Deer licky things!

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Baby Red Rocky' mineral blocks

Looking back through this thread with interest I have decided to place some 'Baby Red Rocky' mineral blocks at various points on my ground.
Now a few months or so on from the original discussion how are people finding the salt blocks and are they still finding them productive or are the stalkers finding better ways to attract deer mainly roe ?
I open to any advice and I will try anything out of mainly curiosity.
:roll: :roll: :-D

Smithy
 
I still use them on occasions, mostly winter. I have also started using pheasant feeders filled with Barley, also I use peanut butter smeared on stumps. The best attractant is nature its self, I tend to move my stalking to areas with seasonal foods, for example: - Blue Bells, Devils Bit Scabious, Spotted Orchids, Rose Hips, Blackberries, Crab Apples and Guilder Rose.

It’s amazing how many people never rotate their stalking in order to make the best of seasonal changes. :???:

By the way Phil,
Baby Rockies can be broken up and put out in other foods to promote good antler growth.
 
mrB
be a little watchfull using just barley as it seems to hav the same effect as crab apples and the deer look to suffer not sure if it is in a way it ferments in the stomach or they just glutton themselves on it and causes the stomach to bloat a little
i hav got a bag of beans for you in the garage and i shall get a couple of bags of wheat so you can mix with the barley if you want as our munties seem to like wheat especialy from pheasant feeders
 
Cheers Richard. ;)
The new pheasant feeders that Muddy kindly gave me are down the farm and I've positioned one in front of the bottom field high seat. I'm hoping Tika 308 will be down on the bank holiday for a try at a buck from it.
 
shall make sure the wheat is in the garage for you ready for when you need it , i hope tika can make it as he should get a good chance from that seat, lucky sod
 
Well you have your invite Stone as you know. You can't shoot trophy Fallow and Roe all day you know! The Muntjac need culling too. :lol:

Thanks for the feed, you couldn't get me some aniseed to could you mate?
 
aniseed aswell that's a toughie hav to look deep in the stores for that ,may be the keeper on the shoot may not notice it's missing :lol:
 
Smithy,

In their latest catalogue Bushwear advertise a form of game crop for deer.

According to the advertising blurb, you don't need to prepare the ground just throw and sow not shake and vac :-D

I'd be interetsed to know if anyone has tried it.

Nick
 
cheers Nick,
Might be worth a try.
Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that,
like you I'd be interetsed to know if anyone has tried it.

:-D :-D

Smithy
 
Hi Chaps.

I've been lurkin about here for a while n not done much but this thread interests me. l've debated this with some pals l stalk with and most say Roe won't take very much in the way of mineral enticements, but one of the patch's l'm on is **** poor in places and l've been thinking of maybe adding something to their diet. Like Smithy asked.... Roe??..anyone

l have a new bushwear book somewhere but not gone through it yet, think l'd better get into the book pile before the Ratwife bins it, maybe a little sprinkle of seeds here and there may just help, who knows nothing ventured nothing gained........
 
I was told a few weeks back that wheat and barley mixed and then add a tad of Aniseed oil to it and mix well. Hand cast around the area you want to attract them to.

I use aniseed oil mixed in with barley to feed the duck ponds. This year within two nights of putting it on the pond there was duck everyware.

Not tried it for deer yet but going to lay some down this week so ill get back to you. :???:

Ads ;)
 
I use 10kg drums with spirals-attached on one side to a 3' length of timber, the timber is nailed top and bottom to a tree at about 4' from ground level. In a cement mixture I mix up in batches 50kg of wheat and 50kg of barley plus cooking oil, aniseed powder, aniseed oil and liquid molasses, I set the mixture away and place the whole lot in a storage barrel with lid - the shed smells great. I set my drums up at strategic spots around the woodland within 100m of a high seat or shooting spot and start feeding early Nov through to March. In addition to this i sprinkle beans around the drums and adjoining tracks to entice them in and put out lumps of rock salt on top of stumps. I find the roe and fallow start using the feeders within a fortnight and my experience is that they do not become spooked if you shoot them at the feed stations? I may visit each station perhaps once a month so the animals are not being pressured. Cost of all this - barrels free from local chemical plant, I exchange a roe carcass for 100kg of corn and beans from local farmer, the rock salt is £7/25kg,aniseed powder £25 for a large tub, similar price for the aniseed oil but this treats tonnes and will do me for years, the molasses I pinch from my wifes horses. One last tip - have the spirals at full extension to start with and then wind them right in when the deer are freely using them.
Is this ethical? well it gives me time to assess the animals and select one to take out, the drums are so placed that I can attract the animals to where extraction to the vehicle is easier and they are not located next to dense thick cover where it is difficult to find an animal if it runs off. All in all it makes my job easier. I also stalk in the conventional way - I am still young and fit!
 
I know this is a stupid question but what sort of beans do you use? Can you buy them in bags from an agricultural supplier?

Beans seem to be a common thread and no one has mentioned them causing any problems for the deer as with barley or wheat.
 
i was told by the fella who i did my dsc1 with feed tick beans deer love them.never tried it though.
 
Had a word with the local farmer and they are a variety of Broad bean. I have never seen them being sold in 25kg bags in local farm supply outlets. Best check out the local fields and call on the farmer after the harvest. I have been told that fallow love them and my local roe population certainly munch on them. I just scatter a few handles every time I pass, below and around the hoppers so their stomachs are not bloated with beans.
 
Rather than spend money on minerals etc which are pretty much ignored by Roe I have had better results improving habitat to make it more Roe friendly.

This needed be a big investment, if you get a bag of deer lawn mix from Kings and sow little pockets of it in areas of scrubland/woodland fringes.
You don't need specialist machinery, even just a sturdy garden rake to give the ground a little prep then broadcast the seed over the disturbed soil and tramp in.

You could also look to increase the amount of cover and browse, even if you cut a few willow runners in a week or two and shove them into the ground this will help them and at least attract some fraying attention.

I have been using salz paste from bushwear but I am not convinced the Roe even look at it. I have had far better results clearing pockets of gorse and scrub and sowing a mixture of deer lawn mix and sacrificial trees.

Richard Prior is a good source on "Roe Gardening" tips.

All the best

Ben
 
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