salt blocks

it is not baiting if you hunt a pasture with salt blocks already in it, and the farmer put them there, not you!

Now if you are the farmer then I'm not sure what the fish cops would have to say about it...:confused:
 
the reason i ask of this.....i neaver got into deer hunting till i was about 25 years of age....i use to drop off a few salt blocks for the deer to enjoy..years before i got into hunting them...
 
I have a friend that owns property and has been putting salt in the same place for years. The deer come to it mostly in the spring but there is no other pattern that could be used to hunt them if it is or is not legal. I have found piles of apple, corn and salt blocks put there by hunters with a stand nearby in the bush but never see any deer activatey around them. If you want to help deer do it in the winter when they yard and the snow is deep.
 
Here in BC we have enough natural mineral licks that most deer and moose don't frequent salt-blocks too often.

Moose and road salt in the winter however is a different story!
 
I've tried it all.

It all boils down to being in the right place at the right time.

Baiting does work to a degree from what I find, after the first shot of opening morning the deer pretty much go nocturnal, the only thing I've ever seen at bait piles during season are some fawns and the odd black squirrel licking away at the blocks. A timed corn feeder brings in some turkeys every now and then though to. All in all I don't think bait really helps out during actual hunting hours but keeps the doe's around your lot during the night which usually means a buck will be close.
 
I gather we're talking primarily about Deer? If so, I made an inquiry last year about baiting for Deer and apparently in B.C. it is legal. I asked as there is an apple tree close to one of my archery tree stands and I thought if I could 'move' some of the apples a little closer....... The only aspect of baiting I was informed that was illegal was baiting for Bear & Migratory Birds.
 
Here in Alberta it is illegal to bait for deer...but...if the property owner has them set out for his own animals then it is legal. And deer LOVE them on the prairries!
 
I have seen old abandoned oil leases in the bush, where calcium had been used (to supress the well I think).

There's one in particular that I know of and the game trails leading to it look like spokes on a wheel. The dirt in the center had been licked/eaten down at least a foot. Never hunted over it though. Haven't been back to it in years actually... :confused:

Maybe I should get out there and check that country out again. :)
 
We watch natural salt licks all year long. Never had the need too sit and watch a salt block placed buy a human.

But hey, if it is legal and works, have at her ;)

We obviously hunt very different parts of our great country, if it is legal and you are having fun, give er ;) :D
 
In our neck of the woods the ranchers put salt blocks out for the cattle and only once have I seen an animal at a salt block.
I have however seen evidence of an animal frequenting a natual mineal lick to the extent the droppings resembled balls of clay.
 
Agricultural salt/mineral blocks are not particularly well-utilized by wildlife.

What works much better is to simply load an old semi-rotten hollow tree stump with rock salt and let it leach away. Deer will virtually knock it apart and level it over time. I keep two or three active on the farm ... and no, don't hunt deer there, nor does anyone else. Although the the salt/mineral blocks are available to cattle in each field, I've never seen a deer at them, nor deer tracks nearby. They prefer the "salt stumps".
 
Johnn Peterson said:
I gather we're talking primarily about Deer? If so, I made an inquiry last year about baiting for Deer and apparently in B.C. it is legal. I asked as there is an apple tree close to one of my archery tree stands and I thought if I could 'move' some of the apples a little closer....... The only aspect of baiting I was informed that was illegal was baiting for Bear & Migratory Birds.
Click to expand...

I'm also from BC. And I too asked a CO about baiting deer. He basically said that it is legal because it does not work. If it worked really well (as it does for bear and duck) it would not be allowed.
 
I'm also from BC. And I too asked a CO about baiting deer. He basically said that it is legal because it does not work. If it worked really well (as it does for bear and duck) it would not be allowed.
Click to expand...

I've talked to the ministry and several co's about it. I think you're boy is probably on glue a little - baiting for deer works fantastically if you do it right. There's all kinds of people in the states who do it and there's even specialty machines for it.

It's not illegal here because it's not a problem. Period. We don't feed predators because they get used to human feed. We don't bait bears because we'd have 'em up to our eyeballs in the cities and towns. we don't bait ducks and geese because it would represent 'non-fair chase' due to their natures and how they are hunted. But deer - you can TOTALLY successfully bait deer.

I've never bothered, but i read about it extensively when i discovered to my shock that it WAS legal here. I always thought it was illegal. But - someone brought it up and we checked with the ministry and the co's, and lo and behold.

As far as salt goes - i'm TOLD that if you make a saline solution and dump a bunch in a likely spot so that it soaks into the ground - that works well. The deer will come and mess with the dirt and such.
 
these blocks are NOT to be used as bait.....im just asking if they are a help to the deer or not..the reason i was asking...was i hear a lot of moose and deer are seen on roads in winter time licking up the salt
 
Salt on the roads ... right you are ... rock salt... leached into the ground and absorbed by vegetation. Not blocks of mineral salt used for cattle.

Just dump rock salt into the top of an old stump ... deer will most certainly use it, and far prefer it to the commercial livestock block - no matter whether they are red brown or blue.
 
beretta boy said:
Salt on the roads ... right you are ... rock salt... leached into the ground and absorbed by vegetation. Not blocks of mineral salt used for cattle.

Just dump rock salt into the top of an old stump ... deer will most certainly use it, and far prefer it to the commercial livestock block - no matter whether they are red brown or blue.
Click to expand...

ahhhhh see:) i got to learn today:)
thank you beretta boy
 
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