There are many reasons to build a duck hunting pond, the first of which is pure convenience. If you can simply wake up early and walk back into your own property, there’s a much greater chance you’ll spend more mornings duck hunting and fewer mornings dreaming about duck hunting.
Plus, it’s not as hard as you might think to build a pond. Yes, there are a lot of steps involved – which we will go into in detail below. And yes, it’s a project that will require long-term maintenance if you want to keep ducks and other birds returning year after year.
But when the alternative is waking up in the middle of the night, packing the vehicle, driving long distances, and hoping to get some hunting in – of which there’s never any guarantee – it’s a no-brainer. If you’ve got the property and the time to devote, there are few downsides.
There are other reasons to do it as well, though, starting with the numbers.
Water + Waterfowl by the Numbers
Studies show a strong correlation between water and the number of ducks available for hunting. For instance, a team of researchers found that “Nest survival probability was positively related to current-year pond density and primary productivity, negatively related to pond density and primary productivity during the previous two years, and positively related to the number of wetland basins on the study site.”
In other words, more ponds in the current year predict more nests. Fewer ponds in previous years predict fewer nests. And more wetland basins overall means more nests … and more baby ducks that grow to become next year’s game.
Therefore, the number of ponds is a key indicator of how many ducks there will be in the following years. The 2022 numbers bore this out, with the duck population lower than average and the pond count higher.
“Given the widespread dry conditions last year across most of the prairies where ducks breed, it’s not surprising that the breeding population number is lower than it had been throughout most of the 2010s,” Dr. Chris Nicolai told Delta Waterfowl. “The good news is that much of the prairie — especially the Dakotas, Manitoba, and eastern Saskatchewan — was really wet this spring. Duck production should be good to excellent across the eastern part of the prairie and in the northern areas, too.”
It's no secret that duck hunters want more ducks to hunt. Not only does this make it easier to bag game, but it also makes it easier to get the permits needed, as low population counts can mean fewer licenses available. As such, your pond can not only help ensure that hunting enthusiasts across North America will have plenty of stock in years to come.
Moreover, ducks aren’t the only ones who will use your pond.
Duck Ponds: Not Just for Ducks
It won’t surprise you to know that wildlife doesn’t distinguish between duck ponds, geese ponds, teal ponds, deer ponds, and fish ponds. A healthy waterway will attract all kinds of species to the area, many of which are common game species.
“The good news is that you don't always have to choose between duck hunting and goose hunting,” as Ducks Unlimited explains. “Seasons overlap throughout much of the fall and winter, giving you an opportunity to hunt geese and ducks concurrently. Also, these birds spend much of the year in close proximity, feeding and loafing side by side in a variety of habitats.”
If you’re a polymath when it comes to hunting, then you’ll love all the different game species a duck pond will bring right to your front door. Or at least, close to your front door.
Of course, there are a number of steps you can take to focus on increasing the duck population specifically, and we will discuss those below. For now, let’s turn our attention to the benefits of installing a pond on your property.
