Mineral Supplements for Deer

Many hunting landowners place mineral stations for deer to attract deer to a spot where they can get game cam pics of all the deer using the property and to get as much quality nutrition into the deer as possible for a healthy herd.  Hopefully, the minerals will help maximize the antler growth of bucks using the mineral lick.

Salt vs Minerals for Deer Health

Salt is necessary for ruminant health.  When deer are eating lush green forage in the spring, they take on a lot of water with the forage.  Salt helps balance osmotic pressure in cells.  It is also necessary for many biological functions including

• heart regulation
• nervous system and brain function
• milk production
• enzyme function
• cell osmotic pressure regulation

The Difference Between Salt and Mineral

Salt, such as plain table salt is simply Sodium Chloride.  It really is more of a flavor enhancer than a health supplement.  A sea salt or mineral supplement should have micro nutrients in it that are necessary for physiological function.

Minerals amount to 4% of the body weight of an animal.  The scientific literature lists 21 essential minerals.  They are divided into two groups, macronutrients and micronutrients.

Macros are those minerals that occur in larger amounts in the animal body and are required in large quantities in the diet (> 0.01%). Macronutrients include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride).

Micronutrients are required in trace amounts. Micros include manganese, zinc, iron, copper, selenium, iodine, cobalt molybdenum, and chromium. Minerals cannot be added to a diet in their elemental forms but rather need to be added as salts that are combined with other minerals such as salt or calcium carbonate.

Minerals Needed for Antler Development

Two very important minerals are Calcium and Phosphorous.  Calcium is important for cell structure and bones and phosphorous is important for energy production in cells.  When antlers harden, a buck uses these minerals stored in other bones to harden off their antlers.

Do Mineral Licks Grow Big Antlers?

Antlers are made of cartilage as they grow, so the nutrient needed as they grow is mostly protein.  A good diet of high-protein feed in the form of quality green forage is how deer grow a big set of antlers.  The mineral part is mostly needed at the end of August when they are done growing.

So, do mineral licks help grow big antlers?  Probably not.  But they are still a good addition to an overall feed program that includes food plots, browse production and even supplemental feed.

What is the Best Mineral Supplement?

It is said that seas water has the same mineral ratio as blood.  So, to me, it stands to reason that sea salt is the best supplement as it has every mineral that is found in soil.

So, I use sea salt blocs Trophy Rock or granular salt from Redmond mineral – mined in Utah from ancient sea deposits.

Its important to note that minerals are just a supplement to overall good nutrition provided by the natural or manipulated environment.  Mule deer can grow giant sized antlers in the deserts of Mexico and the mountain soils of the Rockys.  Whitetail Deer grow huge antlers in the Midwest where the soils are rich with minerals and deer get them through the forage.

So, building healthy soils is the best way to get your land to produce big bucks with giant antlers.

Here is an Amazon link to the trophy rock product: https://amzn.to/3oHlE0X

Deer will key in on the salt rock and get all the mineral they need in the proper ratios for optimum health.