home made deer bait

[mrcarbine]

I have tried lots of things but this seems promising. I mix peanut butter, Molasses, vanilla, honey, and a little bit of water to make it thinner. I was wondering if this will attract deer to my hunting area. i have a camera facing the bait and only got one daytime pic of a deer. my flash on my d40 is broken so i cant see the night time pics. the bait is placed on a large flat rock on the ground with salt sprinkled all around it. please give me your opinions.

[jethroUSMC]

It will work. The first two ingredients deer love - Peanut butter and Molasses. Vanilla is often used as a curiosity scent to get them to put their head down, stop and smell long enough to get a bow shot.

Personally, this time of year I would go with making your own mineral site....It's just pouring out the dry materials and beneficial especially for lactating doe and the fawn that will drop around late April or May. Go to your local feed store and they should have these ingredients: (Be sure to specify no hormones). How long the mineral site lasts is dependent upon the type of soil at your site. Sand or Sandy loam soils will wash the content deeper into the soil during the rainy season (~2-3 months), and heavy clay (it's not going to be fun to dig) and will puddle, but it will hold the mineral in the location for a longer period.

Ingredients
1 Bag of salt (50 lbs) - Looks like table salt
1 bag of red mineral salt (50 lbs)
1 bag of dried Molasses (I forget how many pounds, Looks like a 50 lb bag but might only be 30) it's cheap just ask for a bag

IIRC these 3 ingredients will cost you less than $15

BONUS and Not Cheap - DiCalcium Phosphate (DiCal) - This is one of the most useful nutrients for lactating doe (price varies a bit), but it's somewhere around $50 a bag. The good news is you only use a quart per 5 gal bucket of mix.

Mixing
Do this outside it's a little dusty with the salt...

Use (2) 5 Gallon buckets to mix the dry contents, pouring and shaking between the two

-1lb of Salt
-1 lb red mineral salt
- 1lb by volume of molasses or just enough for the attractant effect.
-1 qt DiCal (per 5 gallon bucket)

You add the salt a 1lb at a time, alternating to get a good mix until your bucket is about 3/4 full.

Prep the Mineral Site

- Choose a location where you want the deer to stop so you can get photos
- Take a metal rake, leaf rake and a shovel and or Maddox/Pic Axe depending upon your soil type.
- Clear an area in about a 3" diameter circle( vegetation, rocks and leaf litter)
- Break up the soil and remove about 3" of the soil to the side of the cleared area
- Slowly pour your dried mineral mix in the shallow circle - keep a little bit in the bucket
- Toss the dirt you removed evenly over the minerals - use the rake to ensure it's distributed fairly even (it doesn't have to be perfect)
- Scatter the small remainder of mix in the bucket on top as the attractant.

[Hmac]

Regardless of the bait....don't forget the appropriate signage:

[mrcarbine]

seems straight forward enough to me, i have been looking for a good deer bait for over a month now...will head to the store and get all ingredient today, missing else?

[mrcarbine]

Regardless of the bait....don't forget the appropriate signage:

Thanks for this, i am sure gonna get the site. thank God deer and read LOLS