Deer Feeders In Minnesota

[fishinmajishin]

it sure makes is sound like minerals and salt need to be 6' off. Where does say that minerals and salt are not "food"?

[Christopher Quast]

They're not considered food because they are found in nature or the ground if you will.

My opinion they should make it so you cant put them out until January and remove them by April since at that point the deer have plenty to eat then anyway and they survived the winter, this way there is no chance of a texas style hunt to take place..... I know of a guy from Bloomington that shot a monster buck out of his house with a crossbow and went up north by his cabin and registered it. That just [PoorWordUsage] me off and I heard he did it again last year and wounded one and never found it. Ya I know I should call TIP but last time I did when I know a kid was poaching deer and some big ones too. I spoke to the CO a few times I gave him all the details I knew and nothing ever became of it. The guy is actually a guy my cousin is buddies with father in law and he is a dirty f%^%er like that. He actually has it mounted and brags to every one that he shot it on his land up north.

[fishinmajishin]

So you are saying NOT to put out salt/minerals year round? Or are you talking feed/corn/etc.

[Christopher Quast]

Just food salt and minerals are fine if you are not hunting over them.

[sparcebag]

there's a good article in the Minnesota Volunteer (this months Issue)About feeder dates and feeding deer.It seems to imply salt,mineral blocks are not legal to hunt over.

[fishinmajishin]

Thanks I'll check it out. I don't feed deer at all but I do have a salt block out probably 300-400 yards away from the stand, so I guess I feel I'm not hunting over it. I sit much closer to an alfalfa field which is way better anyway. Was up there(150 miles from home) a few weeks ago and they had licked it down to nothing. They still tear up the ground where it sits though. Have had a block in the same hole for years.

[deerminator]

I'm pretty sure hunting over or near salt and minerals is legal according to the regs and through conversations with the DNR. Just not those that contain any type of food, i.e. these apple/corn/mineral deer blocks you can get. That's the answer the DNR in St. Paul gave me a few years back. The guy I talked with said as long as there is no food listed in the ingredients, you're good.

lcornice, any clarification on that? Thanks!

P.S. I doubt hunting over minerals or salt would give you much of an advantage anyhow. It's not the same thing as corn or apples, etc. and usage tails off in the Fall.

[Shack]

Quote:

P.S. I doubt hunting over minerals or salt would give you much of an advantage anyhow. It's not the same thing as corn or apples, etc. and usage tails off in the Fall.

Yep, Deer-Cane worked great last year starting a couple days after I placed on a chunk of wood, but the only action on the trail cam came from night time or right before sun up.

All have down is the Deer Cane!

Here you can see the stump I put it on.

Still at it! Sun starting to come up from the east in the back ground.

As you can see the chunk of wood is gone.

This went on every night I had the camera out on this spot. I never could get a day time image in the spot where I placed the Deer-cane. Man, they loved to play with that stump/wood chunk. It was upwords of 10 feet away some nights. Never did get any bucks in this area though.

[MUSKYMAN1011]

Shackbash, are you telling me you Hunted over this area while using this Product? (Deer-Cane)

So far the only real response I have gotten to weather or not I can hunt over these Products is ask the local CO.

Well, I have tried to contact my Local CO and have not heard back from him.

[Shack]

Sorry but no I have not hunted over this spot or any spot with Deer-Cane on it as of yet. This was also a good couple weeks before opener last year.

Due to the lack of day time movement in this spot, I chose another location. This was my first and only try as of yet with a power in a bag type stuff.

Might do some experiments again this year and if I do I will post some results.

I would wait and report what the CO says, but it is legal as the day is long to hunt over a bag of product like Deer-Cane in MN and not having to have it 6’ above the ground.

[MUSKYMAN1011]

Legal...to hunt over and not having it 6' above Ground.

Legal is the KEY word there!

Thanks & best of Luck!

[Mark Christianson]

The CO in my area told me this via email. I asked about hunting near salt/mineral mixes.

"If it is just salt or mineral, dont worry about it."

Deer Cane would technically be legal to hunt near or over.

Deer Cane™ is an active mixture of sodium and calcium.

Sodium and calcium are salts and minerals.

You need to stay away from anything with food, grains, sugars, etc. Of course there are ways to spin everything, so the best bet is to get the answer yourself.

Call the DNR at 651-296-6157.

Tell them you want to speak with someone in enforcement, and they will pass you through.

[deerminator]

Also, if you're looking for an easy way to legally entice deer during the early season with next to no effort, grow a no till food plot. I've done this the past douple years in the woods wth a couple of 20x20 yard plots where some sun gets through. I planted mine about a week and a half ago in anticipation of bow season and with some help from 3 good rains, they are already beginning to green up. By two weeks from now, they will be nice and thick with rye grass, clover and brassicas and the deer almost always stop there once a day. They'll only last for 3-4 weeks before they get eaten down, but its as easy as buying a bag of seed, raking away the leaves, spreading the seed and raking it into the ground. It wont produce as much as tilled field but it still gives you some advantage. Some may argue its the same as baiting ethically, but legally its not.