Mineral lick...right?

[IDWapiti]

mineral lick.jpg (116.21 KiB) Viewed 3098 times

Found this right beside a seep on a north slope. It's gotta be a mineral lick....right?

[N5J]

Could be a start of one....what tracks were around it? The ones I've seen are really worked by deer and elk. The dirt is full of deer/elk tracks and the lick is full of deep holes and deep cuts in the spot.

N5J

James

[Swede]

If there has been a tree stand there I would think the area has been salted.

[ElkNut1]

It appears to be one! But what is the water there? Doesn't look like a creek or underground spring?

ElkNut1

[JohnFitzgerald]

If it's a spring bubbling up it could be bring minerals to the surface from below. Here's an example.

[IDWapiti]

Elknut - the water is indeed a small spring that starts in some alders uphill from this photo. There's a bedding area 75 yds uphill, as well. Swede - no way has there been a stand there - this is in the middle of the backcountry...in Idaho, it's also illegal to salt or use attractants.

[Swede]

It is an interesting site. If the area continues to get use, it could be a great place to put up a stand. Your spot reminds me of a location I found in Oregon. Even the little spring below the bare soil area is the same. Mine is in a little unburned area near where a recent forest fire burned through a few hundred acres. Use runs hot and cold, but my friend killed his elk there last August. We have added salt to our site, but I don't think it is much of a factor in determining elk use.