Water hole size????

[j-bird]

How big of a water hole is needed to be of much use to deer?

I want to add a couple to my place even though water is not an issue, as I border two large streams. I have however seen far more use of water puddles and the like over drinking from the streams.

I can find poly tubs to "kiddie" pools to larger poly liners......I want to place these in either cover or perennial plots but I want to minimize my fighting with roots and the like.

I have to use a liner of some sort as my soil lacks enough clay to retain water for any length of time. I want these to fill themselves and not need my filling of them if at all possible.

Any suggestions as to what works for you would be great.

 

[NWWI]

I have good luck with small 3' in diameter holes that I have dug or had the deer dig placed minerals out of. The easiest for me to maintain are in lower areas that funnel and hold water. I have buried plastic 55 gallon drums and they hold water pretty well. If it's in a deer traffic area it gets used.

 

[Big Snow Man]

Sometimes you can find cow tanks or Rubbermaid poly tanks on Craiglist and they work great

 

[JFK52]

I used food grade 55 gallon barrels cut in half the long way. I put a rock in the bottom to keep it in place and a bent piece of screen over the side for the mice to crawl out. Paid $5 each for them years ago. This was before I put in my 5K square foot pond that gets well water pumped into it every day on a computerized timer. I picked up a kiddie pool for free from the town dump this year and it works great also. I try to have water spots at the far corners of my land so the deer can always have something to drink when needed. Even with my pond, the barrels get significant use from all game. I do dump them every spring and wash them out to get all the crud that dropped into them removed. Oak leaves can turn the water tannic and the deer then will not touch it.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

If it holds water it should be good. Location is more important than size in my experience.

 

[gwm]

I have two waterholes and two of the rubber stock tanks. The two waterholes are decent size for a waterhole. All four get used but the two waterholes receive more traffic than the stock tanks.

 

[kabic]

Some example here
http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/the-simplist-of-water-holes.2486/

 

[H20fwler]

Yep... kiddie pools, koi ponds, horse troughs, old tubs..I don't think it matters as long as they have something and it is somewhat private for them.
I have a good size river a few hundred yards from one farm and deer are all over a shallow pond I put in, a good water source helps keep them around.

 

[j-bird]

Some example here
http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/the-simplist-of-water-holes.2486/

Thanks for the link Kabic - for some reason I didn't even think to look there. When I think "pond" I think of something different than a water hole. Lots of good stuff there.