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mineral sites per acre

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mineral sites per acre

Postby wawhitey » 12 18, 2014 •  [Post 1]

Okay so i live in washington, not exactly "qdma territory". However on saturday im signing the papers on a house on 20.6 acres surrounded by a $***ton of state land full of whitetail (among other things) and my plan is to do 1 big-ass mineral site on my property, plus throw down a trophy rock anywhere on the adjacent public land that i see fit to hang a trail camera. For you guys who are exposed to the qdma thing, whats your take on my plan? Im thinking theres no need for more than one mineral site on 20 acres. Am i right or do i need a bit of wisdom?
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wawhitey
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Re: mineral sites per acre

Postby Elkonthebrain » 12 18, 2014 •  [Post 2]

You better hurry before they make it illegal. I really hope they change there minds on that law.
Sorry, not trying to thread jack, just angry about them trying to outlaw baiting.

I would agree with your thought process.
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Re: mineral sites per acre

Postby wawhitey » 12 18, 2014 •  [Post 3]

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Re: mineral sites per acre

Postby timberland » 12 19, 2014 •  [Post 4]

Sounds like you got the right idea. I suggest placing the rock a significant distance away so you don't get pics of the same deer and in or adjacent to a thick bedding area for best results. Although deer don't hammer mineral in the fall like they do in the summer, they will visit it all year making it a potential stand site on your 20. My theory on developing good deer hunting property is that if you can keep deer on or near your land all year by providing everything they need, food,water, cover, etc. your odds go way up. Once you lose a deer that is seeking "greener pastures" your chance of seeing that deer again go way down, maybe less than 20%.
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Re: mineral sites per acre

Postby wawhitey » 12 21, 2014 •  [Post 5]

Well i set up my mineral site with 150 lbs of loose trace mineralized salt and one of the real big selenium blocks 3/4 buried in the mess. I was signing papers in the house yesterday and had a couple deer walk right up to the house and look at me through the window. I hiked most of the property and it is absolutely covered in beds and trails and whatnot. 20 acres of prime bedding and browse covered in deer. Some bear crap too of course, and the neighbor said there is a "family of cougars" living there. Too bad the antlers are going to start falling any day now, just got cams up and im dying to see what kind of bucks are around, but im sure by the time i get any pics of them theyll be without their headgear. Oh and the guy who lives on the other side of my hill says he picked up a deer shed this year with 8 pts on the one side. Ive got a few apple and plum trees already there but i will be doing a lot of planting after this winter.
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Re: mineral sites per acre

Postby wawhitey » 02 02, 2015 •  [Post 6]

Update on the new house. Ive been feeding the deer, picked up 2 fresh sheds and one old one so far with minimal searching. Had a young 4x4 in my backyard yesterday still packing both sides. By the time it got too dark to keep counting tonight had 20 deer within spitting distance of my house. I think ill be removing the minerals from my property in august though so ill be legal to hunt my property. Ill just put out a trophy rock from jan - august from now on maybe. That way i can get all the velvet bucks on cam and give them the beneficial minerals but not have attractants out during hunting season. Have to toe the line.
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Re: mineral sites per acre

Postby skyleralan » 02 04, 2015 •  [Post 7]

Interesting take. Here in Iowa, we can supplement feed and minerals, BUT no trace can be left behind during the season nor can you hunt any trail to or from the bait site (yes, hard to enforce). So, we have to be careful where we place mineral (as I'm sure you know) as lots of the mineral will be left behind in the ground. I set up bait and mineral sites in open areas so I have little intrusion in the area and just keep a good inventory of the bucks on the farm via trail cams.
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