Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction 2016 pond/wildlife management projects?

Any upcoming projects planned for this coming year? Many here have experience and most likely, would be willing to pass it along. So in listing some of my, seem to be, never ending projects at the farm, here are a few. Surface and subsurface aeration in a 3.5 acre pond with no elec power close by. Nothing that money won't solve . Grow out forage pond, SLOWLY!! being built Pecan tree orchard 2nd attempt(drought killed the first plantings). Grow out indoor TP farm, A maybe try this project? And the continuation of year round wildlife food plots, hoping to increase the numbers of deer and Turkey to the property. A learning process for sure. So lots to do. Anyone else out there have these types of projects planned for the new year?

Tracy

Got two wood duck boxes for Christmas. Was going to put them up today... But grateful to find info online that, like most things I do without research, I was going to do it wrong. Can't put them in trees with nothing to keep the raccoon and squirrels out. Unless you like feeding eggs and wood ducks to raccoons and squirrels. Will post mount them with guards in place once the guards I ordered come in. I put in two apple orchards this past spring. One with 43 trees, one with eight. Five varieties, ten trees each. I planted clover and chicory for ground cover and rigged up a pump system from the upper pond to water everything. Have an excavator coming to expand two of the ponds and clear more around both orchard areas to make room for the 25 pear and 15 plum trees that are coming this spring. I have 240 Chinese chestnuts in cold storage to begin growing once they germinate, probably by the beginning of February. I did 150 last winter from which about 90 seedlings are growing. I had about 20 Dunstan chestnut growing that I put in when I got the place. They're doing so well I decided to give them plenty of company. I cleared the two orchards by myself over two years using my limited equipment. After seeing the excavator clear for the ponds I quickly decided that manual clearing days are over! Shaping things on the property has turned into my favorite way to spend free time. Seeing the response of the wildlife has been very encouraging. If you build it... They will come!

Tracy...my 2016 wishlist is to finally get a dock/pier after talking about it for a couple of years. Still debating floating vs fixed. I'll know which way to go when I walk on the floating pier I am considering. Might put a feeder on my "catfish only" pond. I'd like to get some accent lighting up in some trees. I guess all of us would like an additional storage building. And if I win the lottery I'll blacktop most of my road.

Ditch in some more watershed for the pond, if possible. I have a transit/level on order. Finish clearing that fence row, and keep it mowed/sprouts killed until it turns into more hay field. Get more grass established around the pond area. Hopefully it will "settle in" and quit losing most of the water gained by rains. Fish more, work less.

Hollywood this was my Wood Duck project about 4 years ago. You can see the critter trap made from stove pipe. The fence post surrounding the post are wired to it for lots of support when the wind blows hard with this big heavy wood duck house on top. The reason this pvc post doesn't break is because I have a 2x2 inch treated wood core inside the pvc pipe and then another pvc pipe slid over the first pvc pipe. Cheap but strong. I assembled this in about 3 feet of water because I wanted the ducklings to jump into the water when they entered their new life. But Wood Ducks don't use this house, Tree Swallows do. Where my Wood Ducks come from I don't know. My water fluxuates about 3 feet and this is at low water levels.

See what I mean. Tree Swallows
Don't do this. Embarrassing.

This is what I built.

Well.... I would like swallows too. But... They don't need a McMansion! The pond I expanded last July started getting wood ducks in to roost every evening shortly after. Not sure why they didn't use it before. Either it was too small for them to feel comfortable there, or there were too many trees to negotiate around getting in and out. I had up to about 50 coming in every evening until about the third week of September... Then... Gone. The increase in bird traffic at the expanded pond is incredible. Cedar waxwings by the dozens feeding on bug hatches over the ponds every evening. Kingfishers taking fatheads. Turkeys feeding in the clover around it. Great blue herons. (Grrrrrr) 4 mature bald eagles. Red tail hawks patrolling the new edges. It's quite a show, and I love watching it.

John M, that's funny upside down lol. I used 4" pvc to keep the snakes and coons out of the boxes. Last year was the first spring for the 2 wood duck boxes and I watched a couple of pairs look these places over for several days, but I never saw them use the boxes. They would swim up to the boxes and around the boxes. Built mine from cuts from Cypress trees, the outside cut of these trees looks pretty natural.

Tracy

I have many things I need to do. Hard to prioritize them.
I'd like to do wood duck houses, but that's been moved down the list.
I need to get some leak stopping polymers from TJ, and treat two suspected leak areas.
I need to get a disc, or something for my small tractor to expand my food plots. I need to get them in earlier, with year long attractors.
I need to add to the dock. So far I have two 10' X 4' sections going out into the water. I'd like to add a 8' X 20' section, but that's pretty expensive.
I'd like to run electric down to the pond. It's about 300 yards from the barn. Have lots to learn before this happens.
I need to start some plantings. At least I've settled on what to plant. (At waters edge, and in two area where the bank isn't as steep.)
I need to get two more deer stands, and get them in place.
Other than that, I just don't have that much to do.

I didn't mention that for the last several years I have had wood duck babies with their mother swimming in the pond. Where they are being born, raised and walked to the pond with mother I don't know. It's got to be a dangerous walk for the ducklings to the pond and that is the reason I built the wood duck house over water.

Years ago I built a dozen Blue Bird houses and got Tree Swallows which I really like. They are very exciting to watch doing their acrobatic flying.

Hollywood your pond sounds perfect. What great entertainment.

All of our ponds are perfect! It's our expectations that get twisted at times...
I have a couple bluebird boxes a friend gave me that I haven't had time to put up yet. Good to know the swallows take to them. I had swallows working the pond area a few times last summer and wondered if I could get them nesting there. I may try putting the boxes there instead of in the orchard. Are yours in the open on posts?

2016 plans: We are hoping to find a contractor to build twin ponds in two swales that are in a woods. I will be trying to construct a walleye spawning area down from a large field tile that will feed one of the ponds. My hope is to excavate a trench where the water runs in and fill it with stone/rock, but I am unsure if the wallaye will spawn in it. Not sure how deep the water should be over the rock, or what size rock to use either. We will also be continuing to cut and treat invasive honeysuckle in the woods, and have a few hundred more seedling trees to plant this spring. Our land is primarily being developed as wildlife habitat, and I do enjoy shaping it with lots of help from my wife and kids! Also will be installing a water control box on the exit tube for the newest pond and begin the multi-year process of raising the water level over the next few years (12" total over 3 years). Our experience with doing this on our first pond was that it really helped establish the marginal plants and bald cypress. Still a few days left on the late doe season, so I may take a walk if the rain takes a break.

2016 is retirement time! Feb to be exact. Still looking for our final farm for purchase as we speak. Seen many, missed out on a few, but hope to be in something by late spring/early summer. Not in a hurry, God will tell us when we find it!

Wood ducks sometimes won't use boxes if there are not trees on the pond around the box. Finicky they can be. On a hunting property lease a couple years ago, we put out or cleaned out around 35 boxes. We had @70% usage of the boxes. Put game cameras on a few on video setting and got several duckling drops! Cool to see that. Woodie hunting that fall was spectacular!

Happy New Year,
God Bless
Doug

I am going to re focus on koi removal, I have removed 16 so far but need to remove more. I am also am going to refocus on the two CG that need removal and work on getting some artificial grass beds established. I think the GSH need more recruitment.,

New Dock for me. Fixed dock with a 8x12 on the end of it. Floating docks are not what there cracked up to be IMO.

We just finished a new fishing shed for all the goodies.

And of course we are still working on the cabin starting to come along good though now. I need to post a few pics again.

RC

I would like to add additional rip-rap,add more sand below water level , expand my beach area,and install geotextile cloth and stone under the shelter house.
As far as wildlife management I would like to install bat boxes,martin houses and plant some Dunstan Chestnut trees,white pine trees,and some bamboo.

Congrats on your upcoming retirement and good luck with your property search! In your experience... Does this setup look like one the woodies would use? Box is on the far shore, to the left. Trees are about 15' behind it. It will get a guard on it before spring gets here.

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We put an 8x12 fishing shed this last summer to house fishing gear, fish traps, kayak, etc. next to the dock.

What I would like to add for 2016 is a fish cleaning station next to this shed. Maybe something like sprkplug did, with a roof, table, sink, concrete floor and a frost proof water hydrant to hook up to the sink.

Another pond has been in the "maybe" stage. Crops were on the proposed site this year and my foreman ask "could we at least get the crops off before you do?". So I held off this summer. That and the dozer stayed pretty busy and wife and I did a lot of motorcycle traveling. So no extra pond in 2015. Maybe 2016. I have mixed feelings about it. Have no problem at all building it as I enjoy running the equipment and have a 12 yard scraper and D6NXL dozer. My hesitation is that with the ponds we already have, geese and waterfowl are already a problem at times. I can just see that problem increase by putting another pond basically between our 3 acre pond and our old refurbished one acre pond. That is my biggest hesitation. One more pond to run off birds. It may get done anyway. Will see. If I see the dozer and scraper sitting there not doing anything and I have time on my hands, the temptation to move some dirt may be more than I can resist. Likely will be between 2/3 and 1 acre in size.

Most of the available coins this year have to go to asphalt the driveway but I am planning on doing some simple projects to improve forage in the pond and work on the food plots for the deer, turkey and other critters. Interesting to me is this winter the deer prefer browsing the old prairie areas I mowed and don't really want the new grass planted last fall (fescue, rye and bluegrass).

Bill, it is my observation that deer prefer natural browse over cereal grains.

For example, we got overly abundant rainfall for the 2nd year in a row. Thus, the acorn crop was again heavy and wild rye is everywhere. They don't have to move very far to eat and so didn't move around much. Thus, hunting has been lousy and even seeing a deer is unusual.

This Spring I'm probably getting with Joshua Flowers and using SoilFloc on my dam. I should have done it last Spring when I was dang near out of water. However, I just didn't believe the weather forecasts of El Nino.

Guys, I can only tell you of the food plots on my place and how the deer relate to these plots. The deer are in the food plots every day. The cereal grains like winter wheat, Elbon rye and Winter oats are what I plant each fall, along with reseeding some clover plots. These food plots are hit every day 365. If I knew how to post wild game camera pics to this site, I could show pics of some real nice bucks and does along with 5 to 7 month old fawns. After planting for several yr's now, I have learned what they like best at my place, and that reduces the time and cost of planting. The deer also hit the old growth clovers now but the primary feeding in the clover is early spring, Late Feb through May and June. My spring and summer food plots are of Eagle brand soybeans, iron clay peas mixed in with Sunn Hemp. all of this is put behind efenceing till It grows to 2 feet and then opened to the deer. Usually opened in June. This feeds through October. And then it all starts over again. I think snrub has more knowledge of growing than I will ever know of. but I really love the food plotting.
PS, I think Dave is right, the deer prefer browse, its there primary food stuff.
Tracy

Before I got half way through your post I was thinking to myself "he ought to try soybeans" and about then I read where you do.

We have thousands of acres of deer plots, but we wish the deer would stick with native forage. We actually try to harvest the deer plots for profit. We have what sometimes from a distance looks like a cattle herd grazing on soybeans.

You might also try just a small amount of corn seed mixed in your plot seed mix. Not a lot, just a little. It will give fall grazing. The deer really like the corn as it hardens up just beyond roasting ear stage all the way to harvest stage. They eat the tops off the ears and will eat some shucks when the corn is younger and the shucks are still green. The corn stalks standing up will also give some cover. You might find a farmer that has old seed to get rid of. Corn seed runs anywhere from 200-300 dollars for a bag of 80,000 kernals. With a 40' planter it is nearly impossible to end up with less than a bag or two wasted at the end of the year trying to make the last field planted "come out just right". Unfortunately lots of times it is more like 5 or 6 bags. We will save that seed and use it to finish up the next year, but we never save it over a single year so we nearly always have some bags of 2 year old seed siting around. Then we have to bury it to properly dispose because of the seed treatment involved (can't be used for feed). If you find a farmer with some seed like that, he likely will be glad to give it to you. The germination might be anywhere from perfect to as low as 25%, but enough will grow for your purposes. I would try to shoot for a stalk every 3-5'. Not so thick it shades out your other planting. Just an idea. I've never done it specifically to feed the deer, but they sure like the edges of our fields or any opening within such as a wash where they can walk in a ways.

I'm hoping the new job will allow me a little more free time this year. If so, I would like a forage pond. Not in the traditional sense mind you, but rather a place for me to forage. I want a food pond..one where I can go and catch a dozen fish for a meal, with relative ease.

My plan is to use pond #4 in that capacity, and the targeted species will be YP, HBG, WE, and HSB. The pond currently has BG, RES, and small LMB. I intend to leave them be, and add the new species. Esshup has already provided me with the YP, and I will add the HBG in the spring. Probably wait until next fall for the WE and HSB, unless a few become available early this spring.

Right now I do not intend to aerate, but will feed Optimal. The goal is not trophies, just solid numbers of 10-12" perch, and 1 pound plus HBG. Dinner.

Reading this post has made me realize that I'm not crazy! Or maybe more accurately I'm not the only crazy one!

New dock on the big pond, do some work on the old dock, plant grass seed in several places around both the big pond and the new forage pond, restock the new forage pond (with what I don't know yet), aeration on both the large and small ponds, food plot on the north end of the property here, hopefully buy a piece of property nearby to further expand the madness.

Of course I'll have to work 3 jobs to PAY for all that so not sure where the free time comes in to actually DO them...

I love it! My kind of pond!