I was out scouting some bow hunt only land this beautiful fall michigan morning and i came across a mineral lick/ salt lick. and i thought to my self is that type of thing traditional or not? how many of you guys/ girls use some type of "bait" to bring the deer close to you? what are your thougthts on using "bait"?

Cody

We have a natural salt lick on the property I hunt.  Although I don't hunt right on top of it, I do plan setups around it especially early in the season.

I put out and refresh many lick sites every spring. Here is the thing with them. The bucks need (and crave) the minerals beginning right after they drop their antlers and they begin growing again in the spring. I always refresh mine each March.  I run trail cams on them as well. This is when you will get all the bucks in your area using that lick often. Once July/August gets here the buck sightings at the licks are very seldom. So I would never waste my time hunting over them. Not saying they don't get some action now but it is mostly does or if they are your area of the country is lacking minerals in your soil so I'll never say never.

I do keep one in my back meadow and as KentuckyTJ says, the deer visit them most intensively in late winter into spring.

But when hunting, they are illegal here. When I find one in the field, I pull it.

I once had a great elk hunt ruined by one. I'd hoofed and hoofed and located a big bull. I waited 20hrs for the wind to stabilize. He came to my call hot and heavy. I didn't get the shot, but it was pretty exciting. The following day, on my next attempt, he busted me. When I checked out the area he'd been hanging in I found a salt lick. I was pretty mad about that.

I found a natural lick down your way TJ at Taylorsville Lake WMA years ago.  It drew those deer in for sure.  There was a highway going to it but it was mostly does.

Can't bait in Indiana and if you find a natural lick, you best ignore it unless you can absolutely prove it hasn't been freshened a bit by man.

I have no problem with baiting if that trips your trigger.  Surely makes killing a deer easier.

Establishing and using Salt Licks is just Game Farming without the fences .

   Cheers from the country that has everything except the Stanley Cup....

One of my questions though was, is this something that is traditional, or is it something that makes hunting easier just like using a compound?

QuoteOriginally posted by nampook93:
One of my questions though was, is this something that is traditional, or is it something that makes hunting easier just like using a compound?

That is something you will have to answer for yourself.

Personally, I don't think a salt lick makes things any easier. Deer don't eat salt twice a day every day....so aptterning them over a salt block could actually be tougher than patterning them over a food plot or dropping fruit tree.

Just hunt how you like....don't worry about what the rest of us think.

I would have to agree with TxAg.  Whatever floats your boat.  I would have hunted over a lick a few years ago but since I made the switch to trad I don't.  Just my preference.

Around here your chances of killing a buck are much better sitting next to a hot acorn tree compared to a mineral lick. So I say no it doesn't make hunting easier. Like I say I wouldn't even sit over a mineral lick while the deer season is in here because the bucks don't hit them that time of year.

Is it Traditional? I can guarantee you when the native american indians found a salt lick they hunted it. Now is that traditional? I know what you are thinking "That is a natural lick" right? Well I can also guarantee you if they had a tractor supply with bags of salt and trace minerals they would have traded some beaver pelts for some and poured it out on the ground to kill a deer for their family.

Mineral licks make bigger antlers, believe me. Hunt them if you want but I think you are wasting good hunting time.

In Mo. Baiting is illegal . Salt licks are legal.
I have one it gets hit heavy during the summer when the deer are eating,green browse that is when they need it.
I've never seen a deer on it after the leaves drop.

I use acorns and rye and oats and persimmons and alfalfa etc as bait...what is traditional to you might not be traditional to me..we have salt licks or mineral licks on our property. We don't hunt over them cause the deer don't frequent them in the fall.
There are "traditional" folks that think hunting close to any "attractant" is baiting whether it be acorns dropping, persimmons falling, or food plots or corn poured out in a big pile.
You pretty much have to sort it out for yourself !

Two comments...

The first is a quote from a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officer when asked about baiting, mineral blocks, and other "attractants":  "If it goes up the deer's nose, it's legal...If it goes in his mouth, it's illegal."

The second is from Aldo Leopold:  "Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching- even when doing the wrong thing is legal."

So, trad or not?  I don't know.  Stampeding animals off a clff is "traditional," but I don't plan on using that technique.

Kingsnake

We hunt same way as Randy - and for you guys who create mineral licks this seems like good stewardship to me - and everybody knows deer don't hit em after summer ends. But I wouldn't care is someone did shoot off one - and using sticks makes it cool - I mean whats not cool about shooting at 15 yards broadside.  

about 10 years ago I found a deer/cocaine bag - lick - whatever. This did offend me. I read the label and it had MSG - I thought that was dirty pool. I seriously doubt the idiot that put it out got a deer - this was in a trophy unit with as many 5 year olds and yearlings.

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Patterning deer and shooting them in ambush makes hunting them easier regardless of the reason for the pattern.  If you are out to challenge yourself, there is no greater way than to spot and stalk a deer in its bed on purpose with a limited range weapon like a no-cam bow.  You decide what you want to do.  That's what's great about this country.