Deer licks

[Masterhunter340]

Does anybody have suggestions on what minerals and brands work best to help deer out with added nutrients? Salt blocks, deer cocain, extreme growth, molasses blocks, corn??

[Masterhunter340]

Thanks I will give it a try!

[nwwanderer]

Try Northwest Beef from Wolfkill Feed and Fertilizer.  It is designed for local needs and a great buy compared to the brands you mentioned.  This time of year protein is rarely a problem, new growth is a powerhouse of nutrients.  By July until April things can be pretty tough unless we get early fall rains.  Peas and canola meal are probably your best buy for protein.

[Masterhunter340]

Do you just dump it in a pile on a well used trail?

[Button Nubbs]

I use the red trace mineral 50lb blocks.

[nwwanderer]

They will find the loose vitamin/mineral mix.  Find a reasonably dry spot under a tree or overhang and it will last longer.  Beware, once they establish use serious excavation might occur.

[huntnnw]

If your trying to improve antler development use trace and mix with di-calcium phosphate..sometimes finding the di-calcium is hard to find. Purina is now making antler max mix which includes everything in a bag

[nwwanderer]

Northwest beef has the proper balance of Ca, P and the other macro and micro vitamins and minerals.  Salt is part of the mix and is in the correct porportions to limit over consumption.  If you need a source of DiCal, PM me.

[DaveBTS]

Please don't use wet cob. Trophy Rock now comes in a powder form. It might not be available in WA yet. If that's the case, I'd recommend the nugget form. Cattle mineral licks don't contain the the amounts necessary for wild game.

[nwwanderer]

Be careful out there.  If you are going to mess with artificial supplementation study a little.  A good example is selenium.  The correct amount is critical for health and reproduction, 3X that amount is very toxic.  It is easy to spend a dollar on a dimes worth of product.  You are dealing with tiny amounts of elements that often interact.  Correct proportions are important.  The National Research Council is probably your best source of tested repeatable requirements for all kinds of critters. 

[h20hunter]

Dave....why no wet cob?

[backyard bucks]

 

[DaveBTS]

Corn is a good source of energy during late summer/early fall (pre-rut). Unfortunately, most people think that corn is a good food source for winter feeding because deer will eat a lot of it. Corn has very little nutritional value and does not fully digest. While trying to make it through a deer's 4 stomaches, enzymes build up to toxic levels. If enough has been eaten, it will kill the deer.

Whitetail idiots like Lee Lakosky, Don Kisky, and the rest of the those TV fools tout the practice of leaving standing corn as a winter food source because it attracts deer into their 40 yd comfort zone. If they honestly "cared" about the sport, and resource, they would disappear.

[h20hunter]

Ok....I'm with you so far but we aren't talking about just corn.....the oats and barley seem to be in higher concentration in the cob I've used. Shoot....my last batch of cob sprouted into oats and deer have been eating on it.

[nwwanderer]

A deer has a small rumen, a storage and fermentation vat, with several billion little critters per milliliter (ml).  There is about 30 mls per ounce.  If you do anything to change the chemistry of that vat the deer dies.  Corn or any grain put in that stomach without time to slowly change to digest the different nutrients drops the acidity of the fluid in the stomach.  Out side of a very narrow range the tiny critters die and so does the deer which depends on thriving rumen fluid to digest its food.  Thats why ruminant animals can digest grass and other high fiber browse.  The fermentation vat breaks down the fiber for energy and the deer digest the dead critters and by- products of fermentation.  They can certainly handle the high energy grains if they have time to change the population of the rumen to microorganisms that digest starch.  I am talking a couple of weeks with gradual increases.  A belly full of grain in a deer accustomed to winter browse equals a dead deer.  This is kind of complicated stuff, if you have a son or daughter that is interested in a science based phD, ruminant metabolism has dozens of potential degrees and great earning possibilities.