right spot -- which happens to be right in front of the camera. About 40 percent is composed of protein. Weve put together one of the best deer mineral recipe articles for you to try at home. Whether the addition of supplemental minerals is truly benefitting the deer, or if the deer are simply using the site because of the salt, isn't really a primary concern of mine. Homemade Mineral Lick Go to your local feed store and buy (1) 50lb bag of granulized dicalcium phosphate, (2) 50lb bags of trace mineral salt, and (1) 50lb bag of rock salt. Here's how to create your own. Mineral licks arent going to magically grow trophy racks on a bucks head, but they are a piece of the management puzzle. How to Make the World's Best Homemade Deer Attractant Feed Mineral - YouTube Skip navigation Sign in 0:00 / 18:02 Intro How to Make the World's Best Homemade Deer Attractant Feed. Also, slightly burying the pan helped to ensure the mineral would not be spilled. Notice the pond in the background. There are commercial and homemade granular mixes available. Once youve thoroughly mixed the minerals with the soil, youre done. Phone: 1-800-209-DEER (3337) For one, as long as you have an idea of how many deer are on your property, knowing expected intake can help you figure out how much mineral you can expect to use each year. Result Also, the use of a foreign object, the plastic feeding pan, could have decreased usage even though I did not start the test until the deer were regularly using the site with the feeding pan in place. February 24, 2023 |Timber 2 Table Wild Game Recipes, February 22, 2023 |Timber 2 Table Wild Game Recipes. Help us continue producing great, educational content by joining the National Deer Association or making a tax-deductible donation. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. The best place to put a deer lick is near your closest water holes, ponds or water sources and near your food plots. So why not just use straight salt? The best way to provide supplemental minerals is by using a granular mineral that contains less than 30 percent salt and has Ca and P at the rate of 12 percent each. Look for the highest amounts of calcium and phosphorus on the label. Minerals are also important for does. Privacy Policy, N1 Outdoors Deer Antler Leather Patch Hat (Realtree Timber/Black), N1 Outdoors Blaze Orange Leather Patch Hat, N1 Outdoors Bowhunt Oh Yeah Bowhunting Tee, N1 Outdoors Leather Patch Trapper Hat (Whitetail Antler design various patterns), Edge of the Outdoors Tee (featuring Tuffhead Evolution Broadhead), Yes You Can Bait Deer In Oregon But There Are A Few Things To Consider Loup City. You can also use this as a trail cam to monitor the growth of your deers antlers. Maybe I'm overly paranoid but I don't like adding persimmon-scented products in an area where persimmons don't grow. As fall approaches, vegetation begins to mature and drop in potassium. You can also add it to a basic free choice mineral. Crappy Weather/ Days off just not lining up for Coyotes. If you dont see any deer activity near the mineral sight, try placing it near water sources and a good tree for trail cameras. The best time to put out these mineral blocks is in February/March/April. So here, during a time of year when mineral interest and use are high, Id like to recap which minerals deer need and how to address those needs. Because intake is typically relative to body weight, one would think that if a cow weighing 1,400 pounds was eating 2 to 4 ounces of mineral, then a deer weighing 200 pounds should eat only between 0.28 to 0.57 ounces, not 1 to 2 ounces. This past summer, I was developing a new deer mineral product and was constantly frustrated by the fact that I really didnt know what expected intake would be. Thats all there is to it. But why do they use these licks and why is their use restricted primarily to the spring and summer? During the spring and summer, deer operate at a sodium deficiency due to the high potassium and water content of the forage. The author dispenses granular mineral into a covered trough. Comes in 50lb Bags at around $11.00 you need one bag. For about $50 or less, you can buy all the ingredients you need to make several productive and quality mineral sites for deer. Plain Stock Salt - #50 - $4.30. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. However, when antlers are in the velvet stage and growing, they contain about 80 percent protein and 20 percent phosphorous and calcium. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Magnesium is perhaps the third most important mineral with sodium being not far behind. As I was at the time formulating a 20-year research plan for our institute, I decided it was a natural fit to include mineral supplementation in the plan. The best places for minerals are around a water source ponds, creeks, lakes, etc. I group these factors into two categories non-nutritional and nutritional factors. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. You want to get as much calcium and phosphorous into a deer as possible. Watering Note: If there's no rain in the forecast, consider watering the mineral site. This is also why mineral licks make excellent trail camera spots in the summer. 2023 Outdoor Sportsman Group. Deer minerals are simple math. Deer prefer mineral sites that are in cover as opposed to out in the open. I then placed cameras at each one of the sites to monitor usage. Calcium and phosphorous are the two biggest components of antler growth after protein. 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