Supplying Nutritional Needs
Filed under: Ask Grant, Deer Management, Habitat Management
Grant, I hunt a small 50 acre woods containing hardwoods and thick cover. I hunted last year for the first time. Although I do not own the land I am the only one who hunts it. I have permission from the owner to do what I need as long as it doesn’t pertain to the fields. It has a lot of acorns and this year it had corn on three sides (the front side is a county road). I saw several large rubs and a few decent sized scrapes. I harvested a few does but was unable to harvest a mature buck. What can I do to help buck growth? Mineral licks? What are your suggestions for my little piece of heaven? Thank you for your time, David
David,
Sounds as if you have a nice place to hunt! Having commercial agriculture on three sides should supply most of a deer’s nutritional needs. This is especially true if there is both corn and soybeans available within the deer’s range. Corn is very high in energy, but not protein. This is why deer having access to both corn and soybeans provides a much better diet. The toughest part of hunting 50 acres is making sure you don’t repeatedly spook deer from the area. I strongly suggest you always approach the area with the wind in your favor and avoid over hunting the area.
Trophy Rock provides 60+ trace minerals. Deer need a very small quantity of each of the minerals to express their full potential. By placing a couple of Trophy Rocks in the area you hunt would insure that each of these trace minerals are available to the deer that use that area! Take care of the landowner as it sounds as if you have permission to hunt a great location!
Growing Deer together,
Grant
