Deer Salt

[mike_belben]

ive been reading this old study about the critical nature of salt in all livestock diets.

https://seaagri.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/salt_and_trace_elements_in_animal_nutrition.pdf


it appears that a lot of cannibalism in high stress confinement animals might just be the seeking of salt to satisfy a dietary deficiency because stress demands more of it. blood is full of salt so one little taste and they dont stop nibbling. 

[HemlockKing]

i personally would ring it around your stumps so that the deer excavate the root system out and make a bowl around it.  then the rainwater will be pooled around and let the microbial action weaken the main roots so they can just be snapped off with a winch and choker cable.  

deer can eat dirt a lot easier than they can eat wood. ive been using the little backhoe to dig little pool rings around big stumps and its pretty fast that they turn punky.  

Good thinking!

[mike_belben]

Well boys, (and roxie)

I have been regularly maintaining and monitoring the same mineral site for 9 or 10 months now and what i can tell you is that to buy a mineral block now during hunting frenzy prices is just throwing money away.  The antlers are grown, the fawns are run off and theres just not much need for mineral right now compared to when trying to regrow a rack or a fetus.  Its acorns acorns acorns at this time down here.  Cherry picking the tastiest right now as theres a bumper crop and still fair weather, leaves are just turning.

As soon as the sheds and embryos occur lets say by jan/feb then its a mineral frenzy right through to summer. Starts tapering maybe august sept. Theyll take a few licks but not mob around fighting to eat the dirt and visiting 3x a day at all hours. Thats what theyll do to a mineral site from breeding/shedding time thru greenup.


The time to set mineral and corn is the dead of winter when theyre suffering the most,  the second it is legal to do so.  Youll be rewiring the entire herd pattern for the following year, theyll beat in new trails and staging areas and routines.  Come hunting season salt is almost useless and illegal for me.  corn is illegal but is like deer crack once the leaves and acorns are gone so its tough to pattern if youve got a poacher hiding corn sacks nearby.. Very common in my area. Shifts behavior.

Butfor the legal guy.. the pattern from mineral that is timed to best benefit the deer rather than the hunter is still there when hunting season arrives.   The seeking buck is gonna snort all over the usual doe grounds lookin for love. You dont need an attractant if he is wired to check all those memorable places.  Cattle research has proven a cow out on open range can remember a water or mineral site miles away. Loverboy is gonna check the usual spots, and hopefully you have left it unpressured enough that he checks it in daylight.  

Dont set mineral in fall and dont set corn in spring or summer.  Theyll both go to waste. Dead of winter is best time for both once it is legal. Youll be doing a herd a big favor. Once greenup happens theyll walk right by shelled corn. Mine sprouted in a heap while they licked salt 6 feet away.

[Chuck White]

Salt is salt, or so I've heard!

Water softener salt is readily available and is cheap, is it just like any other salt, other than it's shape?

[Magicman]

Yes, salt is salt.  There is much written/believed about salt such as "Sea Salt", Kosher Salt, and whatever.  Trace elements added (iodine, etc.) or removed but:  Salt  is still salt  Kosher Salt

[mike_belben]

Start curing meat and youll find a whole different opinion on what salts are appropriate for this or that.  It gets complicated! 

 I am using a 50/50 mix or dicalcium phosphate and trace mineral salt because its the most bang for the buck. Hundred pounds for $30ish. Ive given out a lot to friends and still have a few inches in the bucket.

so my blend is mostly salt, calcium and phospherus plus maybe 8 or so trace minerals.  Skeleton is mostly calcium and phospherus by volume i guess. And we all need sufficient sodium in our blood to sustain life.