Heating a water hole

[Brian662]

I decided to post this in the general discussion forum, if it needs to move, no problem.

Has anyone considered ways to heat a sunk below ground water tank?
I have a buried Rubbermaid 110 gallon tank that is roughly 70 yards away from a detached garage with 220V electric connections. Bad thing about this option is there is a significant amount of trees/tree roots in the ground for burying an electrical line.
The other option I've thought of is a solar powered heater of some sort, but that would likely freeze at night.

Basically, I have a water hole dug into a travel corridor on the edge of my destination plot, it gets a lot of traffic, but in MN it often freezes by early-mid Nov. It would be an incredible draw between bedding and food for late season hunting if I could figure out a reasonable way to keep it thawed out. The stand set up blows my scent on any westerly wind back towards my house and the location is over a ridge, so it's basically a bulletproof entry/exit.

Any ideas out there?

 

[Telemark]

Run a cable and use a pond heater.

 

[Brian662]

Run a cable and use a pond heater.

Any experience with them? Any idea how they would do in different ambient temps?

 

[Catscratch]

Might be more efficient to run a bubbler. I kept a deer watering hole open for 3 (if I remember right) days with 2 C batteries and a portable bucket aerator. Temp never went above 20 that week. If you have a air compressor in your shop it might be easy to run a air hose or some PVC to the tank and just keep it running. If not then a cattle tank "Ice Chaser" might be something to look at.

 

[Telemark]

Any experience with them? Any idea how they would do in different ambient temps?

There's many different kinds. Some have thermostats integrated, especially for aquariums. Outdoors you can often use a plug that has a thermostat running by air temp.

 

[Telemark]

Might be more efficient to run a bubbler. I kept a deer watering hole open for 3 (if I remember right) days with 2 C batteries and a portable bucket aerator. Temp never went above 20 that week. If you have a air compressor in your shop it might be easy to run a air hose or some PVC to the tank and just keep it running. If not then a cattle tank "Ice Chaser" might be something to look at.

I though about that but wondered if it would scare the deer. You've tried it with success?

 

[Catscratch]

I though about that but wondered if it would scare the deer. You've tried it with success?

I've kept water open with air. I can't say if it scared deer or not. Bubblers are common in the northern states to keep ponds open and fish alive. Might do some research on the internet "pond aeration ice".

 

[Telemark]

Bublers are great for bigger ponds. They use far less energy than heaters. I k ow geese and ducks don't mind being on ponds with big bubbles. But a noisy little pump in a deer watering hole makes me a bit uncertain.

 

[Catscratch]

Bublers are great for bigger ponds. They use far less energy than heaters. I k ow geese and ducks don't mind being on ponds with big bubbles. But a noisy little pump in a deer watering hole makes me a bit uncertain.

May not be what you're looking for, but a pump can have a long hose. Might work to have the pump or compressor in the garage with a hose to the water. Just throwing out ideas...

 

[SD51555]

I know a guy that runs a bubbler in his pond for deer. That’s the hot spot the entire winter. Keep in close to shore so the open water is at the edge.


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[PatinPA]

I though about that but wondered if it would scare the deer. You've tried it with success?

I bet they would get used to it over time. Set it up in the summer and let it run all fall so they become accustomed to it by winter.

 

[Telemark]

Sounds reasonable. Worth a try.