Mineral licks make bucks show up

This game camera photo shows bucks using a mineral site on Robert Brewer’s property near Meridian. One of the bucks was later harvested and turned out to be a 13-point.

Why would a hunter use a mineral lick product like Red Spot Plus?

According to Hawkins the benefits are many.

“Of course, the first benefit is attracting big bucks and being able to see what’s on your hunting property,” he said. “You’ve got to find them before you can hunt them, and game cam pictures on the mineral sites help us do that.”

And then there’s the benefit of having less travel in the hunting area, thus allowing deer get used to the site without disturbing them with human scent and activity in the area.

“Once you get the mineral site up and going and deer are using it, then you can check your camera about once a month,” he said. “Now, if you use corn like most of us were prone to do in the past, you’ve got to go back pretty regular to fill that feeder up, and it gets costly, to say the least.”

North Mississippi hasn’t traditionally been known for producing trophy bucks, but that is changing in some locations, and mineral attractants and mineral licks have played a strong role in helping change some hunters’ minds about letting deer live and reach an older age.

“I was approached about trying a mineral product on my hunting property in Northwest Mississippi, but wasn’t really excited about it,” Hawkins said. “In the past, I’d used some attractants with no regard to the ingredients in the product or with any intentions of monitoring the usage by the deer on our property.”

When Hawkins agreed to use Red Spot Plus, he made a commitment to monitor the deer usage and form an opinion based upon his findings.

“After establishing several new mineral sites and putting trail cameras on them, I became a believer,” he said. “And some of my hunting friends did, too, especially when they started harvesting quality bucks.”

About Michael O. Giles 411 Articles
Mike Giles of Meridian has been hunting and fishing Mississippi since 1965. He is an award-winning wildlife photographer, writer, seminar speaker and guide.

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