Making Homemade Mineral Licks For Deer Can Help Keep Bucks On Your Property Year Round
Experienced hunters are always looking for things they can do to keep deer on their land year round. Some of the options are more expensive than others and some require more available land, such as creating deer food plots. However, there are easier, less expensive, less time and less land consuming ways available for even the novice deer hunter.
One of the easiest things a hunter can do is to create homemade mineral licks for deer. The easiest and least expensive way to create a mineral lick is by using Vita Rack 26 from Hunter’s Specialties. All Hunter Specialties products are created and formulated with deer and antler growth in mind and are easy on the wallet.
If you choose to mix the lick together yourself, you will need one part loose stock salt, one part dicalcium phosphate and two parts trace mineral salt. Each of these items are available at your local feed store. This should be sufficient to create a mineral lick for a deer bedding area of about 50 acres.
Once you have the ingredients for the lick, you will need a 5 gallon bucket, shovel and a rake. Start by raking away any debris in a 3-4 foot circle around the area you are about to deposit the lick. Then shovel out and loosen up the top 6″ or so worth of soil from this area. Then work in the mineral mix and smooth the area over. Be sure to check the area occasionally and refresh the lick as needed.
So what time of the year is the best time to provide the deer with mineral licks?
Late Winter and early Spring are very critical times for the deer herd in your area. This is when food supplies become more scarce. Creating these licks will help to provide the deer with the minerals they need and are likely not to find in sufficient quantities. Of course, before you set the lick in place be sure to check with your state and local game laws to ensure that it is legal.
Homemade mineral licks for deer can provide the herd in your area with the much needed minerals for antler growth and increased health when they need it most. These licks also help provide hunters with an opportunity to track the deer in the area with trail cameras around the lick site. Creating these mineral licks is something that even the average deer hunter can do to help increase the chances of a successful harvest in the Fall.
Check Out This Video:
Please note: they are using different products in the video, but the process is the same. Enjoy.
