Licking stick

[Jeff]

I put up a licking stick this year, something I have never tried. WOW. I thought you might enjoy the trailcam clips from this week. Just a stick on a string on a trail
The licking stick. Whitetail deer toy! - YouTube

[WV Sawmiller]

   You sure have some fat, healthy looking does there. Never heard of a licking stick before. I'll have to investigate that some more.

[Magicman]

Never heard of such but they are certainly fascinated by it.  Looks like it even attracts Logrite Log Arches. 

[Jeff]

Even the bears check it out.

[Walnut Beast]

Pretty cool. They are very curious when something is different in the woods

[Southside]

You should do that at the next pig roast, complete with a hidden trail camera and all.   :D

[Jeff]

You guys should try it and stick out a camera. I had photos within 3 days of hanging the first on I have two ue

[Walnut Beast]

What's the name of the stuff your using?

[SwampDonkey]

I put one up last year, I had a couple sets of deer tracks around it. We don't have many deer, maybe 3-6 deer around here in any given year. There never was. Up Tobique or upper Mirimachi, you could see 50 deer and nice woods trails around any lake. My area was always way more moose. Deer need special winter habitat up here and way less coyotes.

Nothing special about the stick, just tied up on a limb.

@beenthere started a thread on it a year or so ago.

[Jeff]

What's the name of the stuff your using?

There is no stuff. It is just a tamarack branch hung from a chunk of paracord. No bait no sent no feed. I see the one doe is either browsing or chew8ng a cud, but nothing I put out.

[YellowHammer]

Never heard of it but I want to put one up.  Is there a special height off the ground, it looks like about 3 feet works?

[Jeff]

About 3 feet. Put it on a stout cord, from a stout limb. Once you get it up, dont touch it. It's now asign post. Every deer that rubs on it leaves sign for every other deer. 

[thecfarm]

Just might have to try that.

[Raider Bill]

This is one of those crazy things..
This morning I see your post. I had never heard of a licking stick before.
Later while at PT they had a random channel playing and there it was a deer playing with a licking stick.

One of the other patients asked what that deer was doing, so me all knowing casually said that's a licking stick and explained it to him.

:D :D :D

[jb616]

What's the name of the stuff your using?

There is no stuff. It is just a tamarack branch hung from a chunk of paracord. No bait no sent no feed. I see the one doe is either browsing or chew8ng a cud, but nothing I put out.

Different sticks will work as well. I use wild grape vine. 

[Jeff]

I th8nk you want to use something native to the area. With all thevpot farms going in the u.p., maybe just an old hemp rope would do.    I think the stick needs a little mass, but not to much.

[aigheadish]

You should do that at the next pig roast, complete with a hidden trail camera and all.   :D

You may have to soak it in bourbon and bbq sauce.
This licking stick is madness and I now understand why all your deer have cold sores.  ;)

[Walnut Beast]

That's pretty cool. I know of making a licking branch over a mock scrape works well. I'll have to try just hanging a vine or branch like that for fun. Seems like the deer were going wild over it in the video 😂👍

[beenthere]

Last year I tried to make a mock scrape in front of two trail cams. Cut a couple branches from a tree and hung them from some baler twine. Both worked as Jeff described. No treatment at all.
Deer (bucks and doe) stopped to sniff, rub, smell the branches. Bucks would sniff, and thrash the branch with antlers, and then scratch the ground and pee on the ground. The visits (sniff, smell, lick) continued through the fall, through the winter, spring and all this summer. That surprised me because the fawns are following that pattern. Because the branch is just suspended, they cannot tear it up or shred it. But some do take a bite of it so it gets shorter.

In addition, another surprise was putting two wood stakes in the ground used to support a doe decoy to keep them from blowing over or the deer from knocking them down. The deer pay regular visits to these stakes that I left over the winter and now through this summer. They stop and sniff, lick, and smell. Even the raccoons will pay a visit as well as a bobcat (sometimes they spray the stick).

Google :  Several videos of mock scrapes. Quite interesting.
"Setting up Vine Mock Scrapes"

One I made from trail cam last year.
https://rumble.com/v1g1fvd-october-scrape-visits.html

[Nebraska]

Might be a fun experiment to coat the end of a stick with molasses and salt and see how much attention it gets..  Hang two in the frame one candy coated and one not  just to see what happens.

[Jeff]

I beleive that would defeat the purpose. Pure deer scent from every deer that passes by seems to me a much more powerful attractant to be deluted 

[petefrom bearswamp]

Right now Im one eyed as result of a non invasive procedure on my right eye, but when I get it back on friday Im going to try that.
I have 2 cameras out and a going put a third.
a lot of deer 2 really nice bucks and some squirrels, several pics of coyotes.
No bear here tho

[Jeff]

I put out a third one this morning that I hope will be a travel route to the new food plot areas. I put a camera on it. I'll check it Friday and see if it has had any attraction. This is just inside my west line maybe 20 yards.

[thecfarm]

I will have to give that a try.

[Walnut Beast]

Jeff! I was thinking of you when my buddy sent me this picture. I asked is that a licking stick and his reply was yes! He is the one I posted of a big buck he shot in the  food plot thread.