By Brenda Valentine
First Lady of Hunting®
May 30, 2008

This doe brought her fawn to the lick every day throughout the summer.

Establishing a common licking place where deer and other wildlife gather for necessary minerals from the earth is certainly nothing new. The fact is that most every animal, including man, has sought out salt and other minerals from the earth since the dawn of time. Salt was once such a valuable commodity that it was considered a form of money. Thus the old saying that “some folks just aren’t worth their salt” becomes easier to understand. In many areas mineral deposits are found less frequently than others, which made it necessary for man and beast to travel great distances. Of course humans filled containers and carried their salt back home to be traded or doled out amongst family and friends. However, it was a different situation for the animals who sought to satisfy their mineral needs by ingesting the salts from the earth by prolonged licking. Once a salt or mineral deposit was located near the surface it became a congregational place for wild game. Some migratory animals followed food supplies as well as mineral sources while dealing with seasonal weather patterns. Other species found it easier to live and reproduce in the vicinity that offered the necessities of food, water, cover, and salt.

Deer lick straight from the rock wherever it is available.

In the late 1960s I witnessed this phenomenon while on a horseback pack trip cross-country through what is now known as the Land Between The Lakes, National Recreation area. This 172,000 acre peninsula is home to large numbers of many kinds of wild game, especially whitetail deer. During the several days in the saddle I happened across numerous well-worn game trails which I often followed. Several of these trails led to washed-out dirt banks, pock marked with round holes licked smooth by the tongues of animals. Other trails would routinely lead to the smokehouse of an abandoned homestead. At every one of these small structures built for salt curing and smoking meat, the foundation had been undermined by the pawing and licking of deer. I found whole logs near the bottom of the building that had been gnawed completely through by animals seeking a taste of the curing salt that had seeped into the walls over the years. Deer hunting was in its infancy in Tennessee during this time but I knew I’d discovered a key ingredient for predicting whitetail movement.

It's not uncommon for large bachelor groups of bucks to hang out around the rock in late summer.

All during the 70s and 80s I spent uncountable hours lugging cumbersome 50 pound blocks of white cow salt to my secret hunting spots. Considering the sparse deer population during that era, I was uncommonly successful in filling my tags year after year. It was during those endless days and weeks I spent high in the fork of a tree observing deer that I figured out they weren’t actually licking the hunks of compressed salt I was providing but rather the soil where it had melted and run into the ground. It took a long time for me to figure out why a deer would prefer a mouth full of salty dirt to a nice clean lick of pure salt. The perfect cubes of salt intended for livestock actually contained a lot more than pure salt. I never even considered the bleaching process it took to get it that pure milky white or what kind of glue and filler it took to stick it together so brick-hard. Next came the taste test. I chipped off a small chip to taste for myself why the deer liked dirt better than processed salt. Instead of the pure salty taste I was expecting, there was a bitter, mouth puckering flavor that lingered even after several spits. The revelation finally hit me that the deer in my area really wanted salt but what I was putting out for them was unpalatable until it had been filtered and diffused by the soil. It usually took a year for the lick site to really take off and show signs of heavy use. Winter snows and spring rains melted and soaked the diluted salt into the ground which eventually became a lick. This explained the hit and miss success of methods some old timers had shared with me. One old standby was to place the salt lump on a stump so the salt would melt and run into the ground around it. Another popular method was to place loose salt in a large mesh bag suspended from a stout limb. Rainfall would melt the salt and the dripping brine would, over time, develop a lick on the ground below. Sure, both methods would work but it still went back to the element of the time it took to leach away the unnatural additives so the salt went back to a more natural state.

This bobcat even happened by for a quick lick of the rock.

It was at a hunting expo in Nashville during the mid-90s that I happened by a flat-bed trailer in the parking lot of what appeared to be landscaping rocks. The attending guy casually asked if I was a deer hunter to which I replied that I was a total fanatic. It was when he asked if I ever used salt licks that he really caught my attention. He explained how this load of rock was actually random-size chunks of salt with over 50 naturally occurring minerals he brought from a mine in Utah. It sounded pretty far-fetched to me but then he invited me to taste it. I licked my finger and swiped it across one of the reddish stones. It was so good I took several more swipes before paying him and lugging my rock all the way across the huge parking lot to my truck. That rock was the only thing I bought at the show; my husband taunted me for weeks about driving for two hours to buy a “rock” when we had them lying all over the farm.

Paying no attention to his snickers and jabs about me being a sucker to a slick talking salesman. I took my “rock” out to a bushy hillside where a couple of deer trails intersected. In about a month I went to check on the rock and found it was half of its original size. There had been no rainfall to melt it so I knew the only explanation was the deer had literally licked it away. The multitude of tracks in the area told me that a lot of deer were visiting the rock. The down side to the situation was that now that I’d found the perfect salt and mineral supplement, I had no way of getting more since I’d not thought to get the man’s name or contact info at the expo. That fall I shot the largest buck taken in our county about 100 yards from the tiny remainder of the rock. My husband was no longer thinking I was such a sucker or that the rock was a gimmick...

All kinds of wildlife stops by my Trophy Rock licks.

The following summer I couldn’t wait to find the guy with the load of rocks at the Nashville hunting show. I learned his name was Joe Anderson and the real name of the product was Trophy Rock®. It came from a mine deep in the Rocky Mountains near Redmond, Utah. The town actually got its name from the mineral deposit that surfaced in a red mound. There is substantial evidence that Native Americans from far away traveled there to get the precious salt. There are also accounts of many species of animals gathering there throughout the ages. Geologists believe the immeasurable mineral deposit was cause by natural phenomena when an earthquake disrupted the prehistoric ocean that covered most of the western United States, of which the Great Salt Lake is a remnant. I personally have no idea how it got there but I do know that all animals love the stuff.

In 2005 I was fortunate to actually visit Redmond and go down in the mine. I learned so much and actually felt an association with my Native American ancestors who traveled great distances and realized the importance of salt and minerals to life. In addition to sodium, the Redmond deposit also contains large percentages of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, and dozens of micro-minerals necessary for optimum muscle, bone, and antler development. Luckily, this is a huge deposit that can best be described as an underground mountain since there are no known mineral deposits exactly like this in the world.

Even gray squirrels have a taste for mineral salt.

Trophy Rock licks are a huge part of my deer enhancement practices along with food plots and sanctuary areas. I make sure Trophy Rocks are available year-round but I’m especially mindful about the extra need for minerals during the whitetails’ lactation and antler growing periods, which are early spring and summer. The number of licks I establish on a piece of property is according to the deer densities and type of landscape. Where there is a large deer population such as in most of the southeastern US or in nutrient deficient soil, one Rock per 25 acres seems to work fine. In areas where the habitat is less favorable and wildlife numbers are less, one Rock per 100 acres might be sufficient.

Over the years I’ve learned that for optimum results the Rock is best placed in a secluded area where the game feels secure enough to visit at all times of the day. Creating a lick near a water source is good as long as the water doesn’t flood the site and wash away the minerals. I don’t particularly use lick sites to hunt over since I want this to be an unstressed place where deer feel comfortable, however, surrounding areas do become an excellent place to find an old buck on the cruise.

This nice buck was cruising a Trophy Rock area.

One of the most rewarding things I’ve found for providing this high quality mineral supplement is the opportunity to watch the various types of wildlife that frequent it. The Rock I have placed at the edge of the yard is a constant source of entertainment on days when I’m stuck in the house. Since the introduction of trail cameras I’ve become addicted to monitoring what goes on deep in the woods when I’m away. The Trophy Rock lick sites are the ideal location for a trail camera to see that first fawn in spring or to judge the age and size of a deer. I’ve been surprised more than once to discover the pictures of unusual deer or other animals frequenting the lick that I had no idea were in the area.

Nothing is a sure thing when it comes to deer hunting, so I’m not saying that throwing a Rock out in the field is going to guarantee you a B&C buck. What I am saying that, where legal, making available a high quality mineral source will enhance the health of wildlife as well as providing a visual means of enjoyment plus the satisfaction of knowing the deer herd you’ve worked to build won’t have to migrate across busy highways or onto neighboring properties to fill this need.

Trophy Rock works anywhere simply because it is an all-natural product. It is shipped straight from the earth in its natural state with only a protective wrapper. There has been absolutely no processing and there are never artificial additives. I’ve observed elk, antelope, and mule deer as well as whitetail in numerous parts of the country coming to Trophy Rock licks. I have used and completely believe in this product for many years. This is why I have no qualms about recommending it to anyone. I made a promise to myself many years ago when first being asked to endorse products that I would only promote the things I used and truly believed in. This is also why I am pleased to align my name and endorsement on this fine product.

For a mineral analysis, dealer locator, or more information about Trophy Rock visit them at www.trophyrock.com.

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