Deer Mineral - What you know?

[Mayfly]

I have been talking to a lot of people about deer mineral lately and I just wanted hear and see what people here at MNO know or think you know about minerals. When you buy a product what do you look at and why do you buy the product? Do you even look at the ingredients and care what is in the product or do you just buy what the commercials tell you to buy. And what is your purpose for buying? Are you hoping to find a legal attractant to shoot a deer over or are you looking to promote health within your herd? Or are you just looking for a way to stop a deer for a trail cam photo.

[Swany]

What I know...
Mineral licks/blocks are certainly a nutritional help for whitetails. When using them I look for products that bring the most amount of phosphorus and calcium to the party.

Extra mineral assists antler growth but extra minerals aren't going to give a buck more antler then is genetically possible. A deer is only going to absorb as much mineral as needed by their body; the rest is flushed away. Much like a human with a multi-vitamin.

During antler growth deer steal calcium and phosphorus from other bones in their body so extra mineral in their diet helps other bones (front shoulders and ribs especially) get back to normal faster.

[HD]

 I agree with Swany...
But also, deer that have "calved" need nutrients, to recover from the birthing process.
Just like my cows, they need them to get strong.

[dakids]

The minerals help for a healthier deer, and a healthier deer has the ability to grow larger antlers or supply more nutrient milk to the fawns witch inturn give them a better chance at surviving their first winter. 

I make my own mixture that the deer love and visit daily for less than commersallly made stuff.

Just because somebody endorses something only means to me that they are getting paid the most by that paticular company to use their name.  Stuff could be mostly salt and have no value at all.

By the time hunting season starts the deer have slowed there visits to the site.  Food has become king at this time.

 :happy1:My favorite thing about the mineral sites is that they do provide great photo ops on a regular basis.

[HUNTER2]

I agree with what was said, but I also think they help keep the deer on your property so they can check out what else you have to offer. If you have everthing they need why would they leave. The only resaon to leave is a female. And they will always get ya in trouble.

[Go Big Red!]

I agree with what was said, but I also think they help keep the deer on your property so they can check out what else you have to offer. If you have everthing they need why would they leave. The only resaon to leave is a female. And they will always get ya in trouble.

Amen to that!!!     What was I thinking?   

[deadeye]

This year I used a product called "Oh! Deer" put out by a local company.  The mineral content (as advertised) far exceeds that of most other products.  Why buy minerals that are mostly salt?.  Anyway, this spring I put out around 50 lbs of their product.  I havent' been back to check the sites since so I don't know what the deer are doing. (I hope it didn't chase them out of the county).  Remember when buying minerals, it's not just the cost per pound but the cost per pound of the desired mineral.  It's simular to buying fertilizer.  You have to buy three 50 pound bags of 10-10-10 mix to get the same amount of N you get in one 50 lb bag of 30-10-10.  Figure out the cost per pound and go with the best deal. 
Contents:
Calcium, Phosphorous, Sodium, Iron, Copper, Mangonese, Zinc, Cobalt, and Iodine. 

[Outdoors Junkie]

Great tips everyone!

[Mayfly]

This year I used a product called "Oh! Deer" put out by a local company.  The mineral content (as advertised) far exceeds that of most other products.  Why buy minerals that are mostly salt?.  Anyway, this spring I put out around 50 lbs of their product.  I havent' been back to check the sites since so I don't know what the deer are doing. (I hope it didn't chase them out of the county).  Remember when buying minerals, it's not just the cost per pound but the cost per pound of the desired mineral.  It's simular to buying fertilizer.  You have to buy three 50 pound bags of 10-10-10 mix to get the same amount of N you get in one 50 lb bag of 30-10-10.  Figure out the cost per pound and go with the best deal. 
Contents:
Calcium, Phosphorous, Sodium, Iron, Copper, Mangonese, Zinc, Cobalt, and Iodine. 

Hey Deadeye -

I hate to break it to you but the salt/sodium content in Oh Deer is over 50% and then the rest is mainly Calcium and Phosphorous. I was told the same thing buy a local archery shop so I did some research on the product before buying and these are my findings.

[Mayfly]

While i'm on the subject.... a common misconception is that more calcium will aid in bigger antlers and its not true at all. They have been doing studies on this since the 50's and there is not one study that supports this. If you break down an anltler after it is hard it is about 30-35% calcium which should be obvious because it has turend to bone. This calcium is taken from the sekeltal system which has been stored over the year. The key word here is "stored". If a whitetail buck can store calcium he is obviouslt getting enough so why would more calcium aid in growing a bigger rack?? Makes no sense. What does make sense is that an antler in velvet is nearly 80% water and then 20% other with the majority of that protein. You can look at different studies and see this number vary. I read one out of Pennsylvania that said the velvet antler was 80% protein but what is consistent is a low % of calcium in a velvet anlter BUT it is higher than any other mineral which most likely is the reason that this mineral is being pushed.

[bowhunter73]

The more minerals I pump into them now the more $ I will save on Flintstone vitamins later this year