Thirsty deer: Water-hole built

[AIRASSAULT]

I am fortunate to have my whole food plot just outside my door in my back yard, which is about 150ft away from my yard hydrant. There is a group of does and fawns that are always in the plot eating the alfalfa and then they head across the road to a bean field. The thing is, the closest water for them right now if they are in my yard is about 1/4 mile, maybe a little less. A few evenings ago, I made a trip to Menards and and picked up a 12' by 12' pond liner. I dug a hole about 6ft or so wide and probably 2' into the ground and piled it up on the edges high enough to have about 3' of water. I stair stepped it down so the deer could still get to the water if it gets too low. Only took me about 2 hrs to do, but, it was about 100 degrees out while I was doing it. It's holding water very well and I have a cam over looking it to see how long it takes the deer to start using it.. I need to cover up the liner on the edges and that will probably help them get use to it easier. I have pretty sandy soil, but, I still couldn't believe how dry it was all the way to the bottom of the hole. Every shovel of dirt was dust when I threw it. There is a marsh within 50 yds of where I dug this hole that had about 3ft of water in it last year and I dug below the level of that and it was still dry. Marsh is also dried up this year... Here are some pics....

Here is the view before I started:

 

[farmboy85]

wow that dirt look so dry!

 

[blakesburg]

Very cool....Do you have a camera on it??? Post some updates if so.

 

[AIRASSAULT]

Very cool....Do you have a camera on it??? Post some updates if so.

I do have a camera on it and i dont think theyve really approached it yet.. oh well.. the bucks wont start showing up in the food plot til late october anyway

 

[Liv4Rut]

I have seen where guys go out to Walmart and pick up a kids pool then dig a hole just shallow enough for it to sit about flush with the ground. They then can fill it up easily by having a small tank attached to a 4 wheeler. They claim it works amazing. They will put them right out in the woods. I bet your idea works.

 

[AIRASSAULT]

Why would you need to make it ground level? I bet they would drink right out of a livestock tank. I know they drink ot of the frost tank down at mom's in MO.

Mobile Cooter using IW

In the ground will keep the water a cooler temp in this excessive heat

 

[jjohnson]

I had friends try the kiddy pool and they work but it don't take long and they're full of holes. From the cold and the deers hooves.

Your's should be fine but I've also heard that you should put a stick or something in it incase a coon or squirrel gets in it and can't get out. Dead critters in the water will shut them right down...

 

[AIRASSAULT]

I had friends try the kiddy pool and they work but it don't take long and they're full of holes. From the cold and the deers hooves.

Your's should be fine but I've also heard that you should put a stick or something in it incase a coon or squirrel gets in it and can't get out. Dead critters in the water will shut them right down...

I think animals should be able to get in and out fine. The pond liner has a textured side which is placed up and actually gives a pretty good grip, although it's purpose is actually to attract certain bacteria to the liner to help with water garden habitat.. I do need to figure out something to put over the edges ,though, such as some limestone slabs or something to make it look a little more "natural" and then put some sand and gravel on the steps to help keep a hoof from poking through. It will be interesting to watch. It's right outside my living room window, so, it should be rather easy to maintain.

 

[tlambert]

Did the same thing back in June with a 15'x15' liner from Menards. Took the tractor and sloped it in so deer and critters could get in and out. The deer are really hammering it. Fawns are always playing in it. The day after I put it in we got a big rain that filled it and I finally put some more water in it about 2 weeks ago. Was starting to get low and scummy.

 

[AIRASSAULT]

Looks good! I originally planned on leaving the up-hill side of mine level with the ground so when it rained, the slope of the land would fill it back up, but, then I figured I didn't want it to silt in and with it being close enough to my hydrant, I went ahead and birmed it in all the way around.. How long did it take them to start using yours, tlambert? I see you still have some of the liner showing, so, maybe mine wont bother them too much... I guess if they get thirsty enough, they'll use it.

 

[tlambert]

They were there the first night using it. I've had a pic of one big buck skirting it, otherwise the big boys aren't touching it still. But they have freshwater about half a mile away that they're using. Pretty much just does, little bucks, coyotes, and coons hitting it.

 

[loneranger]

Who would've thot you'd have to be making artificial watering holes inIowa?

 

[Hill Hunter]

Does the ribbon / rope or whatever you have around the plot keep the deer out? Do you spray anything onto it as a scent to deter the deer from entering the plot?

 

[AIRASSAULT]

Does the ribbon / rope or whatever you have around the plot keep the deer out? Do you spray anything onto it as a scent to deter the deer from entering the plot?

That is electric fence polytape. My neighbor has about 20 head of cattle and he gave me permission to use his cattle to "mow and fertilize" my alfalfa plot with them.. It worked pretty dang awesome. The tape how I have it does not keep deer out. If you would like an electric fence to keep the deer out, then you will need to have a double wire on one set of posts and then a few feet from that around the outside, you will need another single wire.. I think Dbltree or someone has a post on here somewhere about keeping deer out of plots with electric fencing. You have to use polytape or cord though, or you will be fixing the fence a lot. It needs to be very visible.

 

[jjohnson]

A friend of mine put this out a couple weeks ago. A couple does were drinking out of it right away. It took a week or so and the good bucks started coming around. They don't seem to mind it and a few of the bigger bucks are drinking from it.

 

[SoDakarcher]

My understanding is that the problem with pond liners is that the hoof of a deer is sharp enough that the life of the liner is very limited. You can only fix so many leaks... and good luck finding the leak once you have one.

 

[bowhuntr311]

My neighbors had a skid steer dig a hole and they placed a liner and then they covered it ALL back up with dirt. That "pond" is only 10feet diamater and only about 3foot deep but holds water a good portion of the summer. It started growing weeds around it and in almost immediatly. A couple of years ago they had pictures of a hole family of fox swimming around in it during the heat of the summer middle of the day.