how to keep bait infront of a cam

[rebal69972]

i was wondering how you guys keep salt and mineral blocks in front of your cams? i went to check my cams and blocks and my first block was gone, and after only a week i was kinda surprised but on my way down to my second cam i found my block almost 500 yards from where i left it. granted a 50 lbs block isn't that heavy but kinda annoying to have to keep taking it back any advice would be helpful

[brew]

haven't yet figured out how to chain a block to a tree....did you get any pics while it was still in front of the cam?  my only reccomendation would be to use a bag of minerals where you would dig a small hole in front of the cam and put it in therefore they can't drag it away.  even if you ratchet strapped it to a tree a determined bear could get it off

[bearpaw]

If your block has a hole in it, drive a metal fence post through it into the ground. Drill a hole if needed. You could chain it like mentioned too.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Bearpaw beat me to it--exactly what I'd recommend doing.

[DBHAWTHORNE]

I use a mixture of loose minerals so I haven't had to deal with that issue yet.

[Skyvalhunter]

Drill a hole in the block , take some rebar and drive it in the ground take a piece of wire and wire the salt block to the rebar. S/A Bearpaw said.

[klickriverchromer]

dig a hole and put the block or blocks in there and cover them up. critters find natural salt deposites the same way.

[rebal69972]

i got 2 pics but they are both really blury, they were elk just not very pictures. thank you all i plan on taking another block out this weekend i will try drilling a hole in it. again thank you

[huntnnw]

never had a block moved... but I mostly use loose also

[nwwanderer]

Go with the loose.  You can tailor it to the animals needs, pack a few pounds instead of 50 and put it in a rubber pan chained to a tree if you do not like the excavations.

[rebal69972]

where can i get the loose , is it the same as the blocks and does it work as well?

[DBHAWTHORNE]

I get all my stuff at the feed store. Following is what I do.

I mix the following:

1 bag of 50lbs bag of stock salt (fine grade)
2 bags 50lbs bag of trace mineral salt
1 bag 50lbs bag of dicalcium phosphate

I don't mix it until I am ready to use it. (stock salt/1part; trace mineral/2 parts; dicalcium phosphate/1part)

It costs me less than $50 and it is good for 10 sites.

I find the area I want to use and scrape to bare soil. I then break up the soil in roughly a three foot diameter and 4-6 inches deep. I pour 20lbs of mineral and mix it with the soil and then pack the soil down with my feet. I it is best to do this just before a rain but not necessary.

6 months later I refresh the site with 10lbs and after that it only needs to be taken care of annually with a 20lbs mix.

Here is a video of a guy that uses the same mix I do do
http://www.midwestwhitetail.com/gallery/20/media/1812/creating-mineral-sites.html

[rebal69972]

i pulled my cards to day and this is what i got

[carpsniperg2]

If your block has a hole in it, drive a metal fence post through it into the ground. Drill a hole if needed. You could chain it like mentioned too.

Yep! that's the way to do it, either way will work. Just depends if you want to pack a post pounder and a t post or 2 into the back country Drilling them and putting a chain into them works great as well.

[nwwanderer]

The recipe above is a good basic mix.  If you want to get the little things (Ca, P, Se, Mg, Mn, Zn, Cu, A, D, E, etc.) Wolfkill in Stanwood and Bruce (port for Othello) mixes a northwest beef loose mix that fits the use.  The mixed loose products use salt to limit the intake of the other nutrients.  Basically the critters eat to satisfy the salt requirement and get the right amount of the other things in the process.  It is not expensive and the consumptiion can give you an idea of the number of critters using your site.  If you have high use spread out with smaller amounts in a larger area.