Mixed Minerals vs Plain Rock Salt

[buckslayer]

Over the years I have heard arguments going both ways in regards to the necessity of minerals for the promotion of quality antler development. While I have never had the ability to test the theory in a fenced in area, it would be fun to test sometime down the road.

I am not talking about what attracts deer the best, but which is best for antler development.

What’s your thought on Minerals vs. Salt?

[cornfedkiller]

Im glad you brought this up..I have been talking to friends about this alot lately. I dont have time to post up everything now, but I have some links to some studies and stuff, and I will post up later on when I get time..

[cornfedkiller]

Alright so for years I have been putting out the homemade mineral mixture found on this website and many others. It works well for attracting deer, and deer seem to love it, but the question always arises if whether or not it helps with antler development. It would seem obvious that since antlers are made of calcium (bone), that calcium supplements would help. There was a discussion about this on another forum and some scientific studies were posted which showed that no research done to date has proven there is any difference in antler size between supplemented and non-supplemented deer.

This is taken from the other site:

Here is an article by QDMA.'s leading biologist Brian Murphy, If anyone would write an article that supported using mineral supplements it would be him since his employer (QDMA) generates alot of advertising $$$$
from companies that produce mineral supplements on their TV show and their Magazine.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""A classic study on the mineral needs of deer was conducted at Penn State University in the 1950s. In this study, researchers did detect a difference in yearling buck antler development between supplemented and unsupplemented groups. However, these herds were fed a nutritionally deficient diet below what most whitetails would have access to in the wild. Furthermore, when the same deer were examined the following year as 2.5 year olds, no differences were detected between the two groups.

In a similar study conducted at Auburn University, researchers tried to detect differences in body and antler size between an unsupplemented and supplemented group. This study differed from the Penn State study in that both herds were fed a nutritionally complete diet. In addition, one group was provided a commercial mineral supplement. Over a four year period the researchers were unable to detect any differences between the two deer herds.

Without question deer need minerals, and they will readily use mineral licks. But why do they use these licks and why is their use restricted primarily to the spring and summer? Many hunters believe that it is simply because bucks need the minerals for antler growth and does for raising fawns during these months. However, several studies have shown that while deer readily use mineral licks high in salt, they rarely, if ever, use pure mineral supplements. If deer were lacking minerals, why wouldn't they use the pure mineral supplement even if salt wasn't present? No one can say for sure, but it's probably because most minerals by themselves are bitter.
Could the use of salt/mineral mixes simply be due to an increased need for salt? According to research, yes. During the spring and summer, deer operate at a sodium deficiency due to the high potassium and water content of the forage. This interferes with efficient sodium conversion in the body and increases the need for sodium. This makes deer actively seek out concentrated sources of sodium such as natural or man?made licks. Almost all soils more than 25/50 miles from a seacoast are low in sodium. Therefore, in these areas, salt may be just as necessary as calcium and phosphorus to whitetails during the spring and summer."""""""""""""""""""""'""""""""""""""""""""



Here is what CJ. Winand said in an article on this subject, who by the way is not only a well respected biologist but the editor of Bowhunter mag.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""Over the last several decades, biologists at Universities across the country have researched the effects mineral supplementation has on a bucks' rack. In most cases, they put deer in two pens. In one pen, the deer were feed their regular diet. In the other, the deer ate a mineral in addition to their regular diet. After a few years in most studies, researchers did not see a noticeable difference. Many biologists bring up the research every time a hunter brings up minerals. C.J. Winand, a biologist from Maryland, believes that minerals are hocus pocus. "All of the data available today says that mineral supplementation doesn't have a lasting impact on antler size. Research is being done regularly and until I see a study that shows that minerals help deer grow larger racks, I will continue to believe what I believe," Winand explained."""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "


After reading this, I decided to just use plain white salt blocks and also decided to try out water softener salt (in the same way I used the homemade mineral mixture in the past) and it seems to be working very well!

[buckslayer]

...After reading this, I decided to just use plain white salt blocks and also decided to try out water softener salt (in the same way I used the homemade mineral mixture in the past) and it seems to be working very well!

That's a dang good article!

[Grasshopper]

IMO, it would make sense that a mineral-starved deer would be slightly less better off (in all phases of skeletal growth, not just antlers) than a deer with all the goodies he needs.

BUT, I also don't believe this happens much, and would be very rare in most areas of the Midwest.

I mainly put out mineral as an attractant so I can get better pictures and survey some of the deer in my area. If they get a boost from it, I'm happy for them

[Stump]

I'm doing exactly the same this year as you are Cornfed. Time will tell if the amount of cam pics changes because of going to straight salt or not.

[cornfedkiller]

I'm doing exactly the same this year as you are Cornfed. Time will tell if the amount of cam pics changes because of going to straight salt or not.

I have one spot that I still did the mineral mixture this year because I had some left over. It seems to be getting hammered as well, but its also just off a pretty main trail on the way to my food plot, so location might be just as big of factor as anything. Also, there is still salt in there, so Im assuming they are hitting it because of the salt..

I have heard that the minerals other than salt are bitter and that deer actually dont prefer them because of that, but I havent been able to test the theory out myself. I would like to get a white block, a trace mineral block, and a homemade mineral mixture, put them all out in front of a camera about 10 feet apart (take location out of the equation and give the deer an equal shot at the one of their choice) and see what happens.

Also, another thing to note is that while antlers are growing, they actually pull the minerals out of the rest of their skeleton to provide the nutrients they need for the antlers. They then have the rest of the year to get their "mineral bank" filled back up. They get minerals in everything they eat and drink, and their body can only utilize minerals so fast, they are probably already at their utilization limit with their natural diet..

Lets hear some other thoughts!

[dbl lung]

I use Selenium 90 granulated mineral salt in the Spring and then replenish it with regular granulated salt in June. Selenium is used by farmers in the feeding of cattle. It's supposed to fight infections and help the health of cattle so I figured being that deer eat many of the same foods that it would probably help them also. The deer love it until mid June when they seem to leave it and change to the regular salt. The reason I use granulated salt is so it absorbs into the ground and the deer get the natural minerals from the dirt also. Been using this type of mineral feeding process for several years and the deer just keep coming.

[Grassbag251]

I'm suprised the complex make up of minerals deer need to grow serious bone hasn't been studied to all ends yet. I'm no biologist, but it's been made obvious to me how much more you get out of having a huge percentage of macro minerals available to deer from Mar-Aug. It's just common sense to replace what they deer are using the most at this time. If you want to save some ching get some sheep mineral. They have the most similarities with the whitetail. It's slightly cheaper, but you don't get IMO what is best for the deer. Along with all of that just look at where the biggest deer come from... all the mineral rich river bottoms.

[Grasshopper]

I view minerals like multivitamins for people. They aren't going to change Jack Black into Michael Jordan...But they might help Jack be all he can be...If he's got good nutrition and all the other things that go into being healthy.

IMO, too many people view minerals as a magic bullet that are going to make a buck blow up in some incredible way. I don't buy this for a second.

That said, I put out a mix of mineral and salt. A good lick is an awesome place to take trail cam pics