An Evaluation of Four Mineral Formulations to Attract Deer to Camera Survey Sites (Report‪)‬

ABSTRACT--Estimating local deer populations is an important consideration for deer managers. Shelled corn is commonly used to attract white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to infrared-triggered camera survey sites. The addition of mineral formulations may increase deer visitation. We evaluated the effect of four mineral formulations on deer visitation at two study areas in Tennessee. Mineral formulations differed in ingredients and amount of sodium ([N.sub.a]) supplied. Type of mineral formulation affected total deer use of baited sites, with a high salt formulation receiving over four times the amount of daily visits (9.86) as other formulations. Depending on the study area, crepuscular and nocturnal time periods accounted for 19-28% and 47-63%, respectively, of daily use by all deer. Average daily visits by bucks to high salt formulation sites (2.10) was also more than four times the amount of other formulations, and peak daily use by bucks across minerals occurred during the crepuscular (28-33%) and nocturnal (51-52%) time periods. Doe use was highest (6.13 visits per day) at high salt formulation sites. Peak daily use by does primarily occurred during the crepuscular (19-28%) and nocturnal (49-66%) time periods. There was relatively little use of mineral sites by fawns and no differences in mineral formulation use were observed. While we do not suggest using minerals alone, where legal, we do recommend a high salt mineral formulation to increase deer attraction to sites baited with corn for the purpose of surveying deer populations. To effectively manage white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herds, biologists need estimates of local herd size and the associated sex and age ratios of these herds. Various methods are used to obtain these population estimates (Downing et al., 1965; Roseberry and Woolf, 1991), but a technique using infrared-triggered cameras to photograph deer has produced reliable results (Jacobson et al., 1997). At the highest camera density tested (1/65 ha), Jacobson et al. (1997) captured 100% and 88.2% of marked deer during the first and second years of their study. This camera-station density likely produced a reliable estimate of the study population, with Lincoln-Peterson Index estimates similar to the camera estimates (Jacobson et al., 1997).