Mineral sites and standing water and EHD

[Catscratch]

I've been concerned about it for a long time. When I first made water holes years ago it was with much consideration on how to do it and how to minimize EHD. I made the banks (or sides) as vertical as I could and made sure there were no low spots. This hole in particular is used a ton by deer and had eventually eroded the steep sides into a flat. It needed repaired or filled in. I found 2 dead bucks this spring. The local game warden had predicted I would find some due to brain abscess (before I found them). I cleaned one of them up and sure enough there was a hole in his skull near one pedical. This coincided with what the GW said... but regardless, finding dead bucks was still enough to prompt me into action on my water hole as a preventative measure.

 

[yoderjac]

My own thought process was simple.....if I'm going to use a mineral site....I simply need to try to take care of it. This is more for my own piece of mind than anything else. I have no evidence or the like that says these are a source of the problem. I don't want to concern anyone about this. I was simply asking if others had similar concerns and what they did about it. I simply try to minimize the standing water with a little work. I think natural sources of water are an important aspect of our habitat for critters other than deer and we need to keep that in mind as well. I just know the EHD was once unheard of here and it has had a few outbreaks here now and seems to be more and more common now...for whatever reason.

There is clear evidence that point source attractants like baiting piles and mineral licks increase the amount of face to face contact in deer. EHD is just one of the diseases where face to face contact. Here is an article with lots of study references regarding CWD: http://cwd-info.org/chronic-wasting...pport-of-the-ban-on-baiting-and-feeding-deer/

I realize that many folks use them for inventory and they just need to weigh the marginal benefits they get from this method of inventory over others against the risk of increased disease spread. This is probably the boat you are in.

I realize you are not one of the folks that thinks mineral supplements improve your deer herd but others may still believe this based on the marketing put out by the mineral supplement industry. They all base their studies on penned animals with controlled diets, not free ranging deer. I've said this on other threads, but plants mine minerals. Each plant species has different abilities to mine different minerals from different levels in the soil. Free ranging deer eat such a wide variety of native plants, we just don't see mineral deficiencies in free ranging deer. Plants are by far the best delivery system. Folks who believe their deer need mineral supplements should simply fertilize their food plots. Their crops uptake the minerals (P is primary for antler development) and the deer not only get the minerals, but more importantly, the nutrition which they actually benefit from. If you have ever watched deer in a food plot they naturally distribute and will display dominance if a sub-dominate deer gets too close. This is why in areas where supplemental feeding of deer is prohibited, food plots are excluded from the prohibition. Deer do have some natural level of face-to-face contact but that is significantly increased with point source attractants.

One more note. When I stopped using mineral licks, it took quite a few years for deer to stop congregating a them. Once that salt gets into the soil, it remains attractive for a long time.

Thanks,

Jack