Peplin Creek
5 year old buck +
what does everyone recommend for size with stock tanks as waterholes? I plan on putting in 2 - 4 next year. I have 2 creeks on the property so I plan to use these more as sign checking spots mostly.
Recommendations for stock tank waterhole size
- Thread starter Peplin Creek
- Start date
Buck Ridge
Yearling... With promise
I've got a 75 and a 60 gallon tank in the woods. The 60 is an oval and was easier to dig in as it is shorter in height. Both get used. Dig it in on a hillside and they auto-fill.
Big Snow Man
5 year old buck +
Or you can use the Rubbermaid tanks which are very solid
Peplin Creek
5 year old buck +
Does it make more sense to have a tank that is wider and shallower or smaller but deeper? I would think deer probably would prefer a shallower one but wouldn’t the water evaporate faster?
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I used 50 gallon tanks that I bought from the local Dickey Bubs. They worked great. One gets little use. The other one is near a bedding area and seems to have become quite the night time hotspot. Most pics are during the dark hours but it gets lots of use. I initially filled them up with 20 gallons each. After a couple good rains they’ve stayed full. We’re experiencing a pretty good dry spell so I’ll probably add some water after the first of the year if we don’t get some rain by then. I’m hoping to keep water in them year round and never let them go dry.
bueller
Moderator
I prefer deeper on the premise that the water probably stays a bit cooler during the summer and therefore has less algae growth. I have and really like the style shown by Someday Isle. Digging is easy in my sand. Wouldn't want to dig one of these in on heavy clay.
Question for those that you the cheap/thin kiddie pools. Ever have one punctured by a deer hoof? I've have many pictures of deer with 2 and even all 4 feet down in my waterholes?
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
I prefer deeper too. I don't think shape really matters, I've seen them from 50 gallon to 300.
A guy I work with found a great deal on three used koi ponds last summer and they are crazy shapes and sizes, deer started using them first week he had them out. He has stands over two of them and see's deer at them a bunch.
A guy I work with found a great deal on three used koi ponds last summer and they are crazy shapes and sizes, deer started using them first week he had them out. He has stands over two of them and see's deer at them a bunch.
Bill
Administrator
So far so good. But my pool has only been there 3 years. I'm sure it will crack way before one of those heavy Rubbermaid deals.
Big Snow Man
5 year old buck +
Someday
What’s a Dicky Bub’s a bar or a salvage yard
What’s a Dicky Bub’s a bar or a salvage yard
I am sure that my free kiddie pool will eventually crack due to the weather or the deer walking in it. I will just take it back to the dump and leave it there.
My strategy before I built my pond was to take food quality 55 gallon plastic drums and cut them in half the long way. I paid $5 each for these barrels years ago. I bent a piece of screen over on an end for a critter escape means. The drums get dumped and cleaned out every spring and then Mother Nature fills them for me. This is needed to get the various leaves out of the barrels. I still have these barrels at the far corners of my land and they get good use. One rainy season I even had tadpoles of some sort in a few of these barrels.
My strategy before I built my pond was to take food quality 55 gallon plastic drums and cut them in half the long way. I paid $5 each for these barrels years ago. I bent a piece of screen over on an end for a critter escape means. The drums get dumped and cleaned out every spring and then Mother Nature fills them for me. This is needed to get the various leaves out of the barrels. I still have these barrels at the far corners of my land and they get good use. One rainy season I even had tadpoles of some sort in a few of these barrels.
bueller
Moderator
I guess I'm not the only one. I have tadpoles every year in my little in ground stock tank. Don't know what kind but I've also seen small frogs about the size of a silver dollar in mine.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Yeah, pretty clever name. It’s like a local farm store/hardware store. It’s kind of a cross between a Rural King and an Ace hardware.Someday
What’s a Dicky Bub’s a bar or a salvage yard
kfab12
5 year old buck +
Like JFK52 posted, I took a food grade 55 gal drum and cut it length wise. Decided not to bury them in so if I wanted to move them I could. I supported them on each side with old pieces of cinder blocks. I put one on each side of my property. My property is very dry and putting water out was the best idea for drawing deer in. Deer use them regularly, so do the possums, raccoons, frogs, tree frogs, many different types of birds. The raccoons take baths in them. I have an old 2x6 so the critters can crawl out if they get stuck in. Last summer one of the animals put the Deer Block or feed block in the water. When I went to check things out I noticed the water was brown. Couldn't figure out what happened. Cleaned it the next day and by then it was bubbling and fermenting. That's when I realized the Deer Block was in the water. No critters were laying passed out from the drinking all night though.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I’ve been happy with mine buried just because Of where I put them. One is right in a runoff area that leads to a wet weather creek. It’s a very rocky area (tough digging) but the runoff keeps water in it. The other one is halfway down a ridge on a small flat spot. Water runoff keeps water in it too, but not quite as much as the one leading to the creek bed.
One thing I did do last week was clean out the leaves. It smelled pretty bad but honestly it smelled like a rutting deer. We had a couple small snows this week so that should freshen up the water some.
One thing I did do last week was clean out the leaves. It smelled pretty bad but honestly it smelled like a rutting deer. We had a couple small snows this week so that should freshen up the water some.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
It helps the crittes get out. You don’t necessarily want a dead mouse or squirrel floating in it. I’ve actually sat in a stand and watched the squirrels and field mice run up and down the log. I’m going to switch out one of mine for a 2x6 next spring though. I keep getting turtles trapped that can’t get out.
I put in a wire mesh that is folded over one end of the cut in half 55 gallon drums. This allows critters of all sorts an escape path. I guarantee that any barrel that contains a bloated dead squirrel or other critter will not get any use by wildlife. I clean out my barrels every spring. Leaves from oak trees create a tannic stain in the water. I also put a large rock in the bottom of the barrel to keep them from blowing away when they are empty. Even though I have a 5K square foot pond on my land in front of my deer camp mobile home, the water barrels at the corners of my land get a considerable amount of use.
