Bait?

[Dahitman44]

Do any of you guys bait an area early in the season to see more pics on your camera? I understand a lot of people do that. I have never done it, however.

It is legal, right?

[Gissert]

A mineral lick has been enough for me to get them stopped long enough, and supplies the deer with stuff they may be lacking. It is also 100% legal.

We will throw a few ears of left over sweet corn out during the summer, but the raccoons seem to get to them first.

[harvey lee]

Try some carrots. Thats if its legal.If your not hunting over it,then I might think its o.k.

[Dahitman44]

Gizz -- Do you like mineral more than salt?

What about those apple toppers. That liquid stuff that explodes all over? I used it last year and I am not sure if it helped.

[Dahitman44]

HL -- that is the question -- Is it legal. I think it is. I am not trying to shoot anything right now -- just pics. I think I have to stop a few weeks before the season, however. Is that right?

[Gissert]

I use a mineral mix that BLB has posted here. Two bags of the red mineral type loose salt, one bag of loose white salt, and one bag of di-calcium phosphate. I got it all at Fleet, and it cost about 20 bucks, total. I dug a three foot circle, about 6 inches deep, and dumped the stuff in there after I had mixed it well. Then I mixed some of the dirt back in. The deer love it.

I have used the Block Topper brand of stuff last year on my mineral station. It is a two part product. Sprinkle the salt like substance over the block or mineral lick, and then pour the molasses stuff on top of that. It foams up like crazy. The deer really liked it, but it would go fast. This year I have not needed it.

[chucker34]

Dahitman,

Per a DNR news release last December:

"Beginning Dec. 19 [2005], bait is defined as any food that is capable of attracting or enticing deer, and has been transported and placed by a person. Hunters are not allowed to use bait, or hunt in the vicinity of bait that the hunter knows about or has reason to know about, or hunt in the vicinity of bait that has been placed within the ten previous days. This change clarifies that a hunter cannot hunt deer in the vicinity of foods that were placed to attract other wildlife, if they also attract deer. Liquid scents, salts and minerals are not considered bait."

I wouldn't use anything food flavored (during or in the 10 days before any deer hunting season) as I am pretty sure that is baiting by the definition above, even if it is a mineral - i.e., apple flavored mineral blocks.

I'd recommend getting some salt and minerals out along a well used trail as soon as the snow is off the ground and setting your camera up there. I just dug a hole and crushed up a salt and mineral block from the farm supply store in it with a sledge hammer. Deer often visit it daily - does and bucks. I've got about a dozen different ones I see at least once a week in my pics. BLB also posted a great homemade mineral mix recipe on the boards earlier this summer that is cheap and effective.

Another trick is a scent dripper. You can get one with a 4 ounce bottle of scent from Wildlife Research Center from Fleet Farm for well under $20 bucks depending on the sale that week. I find a tree that has a branch about 5-7 feet up that could be used as a licking branch, hang the dripper full of scent on the branch, and make a mock scrape underneath it. I did this last year and saw lots of activity around it - mostly does stopping to check it out - when I was hunting. But I'm going to put my camera 10-15 yards away from it this year to see what bucks come to check it out. Again, if a deer stops for a few seconds to check it out, should be enough for even the slowest trigger timed camera.

BTW, the scent only drips during the day as its temperature controlled and an ounce should last you about a week depending on the temperature.

[harvey lee]

You can use anything you like for bait by a camera to photo wildlife including deer.The catch to the law is when you are within 10 days of hunting then you cannot bait and hunt by the bait.Liquid scents,salt and minerals are not considered baits.

This was direct from the DNR on the phone.

[FL SNIPER]

I assume it is ok to hunt over a mineral lick where you had also been putting out bait but stopped 10 days prior to the hunting season? I want to be in full compliance. Thank you.

[harvey lee]

FL SNIPER

If you read the laws on the DNR web page it states that minerals,salt and liquid scents.I personally dont use any baits except a scent dripper during the rut.

[chucker34]

FL Sniper, I would think so by what Harvey Lee said and the definition above. Just as long as there isn't any food there at least 10 days prior to your hunt.

That's where it can get sketchy in my opinion. I think they should have made it something like 10 days before the first season or Archery season. What if I'm bowhunting and my neighbor is using attractants illegal during hunting season fairly close to my land because he only gun hunts. That would for lack of a better word - "suck."

[harvey lee]

I dont know the answer for sure and maybe you could contact the DNR for a correct answer to this.I would believe that if its on anothers land and out of bow range that it would be ok.I would think if you are hunting within bow range then it could be another issue.

[chucker34]

Harvey Lee. Thanks for the reply. I'm not envisioning this happening. There's enough pressure here gun season that deer are moving all over the place so the guy never has done that. I'm just using a hypothetical. I'd personally feel kind of weird about it, even if it was hundreds of yards away. You can see a long ways through the woods with binocs when up high in a treestand and the leaves are gone. Would just seem kind of off to me.

[Dahitman44]

Gizz --

You didn't buy the block? You just mixed it up?

I am in swampy land do you think a block will work as well?

[harvey lee]

I have never noticed a difference in a block or bagged mineral.They lick the block or paw in the dirt for the salt and mineral.If some of it goes into the soil which it will with moisture the deer will work the dirt.I have seen spots where I put antler king and they just tore the whole area up to get at it.

[chucker34]

I have some deer cane that I put in the ground two years ago and though they never touched it at the time. They just started tearing through the dirt now - in addition to the salt and mineral blocks. I have heard from some that deer visit minerals all year and from some that they ignore them beginning in September. What's been everyone else's experience?

[Gissert]

I bought blocks last year - they were ok for the most part. I buried them end up, with about half the block sticking out of the ground. I then smashed the heck out of it with a sledge, and then poured 5 gallons of water on it. The deer liked it fairly well, but not nearly as well as the BLB mix that I mentioned earlier. Here is a photo of a small buck digging the mineral. The salt block in the back ground is from a neighbor who did not want it. The raccoons have been nibbling it a lot, but the deer almost never touch it. You can see how hard the deer have been working the pinkish ground, which is the mineral mix.

The block topper product was good too, but probably not necessary.

Even in wet ground, it seems to me the loose mineral mix is more effective over a block.

Last year, the deer really slowed down on the mineral about the time velvet came off.

[Swamp Scooter]

The one mineral product I have used that the deer just eat the soil up is the Deer-caine. One application lasts for a number of years. The deer have dug out holes large enough to bury themselves in. That stuff comes in a granular or liquid.

[FL SNIPER]

The deer hammer what I put out in just days. So I will be sure to quit putting out anything well before the "10 day" rule to assure its just me and the salt lick out there (and hopefully some deer). Thanks guys!

[Dahitman44]

drip bags --

I think those things are cool as well, but I don't think they help me as much as others. We usually put them out too late. How long should they be out before we hunt?

Are they okay to put above a real scrape?

[Dahitman44]

On some land near Perham we have an old salt block that is gone, but the deer still dig in the hole and eat the dirt. The is pretty funny to watch -- It reminds me of my labs trying to play with something on the other side of the fence. They just can't reach it.

[harvey lee]

If I use the doe in heat drip bags,I will put them by a active scrape or will make a mock scrape.I will put it out a day or two before I start hunting that spot.It kind of conditions the bucks to hit that scrape when the juice is most fresh.For me,the jury is out if they really do any good.But what can it hurt to try?

[chucker34]

They MAY draw deer in but I can't be sure cause i use mine along a well-used trail and the deer use it anyway. I like it cause it gets him to stop for a few seconds. Last year, I had a train of seven does/button bucks all stop one by one to investigate it. Stopped each long enough for a shot (though I didn't take one) and perhaps more importantly - diverted their attention away from my ground blind 15 yards away.

The directons that come with the bag say you're supposed to put it out for 5-6 days before you plan to hunt in the hopes that a big buck will start visiting to find out who the competition is. I would be skeptical of that but it could work?

[Dahitman44]

Can you run Doe in Heat in the bag before the rut? Like during bow season?

[chucker34]

Theoretically, I would say yes. As I hear time and time again that anytime is the rut for the bucks if the does are ready. Would they be already looking for your pee trail. Probably not. They would have to happen across it or travel across it as part of their daily routine. Just my THEORY.