Why Legit Minerals Are Essential for Late Summer Herd Health
By Heath Wood
By the time late summer rolls around, most hunters are focused on trail camera photos, velvet covered antlers, and counting down the days until deer season. For my family, that excitement has become part of our nightly routine. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve made a habit of taking a drive around our hunting property every other evening, hoping to catch a glimpse of a bachelor group of bucks standing along the edge of a hay field.
It never gets old, especially when one of those bucks is a mature deer carrying an impressive rack. Watching bucks put the finishing touches on their antlers is exciting, but there’s much more happening across the property during August than just antler growth. Late summer is one of the most nutritionally demanding times of the year for a whitetail herd.
Bucks are finishing antler development, fawns are growing rapidly, and does are preparing their bodies for the upcoming breeding season. With so much happening at once, deer need access to quality nutrition to maintain body condition and continue developing.
That makes late summer an ideal time to evaluate the nutritional resources available on your property. A quality mineral supplement can help fill nutritional gaps that naturally exist in many habitats, but choosing the right product is critical.
Not every mineral product is created equally. Some attract deer primarily because they are loaded with salt, giving deer a reason to visit without necessarily providing the broader nutritional support they need. If you’re going to invest in a mineral program, you want more than something that tastes good; you want a true mineral supplement designed to provide meaningful nutritional value.
Not All Mineral Products Are Created Equal
Search online or walk through any farm or sporting goods store, and you’ll find plenty of products marketed as “deer minerals.” Some come from established companies, while others are homemade or small batch products promising everything from increased attraction to bigger antlers. The problem is that not all of these products are created with the same purpose in mind. Many are little more than flavored salt blocks.
Salt certainly has a place in attracting deer, but attraction alone doesn’t make a product a quality mineral supplement. Deer require a variety of minerals to support healthy bone development, antler growth, reproduction, and overall herd health. Simply getting a deer to visit and lick a mineral site doesn’t necessarily mean you’re providing the nutrients it needs.
That’s where products such as Big & J’s Legit stand apart. Rather than relying primarily on salt to attract deer, Legit is formulated as a true mineral supplement designed to provide important nutrients that may be lacking in a deer’s natural diet.
The formula contains high levels of calcium and phosphorus, two critical minerals for healthy skeletal development and antler growth. It also provides essential trace minerals that contribute to overall herd health and reproductive function.
Of course, no mineral supplement is going to magically turn an average buck into a giant. Genetics, habitat quality, forage, age, and overall nutrition all play a role in deer development. But providing the right minerals can help ensure nutritional deficiencies aren’t limiting deer when the genetic potential and quality nutrition are already there.
Late Summer Is the Perfect Time
Many hunters establish mineral sites in late winter, when bucks are recovering from the demands of the rut and does are carrying growing fawns. Spring is another important window, as fawns arrive and bucks begin putting on new antler growth. But as summer progresses, the nutritional demands of the herd continue to climb, making late summer one of the best times to keep those mineral sites active and available.
During August, bucks are completing antler mineralization before velvet sheds, typically during the first few weeks of September in many parts of the U.S. Also, during this time, fawns are experiencing rapid skeletal growth, and does continue recovering from raising fawns while preparing for the upcoming breeding season. With a lot going on, deer frequently visit established mineral sites as part of their daily summer routine. Keeping minerals available during this period helps support deer during one of the year's highest nutritional demands.
Attraction That Goes Beyond Nutrition
One thing that makes Big and J Legit unique is that it doesn't rely solely on nutrition. Its intense apple aroma and flavor act as a powerful long range attractant that can help deer locate the mineral site from a distance. Once deer discover the location, they often return repeatedly, creating an ideal location for trail camera surveys and monitoring herd health throughout the summer. Rather than choosing between an attractant and a mineral supplement, Legit combines both into one product.
Better Herd Health Starts with Better Nutrition
Every hunting property has limitations. Soil quality, available forage, drought conditions, and habitat diversity all influence the nutrition available to deer throughout the year.
While mineral supplements can't replace quality habitat management, they can help bridge nutritional deficiencies by providing important minerals that support healthy bone development, antler growth, growing fawns, and overall herd health. Combined with quality forage, food plots, and sound habitat management, a true mineral supplement becomes another valuable tool for supporting a healthier deer herd.
The Bottom Line
Late summer is about much more than watching velvet bucks on your trail cameras and getting ready for the upcoming hunting season. It's one of the most important times of year for the health and development of every deer on your property.
Instead of relying on products that are little more than flavored salt, choose a true mineral designed to provide the nutrients deer need. Big and J Legit combines essential minerals, including calcium, phosphorus, and important trace minerals, with a powerful apple scent and flavor that attracts deer while helping support healthy antler development, strong bones, and overall herd health. As deer season approaches, maintaining active mineral sites is one more way to invest in the long term success of your property