That's right: It's perfectly legal to put out a salt or mineral block and let deer tongue it until there's nothing left of it. Trace minerals help deer grow big, you know. Never mind that 35 or more deer could all put their tongues on that same block over the course of a week or two in summer.
It is unlawful to make available food, salt, mineral blocks or other products for ingestion by wild deer or other wildlife in areas where wild deer are present at any time.
Supplementing Deer Mineral Licks. Early spring is a great time to put out salt or mineral blocks for deer. Whitetails crave salt more in spring and summer, when water and potassium are high in lush green vegetation, than at any other time of year.
Artificial salt licks are used in the husbandry of livestock and to attract or maintain wildlife, whether it be for viewing, photography, farming, or hunting purposes. Maintaining artificial salt licks as a form of baiting is illegal in some states in the United States, but legal in others.
Contrary to some of those widely circulated reports, anecdotal evidence suggests more than likely that salt does not pose a health risk for birds. In fact, they may face more danger flying to or feeding on salt, than from any risks posed by the salt they ingest.
Trees and plants that produce a berry, fruit, nut or seed can be whitetail magnets. Hard mast trees such as beech, chestnuts, hickory, honey locusts and oaks, provide great food for deer. Soft mast trees such as apples, crabapples, pear, persimmon and plums also provide great nutrition.
It's use can be extremely damaging to turf and landscape plants. Salt granules will move off pavement to turf areas and landscape beds, where it dissolves and saturates the soil. This extremely concentrated saltwater dries out roots and makes the soil toxic to plants.
They will smell it, crave it and come to you; they need those minerals, guaranteed.
The Concern of Spreading Disease
Despite the benefits of baiting, there are some legitimate concerns against it. One in particular is the potential for the spread of CWD.
The best locations to place salt licks are usually the high usage areas of deer. Try to find active edges and funnels that are in the deer trails, as deer can easily find the salt there.
A salt block will attract deer for 2, maybe 3 years if the placement is good. Instead of putting it on the ground I look for a rotten stump to rest the block on top of. After the block is gone enough salt will have saturated the stump, the deer will continue to be attracted until they destroy the stump.
Yes, deer love to eat apples! They are a great source of nutrition for them and make an excellent choice if you're looking to attract them to your backyard. You can offer fresh apples or even apple-scented deer attractants which can be found at many outdoor supply stores.
Deer baiting is not allowed on public land but is allowed on private property in Kansas and the following states: Arkansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Oklahoma. In Michigan and Wisconsin, deer baiting is not allowed in counties where Chronic Wasting Disease has been found.
Most local police have a wildlife control unit that can answer questions or step in to help, or you can find the right person to contact through your Wildlife Services State Office. Note: Cats and dogs are not considered wildlife. You can rescue them, though leaving them food outside can still attract wildlife.
Deer are definitely attracted to both sodium chloride (NaCl-table salt) and calcium chlo- ride (CaCl-rock salt) licks.
Great for deer bait, pig food, goat feed, etc.
Indeed a salt/mineral/specialty block is a baiting attractant. However some who actively haul out produce for bait contend that hunting in proximity to standing crop fields or an orchard is "baiting" because the bowhunter is capitalizing upon the animal's desire for certain foods.
At present, 22 states have partial or total bans on feeding or baiting deer. In Texas, however, deer may be fed year- round. Across Texas opinions range from those who believe feeding deer is an inappropriate management strategy, to those who feed “24–7– 365.”
For example, plant food sources on your property that deer, squirrels, and other animals you'd like to attract favor. Think deer-approved woody shrubs, native flora, and oak, fruit, and nut trees that appeal to a variety of species.
Instead, you have to be aware of how far away a deer can smell you and have the potential to be concerned by the smell. In many cases, this distance is around a half a mile away. For our metric friends, that's more than three-quarters of a kilometer.
Cooking on a Salt Block
Because Himalayan Salt Blocks generally have an extremely low amount of porosity, and virtually no residual moisture (. 026%), the salt plates can be safely heated or chilled to great extremes. We have tested them from 0°F up to 700°F (-18°C to 370°C). Salt melts at 1473.4°F (800.8°C).
When applied to driveways and sidewalks and used in lawn care, rock salt dehydrates or pulls out moisture. It works well as a deicing agent, and it's also commonly used as a natural weed killer. When applied to soil and grass, the salt removes both moisture and nutrients.
Mix 1 gallon of water with 1 cup of table salt. On a sunny, dry day, spray the mixture on the weed's leaves and stems. Salt is an effective weed killer but a dangerous one. It can sterilize soil, making it impossible to grow anything for years.
Flame weeding is a fantastic way to kill weeds permanently. It's as effective as herbicides and manual weeding and has many advantages. The heat boils water in the plant's cells, causing them to burst.