Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group

Building a Wildlife Buffet for Deer and Elk

Just like us, animals have to eat every day. And like us, they prefer food that tastes good and provides the nutrients they need to survive.

Many hunting books will tell you to put out salt licks, molasses lickers, corn feeders and other types of bait to attract animals to a tree stand location where you can wait to ambush them. This is a good strategy, but we recommend doing one thing first. Find a location where you know animals are nearby. If there are not animals in the area, it doesn't matter how much food you put out. They will never find it.

Animals love fruit that has a sweet smell to it. Putting out something that smells unusual and the animals will probably run the other way. But get them used to eating from a pile of apples or bananas and you will have them hooked. All kinds of fruit will work. Apples, bananas, water melons, grapes, peas and other green veggies work great.

Most good hunting spots in Arizona have been used by cattle ranchers for years. In fact, without the stock tanks they built to water their live stock, there would be no wild game animals to hunt. Accordingly, deer and elk are used to the smell of alfalfa hay and will walk miles to get to a fresh bale of hay. However, hauling a hay bale is extremely difficult even if you do have an ATV or ranger. I like to carry alfalfa feed pellets in my back pack. I pour them out on the ground a pour a little water on them to activate the smell.

I also like to put up corn feeders that throw out the pellets in the morning and afternoon. It doesn't take long before the animals learn that the zinging pellets hitting the metal stand legs is a signal that dinner is ready. Yes, feeders are legal in the state of Arizona.

It is also wise to look for yellow leaves in the fall that will show you where the acorns from white oak trees are dropping. During the spring, scout for white flowers that will show you where fruit trees are growing in the forest. GPS these sites so you can find them during the fall. A good place to look is around old pioneer cabin sites. All early settlers planted apple, peach, plums and other types of fruit trees. Find them and you are guaranteed a great hunting spot.