The best time to be laying out salt and minerals and such is back around when you’re scouting turkey in March. I usually dump a load in way back at the end of deer season, so that they have it the next year. My licks in KY start getting hit in mid-March and peak in early July. My licks in OH seem to peak a few weeks later– about the last week in July. I have no idea why the difference.

One thing is for sure: the effectiveness of mineral licks diminishes to near-nothing by the time hunting season starts. I have seen visits, but it’s very spotty.

The reason for using salt licks, at least in my opinion, is to habituate the does to using trails in that general vicinity. A well maintained lick will keep deer in the area most of the year, because it is a familiar and comfortable place, and the trails to and from become well-used and easy to travel.

I have a theory. It’s just a theory, mind you. My guess is that a well-tended lick also develops a lot of browse nearby. If you’ve ever watched, there is a lot of undigested seed in deer scat. The deer are walking fertilizer factories. Where the deer walk frequently, deer food seems to sprout. Hence, if you give them a place to congregate, you will promote whatever is in their diet to grow.

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