What Minerals to Feed Deer

Providing mineral licks in the right places for deer can help ensure they get the minerals they need to grow strong and healthy throughout the season. Minerals play a key role in antler and fawn development. 

What are the best deer minerals to provide, and where should you put them to be most effective? Learn a few tips for how to successfully use mineral licks around your hunting property.

Deer have seasonal needs for several types of minerals, and it's up to you to decide how many spots to put on your land. Consider your local deer population's size and how many acres of land you have access to. 

Three primary mineral options you might want to use are calcium, phosphorous and salt. With deer getting so much water during the spring and summer, they'll readily come to salt licks to help expels the excess water in their system from all the green growing plants they are consuming. Calcium and phosphorous are also key minerals that contribute to deer's development during this period. They help bucks grow their antlers and does produce vitamin-rich milk for their fawns. For strong bone development, fawns also need adequate calcium intake.

While not needed in large quantities, trace minerals such as zinc, copper and magnesium are needed too. If you start with calcium and phosphorous, you can add some trace minerals, too.

When finding the best mineral deer attractant, a quality mineral blend is needed to ensure healthy deer development and antler growth. Some benefits minerals offer for deer include:

• Sodium Intake: Over the spring and summer, deer spend their time foraging for water-rich vegetation, and they seek out salt to help regulate the amount of water in their system. While the salt alone isn't going to grow bigger antlers, it is the attractant that draws deer in while you mix other minerals in that they need. 
• Antler growth: The spring and summer periods are also critical times for bucks to grow their antlers. The right minerals will ensure that they are getting everything they need to reach their antler potential. 
• Fawn nourishment: Minerals from licks can help does nurse their fawns and strengthen the young deer's bone development.

Fitting the right minerals into your deer feeding program is essential for your wildlife's health and proper growth. With adequate nutrition, they'll stay healthy and grow bigger throughout the year. 

Where can you put salt and mineral licks for deer? Look for spaces where they will likely linger. Bedding areas and food plots are ideal places to set up a few mineral licks for your deer population. Setting up a lick near a watering hole is essential as deer will often need a drink after consuming the salt. When you install your mineral in a convenient place near a feeding or drinking area, deer will naturally utilize it.