Deer licks

[Buchan]

Ok, now I’m intrigued.
Why an increase in disease ? More deer coming in contact with more deer saliva?

As per VSS post. Artificial feeding causes animals to congregate more tightly than they would normally do, so it increases the risk of disease transmission. TB and CWD in some of the US States has spread in part due to bait stations.
Why do they get sold - because they can, there's no restriction on feed products or additives.

 

[Tim.243]

They should be tipped out,or moved to reduce the risk.
It can get ignored when busy.

Don't go into lit up areas.

or put a label on the bucket...." for use by sheep only"

 

[shakey jake]

it shouldnt suprise me that some people cant understand farming and managing wildlife.
wild bird with bird flue arent relavant to encouraging deer to one point.
i worked with a similar mineded person, he smoked heavily.
if i pointed out smoking might kill him he said i could get hit by a bus. he did look both ways at junctions!
some people just know best

 

[Tim.243]

As per VSS post. Artificial feeding causes animals to congregate more tightly than they would normally do, so it increases the risk of disease transmission. TB and CWD in some of the US States has spread in part due to bait stations.

You can't stop animals feeding close together in any shape or form, strip grazing is an old way of feeding, they eat it down to length then rotated.
1 cow will be feeding on a "nice patch" and the others join in!
As usual an honest question turns into a rose tinted forum day.

 

[Tim.243]

it shouldnt suprise me that some people cant understand farming and managing wildlife.
wild bird with bird flue arent relavant to encouraging deer to one point.
i worked with a similar mineded person, he smoked heavily.
if i pointed out smoking might kill him he said i could get hit by a bus. he did look both ways at junctions!
some people just know best

No but you never answered the question of deer getting sick in an area where salt licks are not used

 

[TringSaint]

it shouldnt suprise me that some people cant understand farming and managing wildlife.
wild bird with bird flue arent relavant to encouraging deer to one point.
i worked with a similar mineded person, he smoked heavily.
if i pointed out smoking might kill him he said i could get hit by a bus. he did look both ways at junctions!
some people just know best

Thing is, we use these licks for our sheep and have zero issues.
Sure, it’s a closed flock, but we get deer, rodents, foxes, corvids and badgers on our land, so the same risk of cross contamination would occur as for a wild population of deer.

I have spoken with lots of stalkers who swear by creating salt lick posts, etc and yet others feel that they are a gateway to illness.

So

 

[Buchan]

You can't stop animals feeding close together in any shape or form, strip grazing is an old way of feeding, they eat it down to length then rotated.
1 cow will be feeding on a "nice patch" and the others join in!
As usual an honest question turns into a rose tinted forum day.

Not really, domestic animals have to feed close or it's uneconomic and one runs the risk of disease, hence the need for biosecurity. Wild animals don't congregate, unless it's for sex or lots of food. A bit like teenagers

 

[VSS]

You can't stop animals feeding close together in any shape or form, strip grazing is an old way of feeding, they eat it down to length then rotated.
1 cow will be feeding on a "nice patch" and the others join in!
As usual an honest question turns into a rose tinted forum day.

As you so rightly point out, rotation is key.
That field that's being strip grazed (and, I hasten to add, repeatedly rested throughout the grazing season) is part of a rotation. The cows are on it for a day or two, and then move to the next strip. It'll be six weeks before they pass back over the same ground again, and the following year it'll probably be ploughed up and reseeded and not grazed with cattle at all. So no real opportunity for livestock pathogens to build up in the soil.

 

[shakey jake]

Thing is, we use these licks for our sheep and have zero issues.
Sure, it’s a closed flock, but we get deer, rodents, foxes, corvids and badgers on our land, so the same risk of cross contamination would occur as for a wild population of deer.

I have spoken with lots of stalkers who swear by creating salt lick posts, etc and yet others feel that they are a gateway to illness.

So

i understand your point.
but do you need to increase the risk to wildlife?
free roaming animals shouldnt have the same mineral deficiantcy to captive animals, unless the environment shouldnt support the animal.
stalkers that just want a carcase may not worry.
lazy stalkers may like deer in one place to save work.
i think you are hoping it doesnt have a negative impact, not a risk i would take

 

[TringSaint]

i understand your point.
but do you need to increase the risk to wildlife?
free roaming animals shouldnt have the same mineral deficiantcy to captive animals, unless the environment shouldnt support the animal.
stalkers that just want a carcase may not worry.
lazy stalkers may like deer in one place to save work.
i think you are hoping it doesnt have a negative impact, not a risk i would take

So, this topic has come up based on a chat with a fellow stalker today who has a small portion of a wood (a few acres of a much larger wood) and we were discussing how to try to bring them into that patch, hence the topic of adding a lick station.

 

[shakey jake]

So, this topic has come up based on a chat with a fellow stalker today who has a small portion of a wood (a few acres of a much larger wood) and we were discussing how to try to bring them into that patch, hence the topic of adding a lick station.

thats sounds like its less about healthy deer and more about shooting deer

 

[TringSaint]

thats sounds like its less about healthy deer and more about shooting deer

No intention to create an unhealthy population of deer, hence my asking the question.
I have not used bait or lick stations for any of my stalking but in this instance I could see how feeding or using a lick could aid in bringing the deer into shooting range.

As I said above, many I have spoken with swear by using feeding or lick stations, including people who are well respected suppliers of deer stalking hardware, and others seem them as the spawn of the devil.

Having no experience of using them I thought it prudent to ask the question.

 

[Tim.243]

Not really, domestic animals have to feed close or it's uneconomic and one runs the risk of disease, hence the need for biosecurity. Wild animals don't congregate, unless it's for sex or lots of food. A bit like teenagers

Yes but there is nothing to stop the wild animals helping themselves to a mineral bucket lick as they are out there 24/7
Like trying to manage a wild deer with a "poor head" covering a receptive female, Just like teenagers every one thinks they are John Hammond (Jurassic Park) lol

 

[shakey jake]

No intention to create an unhealthy population of deer, hence my asking the question.
I have not used bait or lick stations for any of my stalking but in this instance I could see how feeding or using a lick could aid in bringing the deer into shooting range.

As I said above, many I have spoken with swear by using feeding or lick stations, including people who are well respected suppliers of deer stalking hardware, and others seem them as the spawn of the devil.

Having no experience of using them I thought it prudent to ask the question.

i get what your saying but that doesnt prove its best for wildlife, higher deer numbers isnt a good thing

 

[Tim.243]

As you so rightly point out, rotation is key.
That field that's being strip grazed (and, I hasten to add, repeatedly rested throughout the grazing season) is part of a rotation. The cows are on it for a day or two, and then move to the next strip. It'll be six weeks before they pass back over the same ground again, and the following year it'll probably be ploughed up and reseeded and not grazed with cattle at all. So no real opportunity for livestock pathogens to build up in the soil.

If this was such a problem then why have we such a large population of very healthy deer with the only small amount (of sick deer) posted on SD if it was a problem then the authorities would be red flagging the agency's game dealers of it so I don't by into it as as I posted earlier 2 out of 400 plus muntjac went in the bin (big fire) Show me that low numbers in roe and I will eat my hat.

 

[Tim.243]

if you want to improve the health of deer then stop leaving silage wrapped bales when deer can get at them, then eat the silage and wrap at the same time. Feed the cattle/sheep their mineral supplement's in house and stop putting it in the field as the £££ from those far out weigh the value of deer per household. Less vets bills as well

@Buchan

 

[TringSaint]

i get what your saying but that doesnt prove its best for wildlife, higher deer numbers isnt a good thing

Im not saying anything is best - im asking for views and experience, as I have spoken to many who swear by using them and clearly others that don’t.

I don’t need to use them on my permissions, so I have no personal experience.

But if I can’t ask and obtain a view from others then

 

[Dickie]

Are you trying to get deer from an area you don’t shoot or attract them to an ambush point?

 

[TringSaint]

Are you trying to get deer from an area you don’t shoot or attract them to an ambush point?

As mentioned above, it’s not my permission but was discussing with someone who owns a small portion of a much larger wood which holds deer.
The challenge is that deer cannot be taken outside of the owned area and as it’s a contiguous block of woodland, the deer may be present anywhere in the larger block.
So using an attractant or lick station would aid in pulling them into an area, but it may not be necessary depending on how the deer behave.

 

[Buchan]

Yes but there is nothing to stop the wild animals helping themselves to a mineral bucket lick as they are out there 24/7
Like trying to manage a wild deer with a "poor head" covering a receptive female, Just like teenagers every one thinks they are John Hammond (Jurassic Park) lol

They can indeed help themselves. But putting extra feed out for wild animals that are not a threatened population isn't needed and, as the studies from America show associated with increased disease spread. So no benefit and potential harm so don't do it.

The particular question that started the thread may be a reasonable thing to do in order to manage the deer population (either no permission or a difficult area to manage)