![]() ![]() After all, what is wrong with enhancing your deer’s natural forage diet? Nothing, as I see it. A given habitat can be nutritionally deficient, over populated, and/or mineral lacking, so from my personal viewpoint, I plan to continue to use supplemental minerals and protein. Habitat type and quality varies greatly across deer country here in the Deep South. ![]() The advantages of mineral supplementation have not been clearly proved by researchers, but since deer habitat is never perfect I don’t see any clear disadvantages either. Don’t go and give your resident bucks a mineral boost over the summer and then expect to automatically see trophy size bucks suddenly appearing this coming fall. It takes adequate amounts of calcium and phosphorus for a buck, at any age, to grow impressive antlers.īut, let’s get real about what we should actually expect when supplementing a deer’s diet with minerals as well as protein during the spring and summer months. The younger buck is growing body first and then antlers, while an adult buck, especially one that has reached maturity, is past the body growth stage. A younger aged buck needs about twice the amount of protein and mineral nutrients that an adult buck - three years old and up - needs. I would encourage every hunter to go online and thoroughly acquaint their self with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’, “Rule 2.4 Supplemental Feeding of Wild Animals Outside of Wildlife Enclosures.” To paraphrase parts of the regulation, it allows supplemental feeding only on private lands, requires solely the use of above-ground covered feeders or spin cast feeders, prohibits feed from being piled, poured, or placed directly on the ground, and that salt/mineral stations, blocks, and/or licks, may not contain any corn or grain products.Īs the saying goes, “you are what you eat,” and this certainly holds true for a buck’s antlers. Let’s begin by talking about what is legal when it comes to supplemental feeding, and establishing mineral stations for whitetail deer during the summer months in the state of Mississippi.
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