Minerals – Take One

Using minerals for deer isn’t something new. But, the way I see it – It may be new to someone who reads this:  Share your Outdoor Story! – You never know when you’re gonna run across the one person that just might need to hear it!  

On March 7th, 2015 my nephews and I created a new mineral lick on a property we’re privileged to hunt. For approximately $46.00 per site, using a homemade recipe discussed in the Quality Deer Management Association’s – Deer Steward I online course, we made out like bandits in terms of improving the health of the deer herd on the lands we maintain.

It all starts with:

50# Granular Calcium Carbonate (Feed Grade Lime)

50# DiCalcium Phosphate 

50# Trace Mineral Salt 

Forming a hodgepodge of the above ingredients we then distributed approximately 150 pounds of the mixture at each of the three new sites we selected.  The selection process hinged on finding an area with predominantly clay soils due to their ability to hold water and nutrients with minimal leaching – putting granulated or pulverized minerals in sandy soils would be counterproductive, as the majority of the nutrients would percolate to underlying layers of the soil profile making access by deer and other wildlife improbable.

In less than three months this site has gone from seeing little-to-no activity to around-the-clock visits.  Moving forward it will serve as a sanctuary where deer can come to stock up the minerals they need without fear of being stuck with an arrow, positively impacting the health of the herd whenever they need it most!

For more information on minerals and their benefits for deer, check out Minerals for Whitetails – an online article posted by the Quality Deer Management Association.