These 20kg cattle salt likes can be bought for less than $5 at most feed stores in the Maritimes. As far as I can find on the internet they contain 99% NaCl ( Sodium Chloride ), Cobalt and Iodine. I was wondering if it would be safe to put these out in the field and let the deer lick them in order to draw them in for pictures, bow hunting and to compliment their diets.
Blue Cattle Salt Licks For Deer?
- Thread starter Nathan231
- Start date
Get the smaller ones, they are the size of a brick .
Hang it in an onion bag from a branch.
The hole under the bag was dug out by deer !!
I just hung the new brick and took this picture...the salt drips onto the ground.
Hang it in an onion bag from a branch.
The hole under the bag was dug out by deer !!
I just hung the new brick and took this picture...the salt drips onto the ground.
- Location
- AB foothills
The deer line up at the salt boxes around our place. Got a picture somewhere, just have to find it...
The reason cobalt is present is to aid in digestion of the food they eat. Any animal with more than one stomach requires cobalt in their diet. If you check at the feed store they have mineral blocks same size that also have cobalt but not the blue color. -----Cowboy
bluemike807
CGN Regular
- Location
- Eastern Ontario
You might want to check regs - Im not sure of it, but have had a few people comment when I put a pink salt lick out last summer, just in the hopes of seeing deer - at least during the season.
Granted, I used a big one (20lbs) and just stuck it at the edge of the treeline. Never saw a thing, though the thing developed a big tongue-groove in it
Granted, I used a big one (20lbs) and just stuck it at the edge of the treeline. Never saw a thing, though the thing developed a big tongue-groove in it
I have fooled with this for a long time now. I live in an area with no farms or livestock within a hundred miles. It might be different in an agricultural area where the wildlife regularly interacts with domestic stock. I have placed salt blocks out in known natural salt licks. Water softner salt that comes in bags and just tromped down in the ground seems to work fairly well. I have noticed that moose and deer begin to lick the white colored blocks fairly quickly. I noticed that it took up to a year for moose to start licking a blue or red colored block. Its almost like they shy away from it and have to encounter it several times before they get to used to it.
I have also started new licks in likely looking areas--it takes awhile but once the salt leaches into the ground they keep returning for many years.
I have also started new licks in likely looking areas--it takes awhile but once the salt leaches into the ground they keep returning for many years.
jlovie
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I place my blocks on a stump, rain soaks it into the stump and the deer (or whatever happens to be eating it) eat the stump. I have found that I can't keep the red salt blocks around too long, but the blue ones will remain almost untouched all year.
I use the bagged cattle or horse salt, find a dry knob of ground, dig a bare patch and dump the contents of the bag in it. It is quickly absorbed in-- remains active for a long time. Makes a great, more natural salt lick, less obvious to the tourists passing through like they own the place! I find the brown horse salt has a better mineral content. This method also gives a record of who's visiting, keep an old wisk broom handy, sweep the area clean each visit. The next time will have a pretty good record of any visitors, Art
Logan_Lamothe
Regular
- Location
- Big River, Sask
I put several blue blocks out a year, the deer and moose love them. I had a cow calf spend two weeks at one last season.
I've place salt blocks, blue and red, out on our land and find varying responses.
We have hundreds of deer on our place year round, plus a small group of moose, and the one year that I tried red block, it took several years for it to be cleaned up. I tried the blue blocks, and in one location there was no indication of use for about a year and in the other location, it was slowly used up. Deer frequent both locations, especially in the winter. I'm guessing there must be other salt resources as they roam and travel, because our salt blocks take a long time to get used up.
We have hundreds of deer on our place year round, plus a small group of moose, and the one year that I tried red block, it took several years for it to be cleaned up. I tried the blue blocks, and in one location there was no indication of use for about a year and in the other location, it was slowly used up. Deer frequent both locations, especially in the winter. I'm guessing there must be other salt resources as they roam and travel, because our salt blocks take a long time to get used up.
