While hunting whitetails in Kansas with one of our endorsed outfitters nearly a half dozen years ago, I was introduced to Big and J Industries BB2. This was a product that Wes Atkinson of Atkinson Expeditions was using to lure in whitetails to get pictures and video of to see what was available on his leases. I enjoyed visiting the camera sights almost as much as I did hunting since we were able to see so many bucks hitting these spots. In spots where he had used regular grains, there wasn’t nearly as many photos and the same bucks didn’t frequent those feed sites. So, we chalked it up to the fact that his was really a good product.
After several years of using this product, Wes discovered that his bucks stayed around and grew substantially better antlers where he used this feed/attractant. So, wherever legal, he uses BB2.
I figured that if it worked for whitetails, we might as well give it a shot on the mule deer and elk here in Utah since this type of product is legal to use in our state. My first attempt with the BB2 here in Utah was on a premium limited entry elk hunt. I started hauling the twenty pound bags deep into the mountains where I was seeing good numbers of bulls from a long ways away. I would dump twenty to forty pounds onto the ground and set up a camera and come back to visit those locations after several weeks. Sure enough, the elk loved it just as much as the whitetails in Kansas.
I had one bull that frequented the bait site that would literally lay down at the pile and eat and sleep without ever moving. Another site had absolutely no elk or deer on it when I pulled my cards from the camera, but seven different bears were frequenting the site which made sense why there were not many deer or elk in the area. I’ve since seen numerous bear visits into different BB2 setups. The mule deer come from near and far to enjoy this nutritional supplement as well.
The smell is what brings the animals into this product. Storing a few extra bags in your garage will tell you just how strong the smell can be with this product. This is truly a long range attractant which packs a lot of nutrition once they get there to start eating it. The contents of a bag of BB2 contains processed grain by-products, grain products, refined soybean oil, sodium tripolyphosphate, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate and potassium sorbate. Each bag contains at least 18% crude protein, 8% crude fat, 7% crude fiber, .8% calcium, .7% phosphorus, .25% salt and a maximum of .5% sodium.
I’m not a scientist with the ability to break this stuff down and see all the contents, but what I can tell you is that after using it for the past six years, it works on absolutely everything. So, when you want to get some quality trail camera pictures of the animals in your area and want to have a good chance of keeping them coming back, make sure you pick up a few bags of BB2 by Big and J industries. We utilized it in our shed hunting timeframe this year to keep the animals concentrated into specific areas as well. The results were awesome and we will continue this process in the future.
