Will a pond attract deer?
Deer absolutely need water, and while they can satisfy a lot of their needs for moisture by consuming juicy plants and fruits during the summer and fall, they still need to drink when those food sources are scarce. In an area where water surface water sources are limited or seasonal, the addition of a well-maintained pond or two can make the difference between a good hunting parcel and an amazing one.
Even in cases where water is plentiful along the lower elevations of a parcel, adding a pond in a well-covered area, atop a ridge, can bring in quite a bit of regular traffic as long as it’s along a route leading from bedding areas to food plots or natural forage.
Does a wildlife pond need a liner?
Wildlife ponds benefit considerably from having an impermeable liner to keep water from seeping into the ground and maintain water quality by keeping excessive silt and mud from being stirred up by wildlife. High quality, flexible, pond liners work very well for this purpose since they can be adjusted to any size or shape. Reinforced polyethylene liners offer superior durability, including resistance to punctures, tears, and cracking even in cold temperatures. They are fish-safe and can be shipped in large single panels so that you’re not faced with gluing seams together on-site. Look at the AguaArmor line of pond liners from BTL Liners for a range of affordable options.
How do you attract deer in a water hole?
Deer, like other wildlife, can easily smell water, so they’ll probably be aware of a new water hole before it’s even full. The key is making the water hole more attractive than other available options. That’s hard to do when there are an abundance of ponds and streams in the area, but if you place a water hole where water is generally scarce, or during a dry season when seasonal creeks and ponds have dried up, you have a much greater chance of convincing deer to make your hole a regular stop.
Aside from good quality water, deer want to feel safe. Place your water hole in an area where cover is available, at least on one side when it’s large enough. Marginal sedges and reeds at the pond margin, backed by thickets of blackberry bushes and wild grapes, provide excellent cover and even some yummy treats.
Water holes also need to be placed with an eye to how the deer use them. Does tend to visit water holes in the mornings as they travel from their bedding area to their favorite food plots. Instead of trying to convince deer to take a wide detour to visit your water hole (they won’t), place yours strategically to match the habits they’ve already established.
Is it good to hunt deer near water?
There’s no point in choosing a random pond for placing your stand, since deer won’t visit it unless it’s in a convenient place between bedding and food plots. If you’ve been lucky enough to find a well-placed pond with deer activity, then it can definitely be worthwhile to hunt the area. If no such ideal feature exists, consider building your own.
Mature bucks are cautious creatures, and if that’s your target, make sure your hunting pond checks all their boxes. Even in an established pond, a few improvements can make all the difference. (Try to time them outside of hunting season, obviously!) Ponds located near a well-protected sanctuary or staging area are good options. Travel corridors can work as well, providing there’s plenty of cover. Mature bucks will avoid areas with lots of human activity, so focus your search for an ideal hunting pond in more remote areas.
When you’re hunting at a deer pond, you need to be able to access the area fairly easily without spooking the deer. A pond located on the border of a sanctuary, offering plenty of cover on that side but an open view across from it is ideal. That opposite side should be outside of any regular deer activity: no food plots, no bedding areas, no sanctuary or staging areas. Ideally, this will allow you to set up your stand within bowshot (or whatever you prefer) without disturbing the deer with your comings and goings.
How many water holes does a deer need?
If it’s large enough, reliable year after year, and well placed for the deer’s traveling habits, deer only require a single watering hole. However, there are plenty of reasons multiple smaller holes are sometimes preferable. Keep in mind, however, that building many small holes will require extra time and continued maintenance.
Midges tend to concentrate around a single pond, meaning one can have an intense infestation of disease-carrying insects while another watering hole a quarter mile away may be disease-free. Deer may be lazy, but they’re not dumb. If their regular deer pond is cloudy with biting insects, they’re going to seek out another one that’s still well placed for their movement habits. Even if the infestation isn’t that intense, multiple small water sources may encourage the deer population to spread out, and any outbreaks of disease will probably be limited to a single water source.
If you need to perform maintenance or add improvements to a hunting pond, there will be unavoidable disturbance. Deer that can move to a nearby temporary water source until things quiet down are less likely to seek out quieter territory.
Do deer prefer creeks or ponds?
The generally accepted wisdom is that deer prefer the still atmosphere of a pond over a burbling creek or rushing stream. Moving water may be more appealing to us humans: cooler, clearer, fresher looking, but deer are concerned with detecting predators. Deer are particularly vulnerable while they’re drinking, and a quiet pond allows them to detect predators more easily with their acute hearing. It’s often said that a deer will drink from a stagnant puddle before they’ll approach a moving stream.
What time of day do deer go to water?
Deer can and will drink throughout the day in hot weather, but they consistently drink before they head out from their bedding areas in search of food. Many hunters prefer to hunt as deer head out for their dusk feedings.
How do I control biting insects around my hunting pond?
Biting insects can make deer miserable. So much so, that they may even choose to hang out in food lots under full sun rather than endure clouds of biting gnats under the tree canopy. This isn’t the behavior you’re looking for, so it’s time to take some action to keep those midges away, or at least push them to ponds on some other parcel!
Midges need warm, sunny, very shallow, muddy water for laying eggs, and they prefer wet, churned up mud full of decaying organic material during their larval stages. Just these bits of information can suggest some effective controls for biting insects.
Locate deer ponds in partial shade and make them narrow and deep rather than shallow and wide. Eliminate areas of bare earth on the margins of your pond. Use a combination of large rocks, gravel, or live plants to minimize muddy spots. Rushes and sedge grasses are excellent options.
