Preparing for next season question

[WRG]

Our rifle season is now over and I want to start preparing for 2010. I was taking with a friend that I hunt with and we have 200 acres we aquired to hunt for next year. We were thinking of starting some mineral stations around the property so we can see if we can produce some really nice rack bucks. I have already checked with F&G if it was legal and we are all set.

Does anyone here have any experience with this that could help us find a good source or supplier that has a proven recipe?

There seems to be a ton of information on the Internet but I don't have a clue who sells a ligitamite product or who the scammers are. I realize we wouldn't start this until next April after the snow melts and the ground thaws but I just want to make sure I have a source ready to go.

In January I plan to start looking for sheds/drops to get an idea what we are dealing with for bucks. We are told there are some good size bucks already on the property. Because we have never hunted the property we need to start seeking out the bedding/cover area's, & food sources. Travel lanes or runs will be easier to determine with snow on the ground although they do change over the course of the year. We need to locate pinch points or funnels that are heavely traveled to determine where to put stands. I want to get them up as soon as we can so they can season until next year. Camera's will be set up at the mineral stations and will be checked every month to see how they are progressing and to get a Doe/yearling head count.

If anyone can help us out we would greatly apprieciate it.

Thanks

 

[Gnarly]

In the areas of KY where we've hunted for the past 44 years,deer are scarce.
EHD? The severe ice storm that destroyed trees/blocked trails/changed patterns?Dunno.

But I will tell you what has worked for us in the past.

Bags of plain white salt,from your nearest Farm supply store.Spade up an area ~3' in diameter,dump in 50# of salt,spade enough to mix it in and dump in 5-10 gal. of water.

Don't wait 'til April to start!12/9/09 is a great day to start.

Couple things to keep in mind:It needs a year-round water source within 300-500 yds. to be used much (at least around here.)

Other issue: by starting out with plain salt,you can gradually switch over to mineral salt,or one of the Internet formulas.Maybe it's just here,but not much luck starting out with mineral mixes.

And put it on a slight slope,so rain will drain off after saturation,instead of forming a stagnant puddle.

Hope that helps.But start now!

----Gnarly