Where to buy salt / mineral / attractant blocks locally?

[caddisguy]

I am going to head out and put 4 or 5 of my trailcams up in a couple of weeks.

Last year I used various combinations of peanut butter, corn meal, rolled oats, salt, vanilla extract, molasses, etc. Got some good footage, but it never seemed to last more than a week or so before it was all gone and the animals would stop returning.

I know there are a lot of threads with all sort of preferences on what to use, but my main question is where to score the good smack around Langley. I am looking for something in a block that will last a little bit longer. I see these different salt/mineral blocks on Cabelas site and was thinking of trying out something like "Deer Cane" but I was wondering if I can get something like that locally so I won't have to pay shipping. I haven't really seen anything like that at Wholesale or Canadian Tire.

[Seeker]

Buckerfields, Walmart

[r106]

I've never bought any but I would think Buckerfields in Abby or the Co-Op on 248th would have what your looking for

[monasheemountainman]

any tac shop

[caddisguy]

Walmart eh? Thanks Seeker. Well that makes things easy. My problem is likely solved. I will check out what they have this weekend.

[BiG Boar]

I am just starting out also. Learning from guys who seem to get good cam pics, I am starting with water softener salt, $5.50 per bag at Costco, Abbotsford has some, then I would add Deer cane powder, and a block of apple lick from Cabelas or Bass pro. Then mix up the ground with some mineral crushed salt from a feed store. See how it goes from there.

[Gone_Fishin_]

I know it isn't Langley but if your headed out of the valley during store times. Evans rd exit in Chilliwack, about 100 yards from the offramp is Country West Supply. They carry everything you need.

Highly suggest not loading 2-45lb blocks into your bag and hiking up the side of a mountain. No fun... lol buy the smaller ones and put them in different locations. Opne 8:30-5:00 on Saturdays i believe, decent prices too.

Cheers.

[Sitkaspruce]

Just watch the flavoured blocks.....if you have bears, they love that stuff and they will dig them up, sleep on the site and use up your battery power......

I used the deer cane with softener salt and got 1100+ picts of a sow with two cubs until they ate all the cane. Same thing with the acorn crush stuff....bears love that stuff as well.

You can get trace mineral blocks for most Tack Shops, break up the block into 3/4 pieces so more animals can get to it at one time.

Cheers

SS

[Big Hoss]

Any feed store has salt/mineral blocks

[Seeker]

I bought some "trophy Rock" from BAss pro in Calgary. I have heard good things, but will find out this year.

[adriaticum]

Canadian Tire

[ruger#1]

Superstore has salt/mineral blocks. I just get mine at the farm. I tried cobalt. I had better luck with the water softener salt.

[Dirty]

I found the brown coloured salt really attracts black bears. Noticed as soon as they come more often, ungulates drop in less often.

[Mauser98]

Whoops. Double post

[Mauser98]

Home Hardware sell Mighty Deer salt blocks in four delicious flavors.

[russm86]

any tac shop

As in tack shop, for horses and livestock, not tactical... lol

[Wentrot]

Superstore has salt/mineral blocks. I just get mine at the farm. I tried cobalt. I had better luck with the water softener salt.

I second this-plain old water softener salt works awesome.

[Rob Chipman]

Any tack shop, like guys have said. I've used salt (blue) and mineral (brown) and don't notice a difference yet. I've had no bears, but I have had cougars and lynx in addition to moose and deer (region 3/Clinton area). All kinds of other small animals. One cow got in the habit of laing down and working the salt block while her calf meandered around. She'd spend over an hour at a time!

[kodimack]

Try Otter Co-Op

[CatsPreb]

best thing to do is put out loose mineral as it not only has salt but also lots of essential minerals as well. on the farm the cows don't touch the mineral if there is salt available, but different story when salt ain't.. Promotes healthy population and helps for winter and gestation which is what we want. salt don't grow horn or antlers minerals do!! so why waste salt.. Mineral with selenium only every other time as most areas are selenium deficient! if you want technical pour a little sugar or molasses on top!
just my two cents

[The Dawg]

Water softener salt works awesome. Dig it into the ground a bit, bury some and then sprinkle it around.

[moosinaround]

I use a couple salt blocks, break them up into 4 chunks, then spread LOTS of water softener salt! I will be salting in a month if the snow co operates! Moosin

[plumberjustin]

I would try Country Feeds on Fraser Highway between 248 and 256st. When I was growing up in Aldergrove, that's where we obtained all our farm supplies, salt/mineral blocks.

[CaribooBC]

I just use 2lb Trace Mineral Licks that you should be able to buy from all Tack/Feed stores. I sell them in my store. About $3 each. For food type attractant use COB, 20kg bag for $10. Its a mix of corn oats and barley with a bit of molasses.

[Red_Mist]

Newmac animal feeds has both salt and feed. I believe they are on hwy 10 and 179

[Pioneerman]

Get water softening salts they work very well and cheap, can be gotten from Can tire, buddies use them for trail cams and great success. They last long and as they dissolve slowly they saturate ground and animals keep coming back like a salt lick

[todbartell]

I came across a pile of water softener salt in the bush this fall. Sure enough a camera hanging on the tree. Took a quick peek at the pics and the moose and elk didn't seem to spend any time on the salt.

I grabbed a few Trophy Rocks this fall, only got one out. It's been out with a Uway cam since early September, will have to wait until this fall to check to see if it works. Plan on putting the other two out this spring. Father in law had one out this fall and the deer seemed to like it

[digger dogger]

I use deer cane, i call the little hunting store in chilliwack, and if they dont have any they order it for me.
Takes about a week to come in.
I usually get a block, and mix in a powdered bag into the dirt, then place the block on the mulched powder.
Mix the powder with water before pouring onto mulched soil.

[Sitkaspruce]

If you use water softener salt, make sure it as least 99.8% pure and check the MSDS online check the purity.

The stuff sold at CT under Crystal water softener is 99.8% pure and works great, it is what I use. I was using the wallyworld stuff, but switch back the the CT stuff.

Cheers

SS

[Foxton Gundogs]

Any feed store, most tack stores, Saveon Foods and Costco in ranching centres.

[va7bkl]

Milner feed at the corner of where 72nd Ave runs into Glover Rd. Across from the gas station (Husky I think)

[caddisguy]

If you use water softener salt, make sure it as least 99.8% pure and check the MSDS online check the purity.

The stuff sold at CT under Crystal water softener is 99.8% pure and works great, it is what I use. I was using the wallyworld stuff, but switch back the the CT stuff.

Cheers

SS

This? http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/crystal-water-softener-salt-0596599p.html#.VPEJ1rWVtpg

25kg?! Is it a huge block, a bunch of blocks or a bag loose stuff? How much do you normally use?

[Wentrot]

This? http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/crystal-water-softener-salt-0596599p.html#.VPEJ1rWVtpg

25kg?! Is it a huge block, a bunch of blocks or a bag loose stuff? How much do you normally use?
Thats the stuff. Its loose chunks. I normally try to do a bag per camera.

[Sitkaspruce]

This? http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/crystal-water-softener-salt-0596599p.html#.VPEJ1rWVtpg

25kg?! Is it a huge block, a bunch of blocks or a bag loose stuff? How much do you normally use?

Yup that is it, how ever, Sifto has changed the bag. It is in small chunks. I usually pack 4-6 bags into the spot and store it onsite, that way I do not need to pack some in and find they have not hit the area yet.

As The Dawg said dig a hole about 6" deep by 2-3' across and put in half a bag, grind it into the soil and cover. Then place the rest of the bag on top of that and add some water on top of that. Once they hit it regularly, I put 1 full bag out at a time on top.

[870]

I buy the 50 lb bags from westway feed in delta. they cost around $10 and are good for a few sites. I use the blue and the brown and pour them separate and let the animal choose what he wants. I've had good results with both.

[caddisguy]

Holy crap guys... never thought of packing that much weight into these spots! (just hopefully out of them) Lots of hiking through timber and some moderate climbing. Both spots are about 5km in and I'll have two cameras in each spot about 1km apart. I think we'll use half a bag for each camera. It's going to be tough to get it all done in one day... was hoping to have some time leftover for some shooting and get the boat on a lake early the next morning. Sure glad the days are getting longer!

[Sitkaspruce]

caddisguy

If you have moose or elk around, you will need at least a bag every week and half or so as they will stay and eat and eat and eat.........deer take a little longer to eat a bag. That is why burying some helps with retaining them. And you really want to establish the site, so the more salt the better at the beginning.
A couple of my sites are a couple klicks off the road and it takes a while to get the salt to them, but once the site is established, they will eat the soil if the salt is gone.

Have fun, great way to get in shape!!!

Cheers

SS

[caddisguy]

It will be fun and a workout for sure. We'll just have to take a few trips. I imagine we can climb up those rock faces with 10kg each and we'll just make as many trips as we can until we run out of salt or daylight. I'm hoping the ropes I left are still in good shape, otherwise it will be a pain, especially if things are wet. Sounds like the bears are starting to come out too so maybe we'll see some pics of blackie.

[Ohwildwon]

Anybody tried Cob, in a time release feeder?

[Sitkaspruce]

Bears love COB, so if they are around, they will wreck your feeder and eat all your COB. Tried it and did not wait long enough for the bears to go to sleep....they ate all of it and even slept beside it. After they go to sleep, will probably work well.

Cheers

SS

[ruger#1]

Cob with Molasses. Will attract them big time. They love black strap molasses. You want to get pictures of bears on your trail cam. Hang a can of black strap up off the ground so bears can not reach. Poke a pin hole in the bottom for a slow drip. I had 3 tons of fancy molasses. We fed it to the cows. Mixed it with local hay.

[Wentrot]

If you don't feel up to hauling the big bags you can just bring small boxes of pickling salt from the grocery store. We did that a few times, works just fine but doesn't last long.

[caddisguy]

Ended up picking up 2 20kg bags of water softener salt and 2 bricks of "apple scented lick n' bricks" from Canadian Tire. I also have 125ml of pure vanilla extract and a couple cartons of mollassis. That should be a good start for 2 cams! I'll try and get some new salt up there every 4-6 weeks. The other two cams probably won't have anything, but will be on animal trails where I got some great footage with no attractants last season. Can't wait to get these cams out and see all the critters around this year!!!

[caddisguy]

So I'm getting my own scent on the bricks. I want to see if/how the deer react to my scent on camera.

...but damn those "lick n bricks" taste great. Maybe I'll keep them for soup. Deer can buy their own dang "lick n' bricks".

[Tīɡ]

I'll be curious to see what kind of action you get on those bricks. I have been eying them up myself too. Post up how they work when you know, obviously they got your seal of approval!!

[caddisguy]

Will do. Last year I just smeared some peanut butter around and got some good footage for a couple weeks after. On a couple cams I just put on clearing where I noticed animal trails and ended up with good footage of deers and a cougar sniffing around after the deers. I'll post all my footage with these new efforts. Region 2, 4cams... first footage should come right after Easter.

[Sitkaspruce]

I would not worry too much about scent. My dog comes with me and usually pees around the site and lays down where the salt is and the animals are back that night. I have never worn gloves and/or rubber boots, again no worries.

Peanut butter is good as well, take a container, screw the lid to a tree about 3' off the ground and screw the contained to the lid. Cut off the bottom of the container to allow the animals to get at the peanut butter. Birds, deer, elk and bears all love that!!

Cheers

SS

[caddisguy]

Well we managed to get 3 of the cameras set up. My girlfriend was on spring break last week (pre-school teacher) so I decided to take a couple days off and make a long weekend out of it. The plan was to head up to our hunting area on Thursday and get the cameras hung, sight in our rifles Friday morning, then head out fishing for a couple days.

The trip went mostly as planned. I was hoping to get 4 cameras set, but all the hiking around especially with the salt, as well as the usual procrastination when picking the exact spots for the cameras resulted in things taking longer than expected. We finished just as the sun was going down. Two sites with 20kg of salt each, 1 carton of molasses and 1 mineral block each. The third camera is not baited at all because technically it is within the boundaries of a provincial park and the Parks Act doesn't have the "unless it's part of a lawful hunt clause" to baiting/attracting animals. That one I put directly on a game trail since it's so deep in the timber it's unlikely anyone has ever left a footprint there.

No bear sightings or signs of bears being out. The ticks are out though and the grouse are drumming up a storm. We also found quite a bit of fresh deer sign and some moose crap as well. Second spring in a row we have found Region 2 moose nuggets.

Here's an out of focus tick on my jeans...


http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/tick_zpse8pyr4lw.jpg


And a grouse that was well aware there is no open season

http://i1318.photobucket.com/albums/t644/vaporeyes/grouse_zpsrdixavpn.jpg

And as planned, we made it out fishing later on Friday (accident before the bridge in Agassiz caused some delay) ... also got another few more hours in on Saturday after the rain slowed down. The gf caught a decent trout... I caught two "fun-sized" ones... lol

[IronNoggin]

... As The Dawg said dig a hole about 6" deep by 2-3' across and put in half a bag, grind it into the soil and cover. Then place the rest of the bag on top of that and add some water on top of that. Once they hit it regularly, I put 1 full bag out at a time on top.

Quick little trick (that I somehow believe I learned on this Forum some time ago) to make things "last" a little longer:

Establish the initial site as described above, but ensure there is an overhanging limb directly above that. Put as much salt into a set of large panty-hose as they can hold without breaking (we use just one "leg" at a time so about 10 - 15 pounds). Suspend that directly over the "lick" and high enough no critter can reach it. The salt will run off this set-up with every rain and even heavy dew. Refreshes the lick regularly, and takes a very long time to completely disappear.

Decided to give that a try after reading about it. Even have placed a few of our own overhanging branches (like a small meat pole) to facilitate the process. Works as described, and quite useful for some of those farther sites as you don't need to pack in as much weight in as frequently. ;-)

Cheers,
Nog

[hunter1947]

Buckerfields you can get what your looking for or any feed store should have them..

[itsy bitsy xj]

Any feed store will have them
the one at Glover rd |& 216 (Milner feeds)
Otter co-op feed store
The feed store at Fraser hwy at about 254th street
and the feed store on Hwy 10 hill around 186 st