By Whitetail Institute Staff
Here’s the bottom line: If you want the bucks you hunt next fall to have the biggest racks possible, you should make sure they have access to all the minerals and vitamins they need during spring and summer. And nothing does that better than Whitetail Institute nutritional supplements. If you haven’t put yours out yet, the time to do it is now.
With bucks already well into the antler-growing period of spring and summer, this is a great time to make sure you understand what Whitetail Institute supplements are and why they’re so important. Here are answers to some of the most common questions our in-house consultants receive about them.
I always hear that the most important nutritional element for antler growth in spring and summer is protein, so why should I supplement minerals and vitamins?Protein is, in fact, a major player in antler growth. However a hardened antler is 55 percent minerals. Also, doe milk is very nutrient-dense — much more so than cow’s milk. Bucks and does need access to the correct minerals in the correct forms and ratios for antler growth, doe lactation and other biological functions during spring and summer.
If bucks are going to grow antlers anyway during the antler-growing season, what’s the point in supplementing their diets?Natural food sources usually provide enough nutrition for deer to survive but rarely will they provide sufficient nutrition for bucks to truly maximize antler size. If your goal is to be sure that your deer have access to all the nutrition they need during spring and summer to maximize their genetic potential for antler size, properly formulated supplements are important.
Can we just use salt and cattle blocks?No. Not if you want to get your money’s worth in antler growth. Remember I said earlier that a hardened antler is 55 percent minerals? Well, it’s also less than one percent salt. Enough said.
As for cattle blocks, deer aren’t cattle. Deer and cattle are ruminant animals, but their digestive systems are very different. Deer and cattle also have different nutritional needs, and nowhere is this more true than in the case of antlers — remember, cattle don’t have to regrow antlers every year.
If you’re going to spend $1, why would you want less than a $1 worth in return? Well, you wouldn’t. If you want to be sure your deer are getting the minerals and vitamins they need during spring and summer, take the advice given in the answer to the next question.
Which Whitetail Institute nutritional supplements are designed for spring and summer?
There are three: Imperial 30-06, Imperial 30-06 Plus Protein and Cutting Edge Optimize. Cutting Edge Optimize is one stage of the three-stage Cutting Edge System, each stage of which is specifically designed for a specific part of a deer’s annual cycle. The other two stages are Cutting Edge Sustain, which is for fall and winter, and Cutting Edge Initiate, which is for late winter to early spring.
Should I use all three spring-and-summer products or just one?
Most folks use just one. However, managers who want to give their deer access to high-quality nutrition in multiple formats often use 30-06 or 30-06 Plus Protein in lick sites and Cutting Edge Optimize in trough feeders.
Why does the Whitetail Institute offer more than just one spring/summer supplement?
Most deer will attack any Whitetail Institute supplement with a vengeance. Like people, though, deer are individuals, and sometimes they will clearly prefer one over the others. Whitetail Institute supplements differ from one another in taste, scent and texture, so there’s an excellent chance that your deer will like one or more of them. The Whitetail Institute even offers supplement sample packs so that you can try a little of each one and see if your deer exhibit a preference before stocking up.
What’s the biggest difference between 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein and Cutting Edge Optimize?
Imperial 30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein are mineral/vitamin supplements. 30-06 Plus Protein is similar to 30-06, but it also has a 16 percent protein boost. Cutting Edge Optimize is a full nutritional supplement that, like 30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein, includes all the minerals and vitamins deer need during spring and summer. And as I said earlier, they all differ somewhat in scent, taste and texture.
How should I deliver 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein and Cutting Edge to my deer?
30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein are designed to be used on the ground. Find a spot just off a trail between a bedding area and a feeding area, and clean off a circle of dirt a couple of feet in diameter. Pour one half of the bag on the site, and work it into the top inch or so of soil with a shovel or rake. Then, pour the rest of the bag on top. Cutting Edge Optimize can be used on the ground, or in a covered trough feeder. When using Optimize on the ground, do it the same way as for 30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein.
Why can’t I just make a mineral/vitamin supplement myself?
The bottom line is that as much as a properly formulated nutritional supplement can benefit your deer, an improperly formulated product might offer no benefit or even be downright harmful. The suggestion that the average person who is not a scientist and doesn’t have access to a laboratory can mix up a properly formulated mineral/vitamin supplement for deer appears on Internet forums quite a bit. And that’s sad for several reasons. First, it does a disservice to managers who are honestly seeking the best way to supplement their deer’s nutrition. Second, in extreme situations, it has the potential to be dangerous to deer.
And that’s not only true of homemade stuff — unfortunately, it also includes some of the so called “deer products” available for sale on the market. Some products, for example, are not necessarily dangerous to deer, but they won’t do much, if anything, for antler growth. These may be almost all salt, have minerals and vitamins in improper ratios, raw-nutrient sources that deer can’t digest, wrong levels and ratios of certain nutrients, and they may even totally lack one or more critical nutrients. Other substances such as zinc and selenium might actually be toxic if they comprise too much of a deer’s diet.
Whitetail Institute 30-06 and 30-06 Plus Protein were created through extensive scientific research and contain the correct minerals the correct forms and ratios to be highly nutritionally beneficial, highly digestible and safe for deer.
And that’s why the bottom line is, well, what I said at the very beginning of this article. If you want your deer to be the best they can be, and your bucks to grow the largest racks they can, stick with Whitetail Institute 30-06, 30-06 Plus Protein and Cutting Edge Optimize for spring and summer. That way, you’ll be sure that you are giving your deer a supplement that’s properly formulated to give your deer full benefit — and do so safely.
