Water holes or ponds

Rando777

Buck Fawn
Hello, I have a corn and soybean field at the top of a ridge with woods surrounding the ag field on 3 sides. I want to put in at least 3 water holes by the field. I want to put these in and make them as low on maintenance as I can. My initial thought was to put 3 100ish gallon trophs in the ground but I am worried about them cracking in the winter when they freeze over. Any suggestions? Am I better off building 3 ponds and line them with heavy rubber? Any suggestions to prevent blue tongue in the deer with my water source?
 

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I think a small naturally filled pond would be better than a water tank that you have to fill up. I've seen small ponds lined with heavy rubber or clay if you have that available. If you are looking for a good hunting spot then I would only have one pond so all the deer have to visit that one location as opposed to giving them 3 options.
 
Personally I am trying to just go with small "dug" water holes. I have small ponds on my property which already have exposed mud flats, possible breeding spots for midges that spread EHD. The argument has been that water tanks dont have exposed mud so no midge habitat. Maybe if you had no standing whatsoever on your property, I would go with the water tank if you could easily fill it. Otherwise, the exposed mud thing seems a moot point in my mind.
 
I’m genuinely curious about water holes. Is water a limiting factor on some of y’all’s properties? I’ve seen where deer can get enough water just through their diets to ever worry about needing a puddle to drink from. I had a farm where the old owner felt the need to make water holes despite being in a rainy environment and having a full time creek and several wet weather drainages. They become reed filled bug holes when left unmanaged. Do y’all see a lot of benefit to water holes?
 
I’m genuinely curious about water holes. Is water a limiting factor on some of y’all’s properties? I’ve seen where deer can get enough water just through their diets to ever worry about needing a puddle to drink from. I had a farm where the old owner felt the need to make water holes despite being in a rainy environment and having a full time creek and several wet weather drainages. They become reed filled bug holes when left unmanaged. Do y’all see a lot of benefit to water holes?
In Minnesota not really needed. I have a farm in Iowa, with no natural ponds. One creek, but it’s by the road .

I have a man made pond, and the plan is to continue to add a few water tubs. Next year I will dig out a ditch to hold water better .
 
Koi ponds dug in for wildlife here are a huge draw, even with a large pond or creek nearby. Find a used or cheap koi pond dig an oversized hole for it and line the hole with sand to keep it from heaving up in winter. We did that 7-8 years ago and everything in the woods stops by and hits it, even in late summer with nasty pea soup looking water. My youngest son shot a nice buck during bow season over ours last fall.
Lots of hunters I know in my area do the same with the same results.

There are quite a few interesting threads on them in this section of the site.
 
They definitely use the water holes in NE KS even if water is relatively close (several ponds within 1/4 mile and Kansas river within 3/4 mile). Lot of other critters use em too. Thought the coon looked like Humpty Dumpty sitting there on the edge of the tub.
 

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Is EHD in Wisconsin?

I like making ponds. That way you can hold all the water you get, at least if it’ll hold in your soil. You can rent a mini excavator for less than what multiple water tanks will cost. Then you also get the bi-product of a dirt pile. I use every bit of dug soil I can get my hands on.


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I’m genuinely curious about water holes. Is water a limiting factor on some of y’all’s properties? I’ve seen where deer can get enough water just through their diets to ever worry about needing a puddle to drink from. I had a farm where the old owner felt the need to make water holes despite being in a rainy environment and having a full time creek and several wet weather drainages. They become reed filled bug holes when left unmanaged. Do y’all see a lot of benefit to water holes?
I'm curious also. Having heard both sides of the argument, my only direct experience is watching a deer drink out of my small muddy footprint, with a clear flowing creek right next to it. Go figure.
 
The small one I dug a few weeks ago filled a bit with the first rain we had and had deer tracks all around it within a couple of days. There is a creek 200 yards west of it and a permanent little pond 200 yards east of it. Not saying it is the end all be all, but it took me about 10 minutes to make with the loader on the tractor and it is 20 yards in front of a blind I will have there.
 
The small one I dug a few weeks ago filled a bit with the first rain we had and had deer tracks all around it within a couple of days. There is a creek 200 yards west of it and a permanent little pond 200 yards east of it. Not saying it is the end all be all, but it took me about 10 minutes to make with the loader on the tractor and it is 20 yards in front of a blind I will have there.

Exactly right. When I get a small excavator on site, I spend a good half day just fixing little things too. Pull stumps, fill holes, widen trails, move logs, etc.


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I dug some small 2x2 foot holes a couple of years ago and put minerals rocks in them. They got almost no use.

When minerals were gone they filled with water. Probably the biggest draw in my plots. I don’t know if it’s the minerals in the water or just the dirty water itself but they stop at them all the time.
 
I’m genuinely curious about water holes. Is water a limiting factor on some of y’all’s properties? I’ve seen where deer can get enough water just through their diets to ever worry about needing a puddle to drink from. I had a farm where the old owner felt the need to make water holes despite being in a rainy environment and having a full time creek and several wet weather drainages. They become reed filled bug holes when left unmanaged. Do y’all see a lot of benefit to water holes?
I have two water 250 gallon water holes (one each on separate properties). The deer did just fine without the water holes, but the holes do allow some manipulation of deer movement. Mine are between bedding and food. They tend to get used only during the hot summer days, but on those days, deer tend to "stop, drink and scape." I do not have mine buried in the ground, and the deer have adjusted well to their presence. Rain tends to fill them (despite being in the shade), so I have not had to fill during the season.

I like that the water holes do not get muddy. I wish I could say it keeps deer from the dry, muddy ponds, but I don't have any proof. I do know that the deer use them, and that the area around the holes is clean and dry.

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Just got this pic today. They are In one of the small water holes now. Ha

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In mid summer, my 2 little water holes that I fill every couple of weeks with fresh well-water (600-900 gallons each) give me more pics of more animals than I can believe sometimes. Every single animal that walks or flys on my farm use them at least occasionally.

They’re by far not the only water sources in the area, even in dry times, but their proximity to all my food plots makes them super active. I also personally believe that the cold fresh water I put in them is preferred over local swamp seepage and barely moving “creeks”.

This is the 4th year since I had a rented mini-ex and 3 hours to kill in my one day rental. I basically enhanced 2 spots that already held water into early summer - but I made them about 3’ deep in the center.

One is shaped like the figure 8……the bottom half is only about 12” deep and the top half 3’ deep. So it’s stepped….which seems to be a key for young animals and birds. I can fill it to the rim with 900 gallons and it takes at least 2 weeks to get low in the heat of summer.

The other one I made a trench in an L shape with a little outflow ponding at one end when it’s full. Both ends of the trench are sloped where animals enter and walk through. I have perennial clover planted in the tailing and sometimes rough it up and plant turnips. The trench is narrow and deep so it stays shaded and holds water for more than 2 weeks in bad conditions. I usually fill it with 600 gallons every few weeks because it’s the furthest haul.

I keep a salt / mineral block by both. They get hammered.

I believe it’s the single best wildlife change I’ve made to my farm so far, bar none. Your Mileage could vary.
 
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Thank you all for your input. If I go with a trough, do they make a rubberized tank that will not crack when the water freezes?
 
I had
Thank you all for your input. If I go with a trough, do they make a rubberized tank that will not crack when the water freez
Thank you all for your input. If I go with a trough, do they make a rubberized tank that will not crack when the water freezes?
I have a plastic tank and it froze but did not crack and it got below zero several nights in NE KS. I would expect to get a few years out of one which is good enough for me.
 
Thank you all for your input. If I go with a trough, do they make a rubberized tank that will not crack when the water freezes?

We installed 3 rubber 110gal tanks from Orchelns 3 years ago. We dug them into the ground so that the lop was about an inch below the ground line. After the initial fill, we have not had to fill them again. Even with last year’s drought in our part of Iowa, they still kept enough in them to draw the deer and critters.


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I cut a 55 gallon plastic drum in half length wise. I buried it up to the lip hoping I would catch run off. So far it's never dried out which amazes me. Also amazes me how much it's been used.
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These can freeze solid and won't crack - had one out for many years in North Dakota and it's still fine.

I put them on a slight downslope and add a couple sheets of corrugated steel panels (leftover from old building roofs) on the uphill side to help funnel rain into the tank. Seems to work good and gets lots of action, but will eventually be just a frozen ice cube in this part of the country.
 
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