If you want to keep your pond long-term and get the most out of it, you can’t just place it any-old-where. You need to consider a variety of factors, a truth that applies to everything from deer hunting ponds to duck hunting spots, farm ponds to wetland restoration projects, and so forth.
The OSU Extension Service recommends that you “Before digging, identify what value you hope to derive from the pond and incorporate those features into a carefully planned project. Pre-project planning will reduce long-term maintenance and repairs, and lead to a better final result.”
That starts with knowing what brings deer to your door.
What Draws Deer?
When deciding where to place your deer pond, food, and shelter considerations should top your list. Deer are drawn to areas that feel safe. If you want them to come and rest awhile, you need to offer them everything they need.
“Food plots get all the love when it comes to attracting whitetails, but water can be an even bigger draw,” says Field and Stream. “While deer get a portion of the liquid they need from eating succulent plants, you should never underestimate their need and desire for drinking water. Indeed, on some properties that seem to have everything a whitetail wants, a lack of dependable water sources can be the barrier that prevents a good property from being a great one.”
Estimates for a deer’s water needs range from 2 to 4 quarts to 3 to 6 quarts per day. A large pond can meet such needs for a whole herd of deer, but that doesn’t mean you even need a sweeping waterway.
“If you want a permanent pond, digging one with a skid steer or hiring a dozer-operator isn’t terribly expensive; depending on your area and availability, a $500 pond is pretty realistic,” adds another Field and Stream post. “But if you really want to save, you can simply visit your local farm or garden store and buy a livestock watering or landscaping tub.”
In fact, small water sources the size of a kiddie pool will do the trick if you want to lure deer from a nearby game trail to your property. You can even create a trail of small water sources to introduce them to your pond. Once they know about it, they’ll return year after year, with many places on your property that can meet their needs.
Food is equally important for deer. You’ll want to ensure a range of edible species around your pond, but since you can choose what to plant, this isn’t a big deal. See “1. Materials Needed to Create Your Pond” for more information on this.
Wetland Designations
In the United States and many other countries, wetlands receive heavy protection. If your property is a designated wetland, that will make it a lot harder to excavate, plant, mow, or otherwise curate the environment. Therefore, you need to make sure you’re not accidentally violating any laws when building your pond, which starts with understanding what a wetland is.
“A wetland is a land area that is either permanently or seasonally saturated with water, typically having characteristics of a distinct ecosystem,” explains WGI. “Some examples include swamps, marshes, and bogs. These bodies of water can contain either fresh, brackish or salt water.”
These habitats are critical to the proper functioning of our ecosystems: “The productivity of wetland ecosystems are comparable to coral reefs and rainforests. Wetlands aid in wildlife habitat, flood control, and water quality. These areas also allow species possibly facing extinction an environment to flourish.”
If you’re trying to find out whether wetland protection applies to your lands, WGI recommends you use the Wetlands Mapper on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service site. The mapping tool, according to the site, “integrates digital map data along with other resource information to produce current information on the status, extent, characteristics and functions of wetlands, riparian, and deepwater habitats.”
Note that even if that indicates that your pond space is safe for building, however, it’s important to speak to a professional in your area to make sure. Not knowing better isn’t an excuse for violating a wetland area, and it can still lead to fines or being forced to fill your pond and restore the habitat at your expense.
Permits and Waterways
Wetlands aren’t the only concern, though. Other waterways also factor in.
OSU points out that “new or modified ponds that will impact existing wetlands, waterways, or fish passage require additional levels of restrictions, regulations, and permits. Contact your local watermaster to help you determine if your property will have any impact on fish passage or sensitive ecological areas.”
Note that this is the guidance for those living in Oregon. If you live in another state (or country), you are almost certainly subject to permitting and regulations when it comes to water use as well. Make sure you find out what the rules are before you build a pond so that you can avoid heavy fines or – the heartbreak of all heartbreaks – having to fill in your hard-earned deer hunting pond.
What are some of the most common regulatory requirements, you’re wondering? These may include:
- Where the pond will drain when it overflows during rain and runoff events
- How big the drainage area is
- Whether it will drain onto a neighbor’s property
- If nearby waterways will be affected by pollution or disease carried into a pond by runoff
… and more, depending on your local regulations. Make sure you look into any applicable rules at the local, regional, state, and federal level. If you work with a contractor, they’ll already have the 411 on this and be able to guide you.
Note also that “It pays to carefully examine a site before deciding whether a pond there is practical or economically viable,” says OSU. For instance, “Upland sites are often superior because the groundwater table generally follows the land’s contours and may be fairly close to the surface at higher elevations.”
Lower areas sit in stark contrast to these benefits because they:
- Are frequently harder to excavate if they’re filled with muck or debris
- May require additional permits
- May already be designated as a wetland or other wilderness area, and therefore not suitable for pond-building
- Don’t offer the type of clear, clean water to which deer and other wildlife are attracted
This might seem a little confusing. Many websites and experts recommend choosing low-lying areas that already offer a depression, the better to minimize the amount of excavation you need to do. (See “Types of Ponds” for more on this.) You’ll need to strike a balance between where you can get good, clean water and meet regulations, and where you can minimize the amount of work you have to do to put your pond in place.
Property Lines
It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t know how much precipitation will fall in a given year – in the form of rain or snow – and you need to have a plan for water management that respects your neighbors.
If your pond overflows during rain events, that could put a neighbor’s house or outbuilding on the drainage plan, which can cover dozens of acres or more, depending on the pond’s size. Your specific state or region will also dictate how far from the property line any construction project or pond needs to be. Again, a contractor can help here.
Any time you have good relations with your neighbors, the best bet is simply to talk to them, explain the situation, and come to an agreement about any project that might affect them. If your neighbors are likewise hunting enthusiasts, they may even be willing to foot part of the bill in exchange for use of the pond.
Available Locations
Next up on the list of important factors, where on your property will accommodate a pond? Some areas are simply out, such as hillsides or areas too close to human habitation. But if you have your choice of other flat areas, look for sites that are:
- Already close to sources of water with which to fill them
- In thickets that make deer feel safe
- Near plants that deer like to eat
- Suited to pond development with minimum expense and time
“This is a major decision that the Natural Resources Conservation Service and state fishery biologists will help you with,” says Bass Pro. “The ideal location is where the contour of the land dips towards a natural site, perhaps with several side-hills sloping down into a low area. A flat area in a small valley is also potentially good spot, or a low spot that’s fed by springs or streams that drain into it after rains.”
Your location doesn’t need to be big, though! If you have a smaller property that abuts a natural area and you want to bring in deer without spending a lot of money, that’s totally possible with a small pond. Just make sure, if you are going to the trouble of putting in a water source on their property, to do it right by using the correct materials.
Water Source
In this case, “water source” doesn’t mean places where deer drink, but rather places from which you will draw water to fill your pond. If sited appropriately, runoff and rainfall may fill your pond within a year or two without you having to add it from anywhere else. There are many good reasons to do this, including the cost (nothing) and the fact that rainwater tends to contain fewer pollutants and additives than even some tap water.
However, many hunters don’t want to wait that long to see their deer pond come to fruition. Plus, you’ll have a harder time landscaping without a nearby water source. For that reason, most people choose to fill their ponds after they excavate (if necessary) and line them.
“You can dam up a small all-weather creek, but be sure you find out how much water flows after heavy rains,” advises Bass Pro. “It may be too much and could flood your pond, causing damage to the dam or washing out fish.”
If that’s the case, it can be helpful to construct the pond at a short remove from the stream. That way, you can create a channel leading between the two, “with a gate that can be opened and shut to control the amount of water that enters the pond.” That will allow you to manipulate the depth of the pond and the amount of area that gets covered by it. In so doing, you can protect your landscape and provide an appropriate ecosystem for deer or any other game.
Lakes, rivers, streams, and other nearby water sources can also provide the water source you need to fill your pond. However, you must make sure that local permitting requirements allow this. As with draining into nearby wetlands and waterways, taking water from them is heavily regulated.
No matter what you do, says Landscaping Planet, “Always test the water with a test kit before you use any outside source of water. Also, it’s good to research the different types of algae or chemicals that might harm the plants and fish living in your pond before you start trickling it through.”
It’s also important to note that you should “Never add tap water straight into your pond. Even if it doesn’t have fish, the chlorine found in tap water can prove fatal for any lifeform, including plants. If you want to add tap water out of pure convenience, you must treat it properly before adding it to your pond.”
Filtration and buffers can help.
Filtration and Buffers
“The water quality in your pond will vary according to the land uses and geology in the area from which the pond receives runoff (the watershed),” explains the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR). “If your pond’s watershed is used for grazing or crop production, or if it is a dense urban area, poor water quality can result if runoff from the watershed is not filtered before it reaches the pond.”
Therefore, if your pond will contain runoff from nearby agricultural land or developed land, you’ll want to make sure there’s a buffer to keep water clean, pollutant-free, and clear of diseases. Virginia further recommends that you use a “vegetated buffer strip at least 50 feet wide surrounding the pond [which] can serve as a natural filter.”
The same goes if your pond gets its water from a stream. In that case, make sure the stream itself has vegetation along each side to protect it from urban and ag lands, or else you risk contamination.
Planning a multi-use pond for fishing, waterfowl, or livestock? That’s totally fine. Just make sure that you fence livestock well away from the pond and its water sources. If they’re going to drink from it, you should dam off part of the pond, then bring livestock to water downstream of the dam.
The above information should give you a lot to think through when choosing a site for your pond. Remember, it’s okay not to have all the answers. Unless you are an expert on this kind of site selection, it definitely pays to get expert help. That way, you can avoid negative repercussions such as:
- Legal violations at the local, regional, state, and federal levels
- Dirty or undesirable water, which will make your pond less amenable to deer
- Ponds that are difficult to keep full
- Ticking off neighbors
Once you’ve chosen your placement, it’s time to consider pond types.
