Deer nutrients

What is your guys’s go to brand of deer feed or deer suplement. What brand have you trusted or have trust in. Thanks!

Which one? Feed or mineral supplement? For me they are 2 separate things because in MN, anything that contains anything other than minerals is considered bait and is illegal to have on the ground during the hunting season.

For feed I grow food plots and in the winter (after hunting seasons have closed), I feed corn from timed deer feeders.

For mineral, IMO you can’t beat the home-brew recipe that’s all over the internet:

1 part Dicalcium Phosphate,
2 parts trace mineral salt (loose)
1 part loose stock salt.

Using full bags of the above, which are common cattle suppliments and available at any feed store or Fleet Farm, I mix enough to replenish 3 mineral licks and the cost is about $40.

Some have commented that the deer seem to prefer the high-dollar “rocks”. Of course they do, many of these contain sugars. Making them illegal to have on the ground during season BTW.

If you want to amp up the above mixture, add dry molasses. Just be aware that this would make it illegal to have on the ground in MN during hunting season.

Personally I see no reason to up the cost. Deer already hammer the standard mix all summer long.

Grouse

GRouse
We use the deer mineral mix but cost is $28 for the 200lbs. Our go to for the last 8 plus years or so.

Food plots we have rye clover in a few. Brassica in a couple and few small chunks of beans and corn also. They love the clover all year it seems and mineral is always good till around October time.

Any recommendations on mineral site placement?

Hoyt, have you made up a batch of mineral this year? The price of dicalcium phosphate has skyrocketed. It’s now over $25 a bag for just a dicalcium.

But with that said it’s way cheaper then buying the buck on the bag brands that are also 90% salt. I’m pretty sure my last batch cost almost exactly $40 for 200 lb.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Hoyt, have you made up a batch of mineral this year? The price of dicalcium phosphate has skyrocketed. It’s now over $25 a bag for just a dicalcium.

But with that said it’s way cheaper then buying the buck on the bag brands that are also 90% salt. I’m pretty sure my last batch cost almost exactly $40 for 200 lb.

Grouse

Yes sir, I will find my post I had it on here early spring. I got it at the River country cooperative in Hastings. Just because of how much Phosphate went up a few years ago. Used to just grab from Fleet farm but too much there now.

Well, I’m going to have to switch my supplier if I can find Di-Cal for a lot cheaper. I think Fleet raised the price about $10.

BigWerm wrote:

Any recommendations on mineral site placement?

My mineral sites are all on higher ground that doesn’t get standing water even in the spring. No sense letting good mineral wash away or dissolve. Eventually the deer paw a big hole in the ground at each lick.

I put all of my sites along existing, well-traveled trails and I put them in areas of thin, mature trees so that the deer can see around them and my theory is that will make them more at ease.

Once established, I never them. Just keep adding mineral every spring and then a refresh in July. Mineral use drops way off in September and they don’t use it at all in the winter.

I’m a big believer that deer minerals produce bigger racks in areas where the soil and water are naturally nutrient deficient. Specifically, where there is no calcium. If you look at where the really big racks come from in the US, the areas have one thing in common, lots of limestone creeks and rivers flowing over lime bedrock. In most of northern MN, there is almost no natural calcium in the water because everything is acidic.

Grouse

Grouse
Good tips, we put our on heavy trails just off. Most years they hammer these sights. Since changing to this mineral awhile ago our pictures doubled up. They are still using right now but slowing down a lot. I watched a small 8 point come in last night and spent some time in it.

It’s a great way to get inventory of what is out there with camera’s over the mineral. We get bears in them all the time also.