We have long worked on foodplots, fruit tree pruning and planting ect on our farm for wildlife. with a new forked horn min enacted for deer I was wondering if the abundant spikes we have might gain anything from proper minerals. The land here is not very high in natural minerals, could it bring a spike up to a 3 or 4 pt? or is that more genetics? What would you recomend?

As I understand the number of points is mostly genetics but the size of the antlers mostly nutrition. A deer is considered mature at age 4 years. Until then much of the minerals in the diet go to building the skeleton .At 4 the skeleton is complete so the minerals go to making larger antlers .A young deer won't have many points ..With typical cold VT climate you would probably be better off improving the mineral content of the soil.

Mete,
I was talking to the head deer biologist this last season, he said it had been 15 yrs since he'd aged a buck over 3 1/2 yrs old. If thats the case it's SOL for us! he said the rut takes the weight off then the winter kills them. Not much snow here this year ( unusuall) but typical -25 this AM and never reached 0 today. Not uncommon to be -40 in the AM. We put comercial fertilizer on the fields but it is crop specific. Just not really worth trying other supliments you think?

I don't think you can do much better than that assuming that you have planted bushes etc that they can use for winter food.There like our Adirondacks winter kill can be a major limiting factor in numbers and size of the deer.If you have lots of mature trees [other than nuts like acorns ] you could clear cut and get some new growth ,anything up to 6' they can eat.

Mete,
we do that too, our farm is close to 1,000 acres,about half and half open/wooded. I dont know if you have it in NY but here the state is doing a WHIP (wildlife Habitat Improvement Plan)
and is cost sharing on, well, things we were already doing. Clearcuts, appletree releasing ect.
Thanks for the help.

H___!!! YES!!! Why do you think the agribusiness types have "salt blocks" that are no longer "salt" but a mix of minerals?

Antlers are basically cartiledge like in your nose and ears, hardened by deposit of minerals. So are your bones for that matter. Shortage of minerals, weak bones, small antlers, etc. Did you do the old "science trick" of putting a "bone" (chicken was common) in vinegar for a week or so? Vinegar, an acid, leeches out the minerals and the bone becomes like rubber, soft plastic, etc. You could tie it in a knot if it was long enough.

Each state has rules about feeding. Naturally, animals eat products from plants with deep roots that bring up minerals from "thru" the soil. Got lots of deep rooted nut trees? No idea if you would be allowed to use "mineral block" but should you accidently spill a ton or so of loose mineral and forget to clean it up... You might be very, very surprised...