high country deer attractant

[tony04]

hopefully in a few weeks most of the snow will be gone in the area i plan to hunt hard this year for blacktail deer. its at about 4500'. i'd like to set up a camera to see what kind of bucks are in the area, but not sure on what to use to attract them. apples are out of the question, its a couple miles to hike in and all up hill. so im looking for something light weight and affective. this is where you guys come in, with your experience on what you found works best. first time baiting for a trail cam, so any other tips and tricks will be helpful. thanks!

[madmack76]

Bacon's light weight

[bobcat]

I probably wouldn't use any bait if I was hiking in that far. I'd just bring in three or four cameras and set one up on every good deer trail I could find. That way you're not just dependent on one spot. But you might try some of the smaller salt blocks.

[3nails]

 If your access pt. is from a south slope (forget it if it's north access) just set cameras along the edge of the new regrowth and work up from there as the snow melts. I hunt at that elev. and up here w/the snowpack it will be July before it melts off. North sides may not melt off until Sept. But those deer will be working the tender new shoots along the edge which makes for easy pics. I'll run mine up tomorrow. 

[True Sportsman]

You should put some cameras up and post the pics on here... Everyone likes pics.

[rebal69972]

i dont know how it will work here but it worked real well for white tails in Missouri. we used table salt work the ground up and dump 1 or 2 things and your good to go

[Westsidebowhunter]

Take a small salt lick in the ones that are five pounds and then get c'mere deer and spray it all over the deer will literally eat anything that stuff touches and keep coming back for more

[WSU]

Get a few small salt blocks and put them out.  Make sure to dig a little hole and/or break them up so they don't get moved around.  Not sure how it works on blacktails, but it works great on muleys just over the crest.  Post pics!

[bullcanyon]

Salt.  Im waiting on the same thing as you.  I look at stormking every day looking at the snow move up.  I use that as my indicator of when I can get to the high country.

[TheHunt]

We have a heck of a snow pack this year.  You have snow at 3,000 feet.  Most all the folks I have talked to (Rangers, DOT, etc) have said that July will be the target to get into the higher elevations if it is not plowed.

[tony04]

thanks for all your help. ill get a couple small salt blocks and c'mere deer (or similar) and try it out. should i put that stuff directly on a trail? a few feet off??

[h20hunter]

I would put it a little way off. they will find it simply by smell when they are in the area. If you have a nice little opening maybe 30 or 40 yards off trail they should feel secure and home right in. A nice straight tree nearby to hang a stand would be nice as well.

[EAS]

yeah, the brick salt blocks are good, but i have had sweet luck with the deer-cane powder. if you can find a protein block at the feed store and take it home and cut it into 1/4 pieces you can take that up with you...very dense and smells good! those two things should get you some action around your tree-cam. show us the pics!

[huntnnw]

another trick is to bring up some scent wicks or cloth and soak in apple oil..its lightweight and animals will come to investigate.