Muley mineral lick

[Rustynail]

I was wondering what yall use to attract mule deer. I've had luck with store bought stuff (mainly tractor supply). However this year I plan on setting up 5-7 different mineral spots with cameras. These all are going to be miles off the road. Using the deer attractant stuff like critter lick, black magic, etc will get spendy. I'm thinking about packing in a 50lb bag of mineral salt on the frame pack to each spot. What do you all think?


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[WeiserBucks]

Sounds illegal.

 

[Rustynail]

No won't be hunting over them. Just for spring time to see what bucks are in the area.

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[Rustynail]

Anyone have luck with just a bag of trace mineral salt

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[chindits]

What state? I thought CPW made a case in Lake City where someone was doing that to photograph sheep. It was years ago so I might be full of sheeet.

 

[Rustynail]

What state? I thought CPW made a case in Lake City where someone was doing that to photograph sheep. It was years ago so I might be full of sheeet.

I'll be in Montana doing it. I do have some sheep in the area so that would be cool hahaha. I won't be hunting them tho but would love to have some pictures.

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[finner]

It's illegal in Montana.

@fwp

 

[alecvg]

Illegal in Montana. Baiting wildlife. Would be a separate charge for hunting baited area if you hunt the same area in the fall.

 

[Muley Tag]

Yup….no can do in MT.

 

[Rustynail]

Oh shit well thanks guys! I guess I should be looking into regulations before I do anything. Thank you for the information!

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[Str8shooter]

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks has entered the chat...

Also baiting is LAME

 

[Rustynail]

Hahaha yeah no I play by the books. I was unaware it was illegal. Good thing I got here before. And I guess you could call it baiting but I didn't have any intentions of hunting over it. I'm not that patient lol. Just wanted to see what bucks were in the area. Now I'll be putting cameras out without any minerals.

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[wytx]

For your info, trace mineral blocks will get used by mule deer. They hit the cattle and horse blocks regularly on the ranch we work for.
No we don't hunt them either.
Bighorn sheep will also use them with elk and WTs.
Loose minerals not so much but blocks get utilized.

 

[nphunter]

I can legally bait and hunt over bait in my state. I have great luck with mineral for elk hunt not deer, even elk stop hitting the mineral all together by the second week of Aug when they go hard horned.

The only thing I’ve had work for deer is apples but they also work for every other critter in the woods and only last a day or two.

I don’t hunt any of my cams, they are just for cams and I have the most luck on water sources. Still I get very few deer on cam, we also have a poor deer population here.

 

[Huntnnw]

For your info, trace mineral blocks will get used by mule deer. They hit the cattle and horse blocks regularly on the ranch we work for.
No we don't hunt them either.
Bighorn sheep will also use them with elk and WTs.
Loose minerals not so much but blocks get utilized.

that makes 0 sense. All I use is loose. salt is salt no matter what. I have used loose salt for 30 years. I probably have couple million pics in that time frame on loose salt. I average on every cam where there is elk in May thru late july about 8k pics a month

 

[chindits]

Nothing wrong with the old fashion way, spotting scope and enjoying your time in the hills.

Of course if you do actually scout you might be called a boomer or Fudd because you’re not spending your time burning an inordinate amount of small bore ammunition thinking that will be the end all to your hunting success.

 

[wytx]

that makes 0 sense. All I use is loose. salt is salt no matter what. I have used loose salt for 30 years. I probably have couple million pics in that time frame on loose salt. I average on every cam where there is elk in May thru late july about 8k pics a month

Sorry man based on observations I have seen myself. Trace mineral blocks get hit but loose mineral on or in the ground does not. Probably depends on what the game is used to ranchers putting out.
Will they hit loose mineral eventually yes but if used to a block they take to it right away.
This is in a non baiting legal state so yes if you can bait legally then they will take to whatever you put out usually.

Yes salt is salt but not really beneficial to mule deer year round. Can cause issues if no trace minerals included.
I would rather see something out that benefits the wildlife not just lure them in to die.
Plain salt is an attractant for sure, not really good for the deer though.

 

[CorbLand]

Sorry man based on observations I have seen myself. Trace mineral blocks get hit but loose mineral on or in the ground does not. Probably depends on what the game is used to ranchers putting out.
Will they hit loose mineral eventually yes but if used to a block they take to it right away.
This is in a non baiting legal state so yes if you can bait legally then they will take to whatever you put out usually.

Yes salt is salt but not really beneficial to mule deer year round. Can cause issues if no trace minerals included.
I would rather see something out that benefits the wildlife not just lure them in to die.
Plain salt is an attractant for sure, not really good for the deer though.

Back when we could bait, I used a ton of salt. I would go buy the loose American Rancher bag from the local feed store. Everything hit it just fine. I had way better luck with loose than I ever did blocks and loose is way easier to deal with. I have a picture of a deer hitting my salt, first time I put it in that area, 7 minutes after I set the camera up. They like loose just as much as anything and this is all in an area that has both cattle and sheep grazing with salt blocks everywhere.

The biggest mistake people make with loose is that they pile it up like corn. You cant do that. The animals will just eat it. You have to mix it around in the dirt and spread it out. Its even better if you can get a lite rain to hit a couple hours after you put it out.

The best that I found outside of critter lick, that stuff is like crack, is get a bag of general trace from the feed store and mix it with Vapple concentrate. I did a couple cups to every 50 pounds of trace. I could smell that stuff 1/4 mile from where I dumped it if down wind.

 

[Huntnnw]

Sorry man based on observations I have seen myself. Trace mineral blocks get hit but loose mineral on or in the ground does not. Probably depends on what the game is used to ranchers putting out.
Will they hit loose mineral eventually yes but if used to a block they take to it right away.
This is in a non baiting legal state so yes if you can bait legally then they will take to whatever you put out usually.

Yes salt is salt but not really beneficial to mule deer year round. Can cause issues if no trace minerals included.
I would rather see something out that benefits the wildlife not just lure them in to die.
Plain salt is an attractant for sure, not really good for the deer though.

no animal is going to gorge on salt till death, they consume what they need thats why its always put out as free choice

 

[wytx]

Wow never said they would. Just relaying my experiences with mineral blocks and trace minerals.
I'm out and leaving this to you experts, lol.