1. Mineral stations
2. Trail cameras
3. 3D shooting
4. Bowhunting fitness
5. Land management
6. Tree stand selection
7. Locations on hanging tree stands
8. And any other topic that I think is necessary to discuss.
Mineral Stations
It's that time of year....time to be putting out mineral! Mineral not only helps grow bigger bucks, but it also helps improve the health of the does and fawns on your property. A farmer feeds cattle minerals to provide nutrients they may not receive from grazing, similar to the way deer need minerals to be more healthy, produce more antlers, or even have more milk for fawns. There are many different companies out there that sell whitetail mineral; most of the mixes contain some form of salts, di-cal, and other micronutrients. You can also buy the parts and make your own mineral cocktail.
I have been putting out salt for the last few years. Some guys I know will put out a big salt block, but what has worked best for me is just regular water-softener salt. It seems like deer like to work for their minerals and food, so using water-softener salt allows me to work the small pellets in the soil. The pellets also dissolve in the soil faster than a big block would, ultimately lasting longer and helping establish a site deer become accustomed to.
This year, I have started using a product called Lucky Buck. Lucky Buck guarantees that you will have bigger bucks on your farm or you get your money back. A company doesn't slap a guarantee on a product because it doesn't work, so I decided to give it a try. Lucky Buck suggests to use the mineral year round, but really start "pouring the coals" to the deer when the timber starts to green-up until September; using one bucket per month during this timeframe. I have been following those instructions since late March, and the deer are absolutely hammering the three sites I have established (by putting salt out the past few years)!
The biggest piece of advice I can offer is to mix the mineral in the soil! Don't just dump the mineral on the ground. I like to take a shovel or rake with me and dump some on the ground and really mix it in the soil. Then I dump the rest and mix it in. Like I stated above, deer like to dig in the dirt for the minerals.
I put cameras out Memorial day weekend, and I was back down at the property I hunt last weekend and checked one of the cameras that I have out. I had over 500 pictures in one week! Needless to say, I am impressed with Lucky Buck, but it's only early June so I'm not sure if it will actually make my bucks bigger, but it can't hurt (it might take a few years of using the product).
This is the minerals station I check the past weekend. As you can see, the deer have cleared quite an area where I have put mineral! I am adding a little corn to my mineral site.
I recommend a mineral that deer like to eat. Big&J, Lucky Buck, and Trophy Rock are all minerals that have gotten good reviews from some of my hunting friends. I also like to add some salt to the mineral site every once in a while. Deer need salt to balance the intake of minerals they receive. As stated above, I put corn out about every other month to give the deer some added nutrition. This will become more important after the season as the deer will be recovering from the rut and need to add body fat to stand the cold winter in Iowa.
Along with an ample amount of food (which I have many crop fields surrounding the timber), mineral sites are just another way to hold big bucks on your property, plus it is a great way to get bucks to walk by your trail camera so you can take an inventory of the bucks on your property.
I hope you have found this helpful when you start to establish a mineral site. Check back for more updates!
Muddyhunter
I love the smell of Lucky Buck! It's no wonder why the deer demolish it!
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