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Watering hole #6252174
06/02/18 02:49 AM
06/02/18 02:49 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
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AJE Offline OP
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AJE  Offline OP
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Joined: Jan 2016
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WI - Wisconsin
Not the local tavern...
I'm talking about making a watering hole for deer, to attract & help hold deer on ones hunting land. What's the trick to knowing if it's worth creating 1. I want to make 1, but how do I know if it will naturally hold water?

Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252252
06/02/18 07:46 AM
06/02/18 07:46 AM
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 587
Holmes Co. Ohio
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Killbuck Offline
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Killbuck  Offline
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 587
Holmes Co. Ohio
My sons and I put one in last year. Had a very small spring in the woods. Sent kids back with my bull dozer and roughed out a small pond. Had to put some tarps down to help retain water. Had deer tracks there within a week. Without some moving water I would think it would turn stagnant.

Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252281
06/02/18 08:43 AM
06/02/18 08:43 AM
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 28,978
potter co. p.a.
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pcr2 Offline
"Twerker"
pcr2  Offline
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potter co. p.a.
you need moving water and patience to let it naturally silt in.i have 5 ponds of different sizes on my 50 acres thanks in part to a tremendously nice spring i've never saw not running.









Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252303
06/02/18 09:10 AM
06/02/18 09:10 AM
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 34,751
Central, SD
Law Dog Offline
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Law Dog  Offline
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Posts: 34,751
Central, SD
Here they block a drainage or dig a hole in a low spot in a pasture/field.


Was born in a Big City Will die in the Country OK with that!

Jerry Herbst
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252308
06/02/18 09:15 AM
06/02/18 09:15 AM
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 602
Alabama
2ndjoborfun Offline
trapper
2ndjoborfun  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 602
Alabama
Dog - Sounds like you're speaking of beaver?


“In God is our trust!” And the star-span-gled ban-ner in tri-umph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Francis Key
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252316
06/02/18 09:23 AM
06/02/18 09:23 AM
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,851
perry co.Pa
wetdog Offline
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wetdog  Offline
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perry co.Pa
As already stated,it needs to have some movement.
Another problem is water holes attract bugs,Nat's are the worst
Most worry about cwd,but no one talked about blue toung and other bug born deer killers. These take more deer every year than cwd has in it's known history. So use caution with placement of a water hole. Just what I have learned.
.

Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252324
06/02/18 09:27 AM
06/02/18 09:27 AM
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 10,787
Asheville, NC
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charles Offline
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 10,787
Asheville, NC
Do deer near you travel a long way to find water in Wisc? Might be the ticket.

Re: Watering hole [Re: wetdog] #6252365
06/02/18 10:22 AM
06/02/18 10:22 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 20,958
St. Louis Co, Mo
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BigBob Offline
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St. Louis Co, Mo
Originally Posted By: wetdog
Another problem is water holes attract bugs, Nat's are the worst Most worry about cwd,but no one talked about blue tongue and other bug born deer killers.


This, but, if you have no natural water...


Every kid needs a Dog and a Curmudgeon.

Remember Bowe Bergdahl, the traitor.

Beware! Jill Pudlewski, Ron Oates and Keven Begesse are liars and thiefs!
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252383
06/02/18 10:48 AM
06/02/18 10:48 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
T
The Beav Offline
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The Beav  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
Buy a horse tank and take It out In the woods. Drive out with your ATV and fill It.
You just can't dig a hole In the ground and come up with a pond. The tank Is a no brainer.

Will the deer drink out of It? who knows but if there isn't any other water around I'm betting they will. Then plant your red topped turnips around the tank and start killing deer.


The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252394
06/02/18 11:10 AM
06/02/18 11:10 AM
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 9,132
SWMo.
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tjm Offline
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tjm  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 9,132
SWMo.
Even with a permanent pond 60 years old and spring fed, I don't see a lot of deer tracks there. I think deer take in most of the needed water as dew when they browse at night and dawn.
The only way to "hold deer on one's hunting land" is for that land to big enough to comprise the deer's entire home range. They move something like 29hours a day.

Re: Watering hole [Re: wetdog] #6252400
06/02/18 11:22 AM
06/02/18 11:22 AM
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 711
Near state college, PA, God Bl...
trapre Offline
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trapre  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 711
Near state college, PA, God Bl...
Originally Posted By: wetdog
As already stated,it needs to have some movement.
Another problem is water holes attract bugs,Nat's are the worst
Most worry about cwd,but no one talked about blue toung and other bug born deer killers. These take more deer every year than cwd has in it's known history. So use caution with placement of a water hole. Just what I have learned.
.
Don't know anything about building a pond but what this guy said is true. My brothers and I found at least 6 dead deer last year. We sent some pics of a deer that had died only minutes ago to a neighbor that works at the Penn State test lab and he said Blue tongue. Couldn't tell you how many died that we didn't find but it knocked some of our population back! BE CAREFULL. you may end up doing more harm than good if it geys muddy around the pond site.


"To not read the news is to be uninformed. To read the news is to be misinformed" -Mark Twain
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252437
06/02/18 11:55 AM
06/02/18 11:55 AM
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,622
Warren co Mo
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hrdtoflw Offline
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Posts: 1,622
Warren co Mo
A few years ago, we had a drought and very hot summer for the area. I always have resident does and fawns in my back yard. I put out a couple of buckets of water for the deer and whatever else was thirsty. Every day, we had deer, fox, birds, squirrels etc, hitting those buckets. I changed them out daily to keep clean. It was cool watching 5 or 6 deer, waiting in line for a cool drink of clean water. They never even thought twice about putting thier snoot in a bucket.
As far as a permanent water hole, it depends on the location and water source. I have seen lots of small holes on high ground, that always had water, but they looked quite nasty. Deer will use them, but if water is not replaced often, it can be a breeding ground for disease. I hope it works out.


If your mind draws a blank, turn off the sound, because ya can't learn a thing if you're doin all the talkin
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252813
06/03/18 12:03 AM
06/03/18 12:03 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
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AJE Offline OP
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AJE  Offline OP
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WI - Wisconsin
I do kind of wonder if they spread disease. Some of you might be raising a very legitemate concern.

Last edited by AJE; 06/03/18 12:04 AM.
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6252848
06/03/18 03:25 AM
06/03/18 03:25 AM
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 5,851
perry co.Pa
wetdog Offline
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wetdog  Offline
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perry co.Pa
AJE I will take a deer sanctuary over a waterhole any day. And what I mean by that is. 10% or more of your hunting property is groomed to be a THICK bedding area. With a food plot or two inside.
And you never go inside during hunting season. Unless its to bring out a deer after dark.
You can't break that rule or it does not work,and you waisted all time and effect for nothing.

Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6253090
06/03/18 01:25 PM
06/03/18 01:25 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
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The Beav Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Wisconsin
I hear ya.

we would never think of dragging a deer out until after closing time. Sometimes If It's late In the day we won't even gut It till dark. You don't want to run any deer out of your ground to someone else hunting the perimeter.


The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6253091
06/03/18 01:26 PM
06/03/18 01:26 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,797
Wisconsin
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The Beav Offline
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Wisconsin
Originally Posted By: AJE
I do kind of wonder if they spread disease. Some of you might be raising a very legitemate concern.


Don't make this any harder then It Is.


The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6951252
08/02/20 01:08 AM
08/02/20 01:08 AM
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
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AJE Offline OP
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AJE  Offline OP
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 10,007
WI - Wisconsin
Does a skid steer work well to build watering holes?

Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6951320
08/02/20 07:37 AM
08/02/20 07:37 AM
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 6,501
Wi.
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Diggerman Offline
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Diggerman  Offline
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Wi.
It has been my experience that deer will walk past a clear bubbling stream to drink out of a muddy water hole. If you have a good clay layer and are careful not to dig through it, you can make a seasonal water hole.

Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6951391
08/02/20 09:02 AM
08/02/20 09:02 AM
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 7,211
W NY
Turtledale Offline
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Turtledale  Offline
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Posts: 7,211
W NY
Don't have any running water in the land I hunt and I've seen them drinking out of mud holes and little spray ponds on the farm. Don't see deer dying anywhere from it. Ponds get dug all the time. Problem will be getting one dug that will always hold water without a stream or ditch or spring entering it


NYSTA, NTA, FTA, life member Erie county trappers assn.,life member Catt.county trappers
Re: Watering hole [Re: AJE] #6951481
08/02/20 11:14 AM
08/02/20 11:14 AM
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3,488
Southern Illinois
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Foxpaw Online content
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Foxpaw  Online Content
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3,488
Southern Illinois
I set up an old cast iron bath tub and haul water to it. One year it only had a couple inches of water in it so next day I took a tank of water down there and drove up to it pretty fast and there was two half grown coons in it, the sides were slick and they had a time getting out of it. In dry weather all the critters esp. deer keep the grass wore down around it.

After the coon deal I keep a 4'' pole in it so they can climb out and not drown when it has more water in it.

Last edited by Foxpaw; 08/02/20 11:20 AM.
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