I was wondering what trees and shrubs any of the duck hunters on here plant in wet areas (seasonal flooding) From what I have read I would have to put the Nuttall oak at the top. I know Pin oaks are popular north of me (I'm in GA), but I've also heard we misidentify Willow oaks as Pins down here. I'd rank it #2 with the pin producing earlier than the Willow. #3 I'd put the good ole water oak. As for shrubs, I've always heard button bush was good. Anyone have some other good ones?
Any duck habitat guys?
- Thread starter dawghall
- Start date
Unfortunately our pond goes as the weather goes. Can't rely on that to plant and then flood. That's why I'm looking into more permanent plantings that can handle flooding or being dry during some summers
Thanks for the tip! I normally just check this page and didn't realize that section existed.
Thanks, I'll check them out
woodduck
5 year old buck +
Since you cant control the water and plant Jap. Millet you may want to plant native grasses and wildflowers that produce seeds around the edges like Pa Smartweed, as mentioned, or Fowl Manna Grass, Showy Tickseed, Beggar's Lice, Barnyard Grass, and others. Check out Ernst Seed and Roundstone Seed. You can buy them individually by the oz. There are even some seed wetland mixes available.
Iowa_Dave
5 year old buck +
I have a couple of wood duck houses on my place and am making a couple more now to put up soon. Does anyone know...how much spacing between houses should there be? Or, alternatively, how many separate houses can be placed on say, one 2-1/2 acre pond? I am also going to make a few for my neighbors...so hopefully we can raise a bunch of woodies in the neighborhood.
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
I've got two on a two acre pond about fifty yards from each other and they both get used two to three times every spring since we put them up. Also have one on our shallow back pond two hundred yards from front pond that gets used two to three times every year. I've seen them pretty close together on our local lake and haven't noticed any conflict between pairs.
If there are a lot of woodies and limited nesting sites I would think you could get by with them closer, as soon as a brood hatches out in ours another moves in within a couple days. I try and clean them out in between but sometimes the new renters start laying before I can.
Adding two more in our wet spot in the woods.
Iowa_Dave
5 year old buck +
Perhaps you could thwart Rocky Raccoon by wrapping the tree with some tin below the house? Without some barrier though, I think a snake or a coon would probably get a lot of nests...maybe all of them. Make sure they can't "jump" from one tree over to the tree with a house on it too. They really are like little bears.
i have five holes I manage for waterfowl. I have a pto three pt, 10” pump that puts out 3500 gallons a minute that I use to flood or dewater the ones I can. Will flood an acre, a foot deep, in just over 90 minutes. Some, like in the second picture I let natural vegetation like smartweed grow - and then flood just before season. The next spot, is half natural and half planted millet spot and the rise and fall of the river puts water in it. And like in the last hole, where I can pump water in or out - I pump dry, plant millet, and then flood back in fall
