Make A Deer Mineral Lick
Deer will love this addition to the food plots on your land.

MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED >>

Wildlife managers use man-made salt or mineral licks to help attract deer to food plots. In many cases, mineral licks are a feeding supplement that provide deer with calcium, phosphorus, iron and zinc. This can be helpful when bucks are growing antlers and as young deer begin to feed on their own.

Before you go to the trouble of putting salt or mineral licks on your property, ask your local conservation officer if you can legally create mineral licks and hunt near them. In some states they are illegal; in others, salt is OK to hunt near but you can't hunt near "food supplements," or minerals. What is legal differs from area to area, so check your local regulations before you start the project.

Some wildlife managers prefer to use granular salt or minerals rather than blocks. Often, blocks must melt and run into the soil before deer and other wildlife will start using them. This takes a lot of rain and time. Granular salt or minerals dissolve and are utilized quickly.

One of the best locations for a lick is in the corner of a food plot. In many parts of the country these licks are used by deer mostly in the late summer and early fall.

If a stump is not where you want a lick, you can create one by digging a hole 2 feet deep and 3 feet across. Pour in a sack of granular salt or minerals, saving a little to put on top. Cover the hole containing salt with dirt, and add a little salt so that deer will find it quickly.

1. One of the most natural-looking salt licks is an old stump. Using posthole diggers, dig deep holes under the stump between the roots.	2. Pack the holes with granular salt or minerals. Put some on top of the stump so that deer can find the lick faster. After two or three rains, deer usually find the lick and return often to enjoy it.	3. Use salt around stumps in new food plots to encourage deer to dig up the stumps. This works over a period of time.