We bought this 33.5 acres in Kansas over the last couple years. I am an avid waterfowl hunter and fisherman. There is a 10k acre lake 1 mile south of the house, and after last May's record rain the eastern 1/3 of my property was under water due to a major tributary of that lake being just off the property. When the dirt work was done for our house I asked one of the contractors about digging a pond out there while the equipment was there. Nobody will give me a straight answer on price. I have a ditch that bisects on property on the south end. The outbuildings shown in the picture are no longer there. New house is in the NW corner and there is a tiny pond that never holds water in the NC part of the property. Basically I want a pond for waterfowl hunting (the property sits in a flyway) and fishing. Can somebody give me some pointers on how to get started?
You may think having a hole dug while the equipment is there will save ya some bucks. Maybe or maybe not. There are plenty of folks here that hired a dirt guy vs a pond builder. BIG difference. You should talk to some locals with ponds about who did them, how well they are doing and a ballpark price. The more info ya get before the first dig is started will benefit you permanently.
If I were doing it I would consider two ponds. I think a fish pond would be very much different than a duck hunting pond. A duck pond should have different slopes and depth than a fishing pond. You could put them close enough together to have a permanent shooting blind/fishing equipment shed between the two.
You can establish food plots for ducks as easily as for deer. In fact the plots could do double to triple duty. Corn, beans, clover, Alfalfa and much more will attract Quail, pheasant, geese and lots of song birds as well.
Take your time and research everything thoroughly.
Good luck, document everything with a journal and lots of pics. keep us updated and ask lots of ?s
Most of the ponds around me the ponds have been there for decades. I have a well on the property the previous owner originally established for household use. If I know how much it could provide I could build a marsh and pump it. I am too busy right now clearing hedge and honey locust to do much else. I wish I had an updated satellite picture that shows how much work I have done with nothing but a chainsaw and strong back.
Buddy of mine used to build marshes/ponds for USFWS. He told me if I rented the dozer he would do the work for free.
Water exerts about 1/2 pound of pressure for every foot of water depth on the pond bottom. So, a pond bottom has to be sealed better than a marsh bottom.
Typically it's recommended that the whole pond basin be compacted with a sheepsfoot roller in 6" lifts, for a total of 4 lifts.
Just like a bathtub, all you need is one drain hole not plugged and the whole pond will drain out.
I had a equipment guy that had a dozer, backhoe and track hoe at my house to clear 2 acres and dig a 1/2 acre pond. I ended up with a 30 x 30 hole 12 ft deep with no slope. I had to leave it like that because they ran up a bill way faster than they had previously said.
Now I have been waiting on a pond guy for months because he is booked, but everybody says he does a great job.
So NRCS got back to me. Site is conducive to a pond. Small drainage area of 3-4 acres. 30 yrd by 40 yrd modified pit. Would require moving 1800 cubic yards. Also require 60 ft of sbr 26.
Pond starts this week. Pipe was delivered today.
Also using the alternate site since it will support a larger pond with a lot more run off.
Sounds like thing are getting exciting for you. Best I can tell, pond life stays exciting!
Clearing trees today
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Due to wet weather the pond was completed today. Its roughly 35x35 with a depth of approximately 12 ft. Not huge by any means, but it gives me a place to train the dog, hunt a little, and let the kids fish.
Going to be cutting down some nearby cedars and dragging them into it tomorrow.
Congratulations on the new pond. They can be a lot of work, but they can be a lot of fun too. Good luck.
When I got home today they were loading up the last of the equipment. He thought it would be closer to 50yds x 50 yds but I don't see it just eye balling it. Got numerous cedars cut today and drug to the bottom. I have more to do tomorrow.
Congratulations on the new addition and welcome from a fellow Kansas resident.
I did very little with ponds or fishing four years ago when we built the pond near our house. Now rarely a day goes by when we are at home that I am not out to the pond at least once.
And have since built 3 more ponds!
They can be addictive.
Final post in this thread. Got the bill today. $1400 under budget. Seeded jap millet all around and down into the pond. Come on rain.
Congrats. I've enjoyed your project vicariously.
I train my dogs in our pond, swim and fish all summer, and shoot an occasional mallard in the fall.
Nothing quite so tasty as a greenhead from your own pond that went from retrieve to plate in 30 minutes.
And, please don't think you have to close this post. Keep us informed as your pond fills and then matures into what you have dreamed it will be.
Pond now has enough water the dog has to swim a little. Still a long way to go. Jap millet that is planted is making heads so maybe I will get to kill a few ducks on it this fall.
Need some rain. Water level has increased 6" from last post. Leave it to me to build a pond and start a drought. We got 1.3" early this week. Cracks in the ground around the house have closed. Predicting heavy rain Saturday. Hoping to finally get some runoff.
Good deal waterfowler. We built a 2 acre pond in 2014 ive shot both dove and ducks on it. Like you, we are less than a mile from a major lake. However, our pond is pretty deep with very little shallow water so the majority of ducks are divers. Good luck this season, keep us in the loop how the millet and pond do!
We had 4" of rain Oct 22. Since then zero moisture along with record temps and we are in drought status. Lots of wildfires. Pond maybe 1/4 full. Need rain
The good part about a pond filling slow is you don't get a bunch of erosion of the banks like you do with big rains.
Dry here is SE Ks too. Kind of a good thing for us as it gives good opportunity to rebuild terraces in fields, spread lime, and do any dirt work. But my ponds are about 6" low now and I prefer them to head into winter full.
Glad to see your pond get finished and under budget. Going to have a PBF get together next September at my place. Be sure to come if you can. You can't be terribly far away from me.
Snrub's PBF get together
We r supposed to get some rain here. 100% sun, 90% Monday and 90% Tuesday. I sure hope it is a frog floater
I wanted some water in it to duck hunt this year. We tried it once but no takers. We are listed as abnormally dry and no rain in the forecast.
Thought I would update. My old lab got the first retrieve (and her last of her career) on our duck opener last year. A beautiful drake wood duck. She passed this spring due to cancer and is buried down there.
This pond collects a ton of runoff. NRCS didnt know what they were talking about. Next drought we are talking about enlarging the pond to the south and the west.
Sorry to hear about your dog. We just lost ours from it running out in the road.
Thought I would update. My old lab got the first retrieve (and her last of her career) on our duck opener last year. A beautiful drake wood duck. She passed this spring due to cancer and is buried down there.
This pond collects a ton of runoff. NRCS didnt know what they were talking about. Next drought we are talking about enlarging the pond to the south and the west.
Long time no see. Anyway we got our drought and enlarged the pond in May 2021. It did not fill until Xmas eve 2023. Instead of being like a bath tub it now has some shallow habitat, rock piles, rocky shorline in parts, etc. Even shot some ducks off of it the other day. Pond size effectively doubled.
I, too, have been enjoying some duck hunting on our pond. My Australian shepherd is more than eager to go get some each time I look out the front door of the house.
Recently, with ice covering most of the water, I do my best to drop the birds on land or on the ice. She's eager to go into the ice water though if necessary.
Yesterday a greenhead fell out on the ice and made it to open water before she could race to the other side of the thawed hole and grab it. What followed was a 10 minute circus of her swimming up close to it and having it dive out of sight.
Once she wore it out and was able to retrieve it, she was pretty well soaked. That certainly didn't slow her down. She wasn't having any of my suggestions that we walk the 75 feet to the house and dry off.
"Ducks are still coming in Dad! I'm not quitting now! What ARE you thinking?!"
She's one focused hunter. I'm not complaining.
Right before the freeze up I dragged up a pile.of.elodea and have left it along the shoreline. The wigeon in particular are waddling up to it and have hollowed out a cave in it. They do like to eat that stuff.
I, too, have been enjoying some duck hunting on our pond. My Australian shepherd is more than eager to go get some each time I look out the front door of the house.
Recently, with ice covering most of the water, I do my best to drop the birds on land or on the ice. She's eager to go into the ice water though if necessary.
Yesterday a greenhead fell out on the ice and made it to open water before she could race to the other side of the thawed hole and grab it. What followed was a 10 minute circus of her swimming up close to it and having it dive out of sight.
Once she wore it out and was able to retrieve it, she was pretty well soaked. That certainly didn't slow her down. She wasn't having any of my suggestions that we walk the 75 feet to the house and dry off.
"Ducks are still coming in Dad! I'm not quitting now! What ARE you thinking?!"
She's one focused hunter. I'm not complaining.
I've got the ice eater running down there. Its struggling as it is 2 degrees out currently. I intend to run electricity down there this summer. Then I will aerate the pond, and run an ice eater in conditions like this to chase the ducks. We also set a big snow goose spread on the pond and decoy some in every year.
"Ducks are still coming in Dad! I'm not quitting now! What ARE you thinking?!"
She's one focused hunter. I'm not complaining.
If we all had the heart of a good "working dog", then I think each of us would live to be at least 100 years old!
My pond remained open longer then most ponds during this recent cold snap and the other day I had some trumpeter swans on it, I posted a picture on another forum thread, was nice to see them.
We seldom have any around here but do see a few flocks during the migration periods, on the rivers or corn stubble fields.
Pond is leaking. Appears to be right where the old dam tied into the extension off of it. The gentlemen that did the extension will come fix it, but he is 3 months out. As the pond slowly draws down I intend to plant millet, smartweed, and some other valuable duck foods.
Pond is leaking. Appears to be right where the old dam tied into the extension off of it. The gentlemen that did the extension will come fix it, but he is 3 months out. As the pond slowly draws down I intend to plant millet, smartweed, and some other valuable duck foods.
It's worth a conversation to talk to TJ here on the forum.
https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showprofile&User=3912
