We’ll start with some good news:
A carefully built pond that uses nature-friendly materials, and is well landscaped with native plants, quickly becomes a low-maintenance and valuable addition to your land. However, you should expect to perform some regular tasks.
Cleaning
Happily, “Natural ponds are somewhat easier to care for than artificial ponds because nature already has some cleaning agents,” Farmhouse Guide says. These include fungi, bacteria, and – if you choose to stock your pond – fish.
However, the balance of ducks to water is an important one. Too many ducks for the size of your pond and you’ll see water turn green and gloopy. That’s because the amount of poop they’re adding to the system can’t be accommodated by the natural “cleaning agents” in the environment. If that’s true, you will likely want to add a pump, filter, and aerator. In some cases, a skimmer might provide an extra level of cleaning.
Freshwater mussels and clams, snails, and fish are also great ways to keep water clean and fresh. If you prefer not to use mechanical devices and instead keep your environment fully natural, then you should go the aquatic wildlife route.
Maintenance
Maintenance is far from a full-time job. In fact, most pond ecosystems will remain well-balanced over decades provided you have built them well and landscaped them using natives, which provide valuable ecosystem-balancing services. A good duck hunting pond does have some requirements, though.
“After the pond is completed, woodland owners should plan and budget for periodic mowing, waterline debris removal, restocking fish, vegetation control, repairing docks, and maintaining the access road,” advises Oregon State University Extension Service. “Regularly check for signs of leaks or seepage. Do not expect pond levels to remain constant; evaporation happens, even with substantial water flow from seeps and springs.”
Also, you’ll want to manage your decoys. While you can certainly leave them out for long periods of time, eventually their placement will become scattered and random, no longer representing how waterfowl group and therefore providing less draw.
Also, leaving them out in all weather is bad for the paint and inner workings (of mechanical decoys). It’s better to gather them up and set them back out when you’re going to do a stretch of hunting. Eventually, you’ll figure out your system for using decoys on your pond, but in the beginning, it’s best to pay strict attention to manufacturer instructions about their care and use.
Landscaping and Gardening
Some people choose to make their duck hunting ponds suitable for more than simply hunting. In that case, your pond may require landscaping and gardening over time. Note that, while ducks are happy to come nest in more cultivated areas, they do still need that calm downtime in order to remain and provide good hunting.
Also, if you have a garden in the area with walking paths or other recreational activities, you must make sure to create clear rules about who can use the pond and when, and restrict access very carefully. Tragedies occur when the expectations of multi-use areas aren’t clearly laid out.
Now for a few quick pond-building dos and don’ts to make this process as easy as possible for you.
Know the Regulations!
While the United States has done an excellent job over the years of balancing the interests of hunters and conservationists – who are often the same people – it does still maintain a significant level of oversight. It’s important that you know the regulations around hunting duck.
This goes beyond permitting, with which most hunters considering a pond on their own property are already familiar. You must also know what’s legal when it comes to attracting birds. For instance, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service outlines here, baiting through the use of food is never allowed.
“Baiting is the direct or indirect placing, exposing, depositing, distributing, or scattering of salt, grain, or other feed that could lure or attract waterfowl to, on, or over any areas where hunters are attempting to take them,” says the FWS. “You cannot hunt waterfowl by the aid of baiting or on or over any baited area where you know or reasonably should know that the area is or has been baited.”
In addition, there are daily bag limits for certain species, even when you don’t need a permit to hunt them. These rules may change from year to year, and often do, depending on population numbers. Remain aware of what the rules are, as a lack of knowledge does not equate to a pardon.
Rules regarding the number of shells you can load into a shotgun at once are also heavily enforced, so make sure you know what they are. As with other laws, hunting on your own property won’t exempt you from any of the state or federal regulations that govern this sport.
