Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Mineral site

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
Seen on another forum the guys are using Arm & Hammer Washing Soda on top of their stock salt, trace minerals and Di Cal.

Thoughts?
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
I'll stick to stock salt, brown tsc mineral block, and grape koolaide
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Deer Cane is a deer attractant that just about everyone has seen at your local Wal-Mart, it sales for about $9-$10/bag. If it works or not, in your mind, is up to you, however there are people that swear by it. That being said, the main bulk ingredient in Deer Cane is Sodium Carbonate (AKA: Soda Ash, or Washing Soda), which can be bought an most grocery stores as Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (100% Sodium Carbonate) for about $3 per 3 lb 7 oz box, making it way cheaper, and the deer like it just the same. What a lot of folks don’t know, is that it can be gotten cheaper than this, at even a fraction of the cost. By baking Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) at 400 degrees for approximately 1.5 hrs, you will release Carbon Dioxide, turning your regular household baking soda, into pure, high grade sodium carbonate. Take your now Sodium Carbonate, and sprinkle it on your mineral site for your deer, and watch them get after it!

Cheap sodium seems to be the driver....
 

BCamp

Junior Member
66
19
Dayton

This is the part that would worry me about putting it out for deer.
Since sodium carbonate can be dangerous in large quantities, make sure to keep washing soda out of the reach of children and pets. You should wear gloves when cleaning with washing soda, because it can cause skin irritation. It can be harmful to the eyes, cause irritation to the lungs if inhaled, and may cause abdominal pain or vomiting if large doses are swallowed.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,738
274
North Carolina
This is the part that would worry me about putting it out for deer.
Since sodium carbonate can be dangerous in large quantities, make sure to keep washing soda out of the reach of children and pets. You should wear gloves when cleaning with washing soda, because it can cause skin irritation. It can be harmful to the eyes, cause irritation to the lungs if inhaled, and may cause abdominal pain or vomiting if large doses are swallowed.

Yeah, unless it doesn't affect deer like it does humans....


 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
What if any benefits are there for the deer?
With the spring green up and the increased consumption of green browse, deer teeter on an "overdose" of phosphorus as a result of consuming the green browse. The biological response to offset the increase of phosphorus in their system is to seek out and consume salt, or sodium. So they'd get that benefit from consuming the sodium bicarbonate, but I fail to see the reasoning behind using it over a $5 50# of stock salt.

 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
With the spring green up and the increased consumption of green browse, deer teeter on an "overdose" of phosphorus as a result of consuming the green browse. The biological response to offset the increase of phosphorus in their system is to seek out and consume salt, or sodium. So they'd get that benefit from consuming the sodium bicarbonate, but I fail to see the reasoning behind using it over a $5 50# of stock salt.

For the fact of doing something different from your neighbor thinking you are getting the edge... Pretty dang stupid in my book. Just someone else trying to reinvent the wheel.

At what point do we start to make deer as sick as humans with all the crap we introduce to them these days?
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
For the fact of doing something different from your neighbor thinking you are getting the edge... Pretty dang stupid in my book. Just someone else trying to reinvent the wheel.

At what point do we start to make deer as sick as humans with all the crap we introduce to them these days?
I've already proposed this concept here (and I'm sure it's not a thought unique to me) but in the course of my nutritional education and research over the past 2 years, my understanding of the negative impacts of corn and soy on our bodies has lead me to believe it's only reasonable to assume the deer are being negatively impacted as well. Deer will eat up to 200 different species of plants, as well as eating small birds, but in today's monoculture crop rotations, they will eat the same way they wander through the woods: by taking the path of least resistance. It can't be good for them.