deer attractants on new land

Pro_guitar

Well-Known Member
Evening folks,

i have recently gained a 500 acre bit of forestry land in the hills. there is roe on the land and i was wondering how efftective using deer attractants such as mollasses and salt blocks etc. also putting down food such as apples in the rides. i believe the farmer has also caught poachers with packs of dogs flushing out deer so poachers could be a problem on the land. I want to go around this land the right way since i have only just gained it and manage the deer correctly and protecting them as well as the land. i have also got a detailed ariel view of the land from google earth so i know all the cut outs in the land. if anyone has ideas that they could share with me that would be greatly appreciated.
 
tried the licks and blocks not to much effect ,mixed woodland with plenty to eat saying that a mate puts out sugar beet and gets great results for red, roe ,fallow and munty. no beet round me but the deer liked apples .
 
The farmer may not want you attracting more deer onto the ground and you might lose it in pretty short order if he was to find out this is your plan, worth considering as he probably has you there to reduce deer numbers.

What makes you think there are not enough deer on the ground already? Bear in mind that if poachers are hitting it (where aren't they hitting at the minute?) then the deer might be very cautious indeed and may even be nocturnal. A trail camera might be a better investment than a pile of deer feed.

I have found that molasses is very good indeed for attracting sika though I can't comment on whether it would help hold them long term or whether they just smell it and drop by for a quick snack. They also like beef nuts, or beef nuts with some molasses poured over them, and as these are formulated to provide a healthy diet I suspect they might work better to hold deer. How you distribute them on the ground would be a problem though unless you are there every day. They are very untidy feeders and will quickly stamp nuts or whatever into the ground leaving a muddy hole so you'd need to pick your feed site carefully etc. They will also quickly become "tame" to the sound of you putting out some nuts and will arrive in groups to fight over the food. This might be what you want, it might also be what the poachers want. The reason I know this, before you ask, is that I know someone with a semi-tame group of sika which get feed occasionally and so I've watched what goes on.
 
If you have a lease it is worth checking as many leases prohibit the use of feeding stations/attractants. If you don't have a lease I would ask the farmer if you can or not as he may not be keen on the idea.
 
why not just keep it 'natural'? surely you will have much greater enjoyment knowing that you found and stalked the deer without any personal involvement, inducement, feeding, etc.

even better, plant some willow around edges and in rides, not only will it pull the deer out of the woods, it will stop them eating the young trees...at least that's the story for the landowner:norty:
 
I have tried salt licks with limted success I think planting williow and/ or fruit trees would be more beneficial
 
Back
Top