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Salt licks

Rutman

Rutman

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2021
Messages
673
Location
NW Georgia
About that time of year to be putting some salt out. I’ve always had great activity with Deer Cane over the years. Just pouring the dry bag in the ground before a rain usually works good. Tractor Supply is selling Jurassic Rock in a 5 gallon bucket for $35. I bought a bucket of that and some Lucky Buck to put out this year in some new areas. Anybody had any experience with the Jurassic Rock or Lucky Buck?


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Rutman said:
About that time of year to be putting some salt out. I’ve always had great activity with Deer Cane over the years. Just pouring the dry bag in the ground before a rain usually works good. Tractor Supply is selling Jurassic Rock in a 5 gallon bucket for $35. I bought a bucket of that and some Lucky Buck to put out this year in some new areas. Anybody had any experience with the Jurassic Rock or Lucky Buck?


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Click to expand...
I use the Trophy Rock 465 which is similar to Jurassic Rock. It’s just crushed Trophy Rock, but it goes a lot further for the cost ($15/40lbs of crushed vs $13/12-lb solid rock).
If I want to start a new mineral site pre- or during season, I’ll do so by either 1) putting a thin layer of the rock down then empty 1/2-1 bottle of liquid Deer Cane on top 2) emptying a whole bottle of deer cane then 2-3 weeks later throwing a layer of TR on top.
If I’m not planning to hunt it for a while, like postseason or during lactation, I’ll generally just use the TR and refresh it every 6-8 weeks or so.
I find the DC really brings them in quickly but the TR keeps them there long-term. I have sites they’ve been licking at for 3 seasons that I only need to refresh 3x a year or so
 
In our state it's illegal for us to put anything out for the deer like this. I wish there were protocols in place for supplemental feeding when it gets super nasty and cold for long durations though with big snow depths but everyone worries about CWD.
 
This is what I’ve been using for several years now and have killed some nice bucks since I started using this, granted I also let them walk until they mature but have seen great advancement in bone growth the last three years!

Two parts white salt
One part trace mineral salt
1 large coffee can of dicalcium phosphate
3 coffee cans of dried molasses
2 bags of brown sugar
1 large box of baking soda
Add to it every 4 or 5 weeks depending on usage!

When I first put this mix out I will pour I jug of grape coolaid powder on top, deer here go crazy over this mix.
 
I use natural water softener salt, with no additives from rural king.

To establish a new site. I will go to dollar general and get a big container of cheap peanut butter and run it through a mixer/blender with water and cut it a bunch of times and dump that water/peanut butter mix into a bucket. Take 4 or so bags of salt dump them on or around a stump, and then dump the peanut water over it. After that I just use the salt.

I also typically cut a plastic drum in half length wise and partially bury it to keep a water source near by. The beauty of going length wise is when it freezes, it will just push up and not crack the drum
 
Lucky buck works well in my area. I put it out closer to spring & summer when their racks are growing.
 
Save yourself the trouble and $.....non medicated cattle mineral is what you want. The Southern States stuff with "weather guard" was the best....it's different now, but still works.

The cattle mineral has lots of goodies...dical is usually the first ingredient. Molasses is in there too. The one thing that I think makes a difference is sulfur. Keeps the bugs down.

The farm I hunt now, deer seem less impressed by mineral. The farm I hunted years ago, they'd lay down on their sides to get under a log.
 
kbetts said:
The farm I hunt now, deer seem less impressed by mineral. The farm I hunted years ago, they'd lay down on their sides to get under a log.
Click to expand...
I noticed a similar difference between my buddy’s small woodlot that surrounded by ag fields where I have pictures of the deer literally fighting over their right to the best spot around the lick, versus my home farm which is mixed woods and ag where the deer will visit the lick and sometimes bed close by but aren’t pushing each other away just to get a nibble. Half the time I see them near the mineral licks they’re not even remotely interested.
I’m not sure of/if there even is a correlation between the amount of woods and how hard they hit those minerals, I just know that there was a hell of a lot more spirited activity around the minerals on his land about 15mi away.
 
I've used trophy rock and deer cane in the past, never set a camera on it or followed any strict regiment though. Have used a cattle trace mineral block the last couple years, can't say it's been dynamite but it should provide what the deer need. I will say that keeping something available from October to July is probably the best thing you can do for you deer herd, the impact prenatal nutrition and supplementation has is huge on all animals, but can be seen easily in the studies done on pen raised deer.
 
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