Making a water hole ( small one ).

[dreaming bucks]

Anybody ever make themselves a small waterhole, and by small, I mean like 3' x 3' ? A buddy of mine swears by it ! If you don't have a major water source around, the deer will hit this little water hole alot, especially during the Rut... I am going to try it this year.. He pretty much just lets the rain water fill it up, but I think right towards the end of October he goes and fills it up, so the deer have plenty to drink.... He said once they find it, they will show up later in the year time after time for a free drink... Sounds like it should work, just wondering if anyone has had any luck trying this tactic ? I believe he used some sort of a plastic container to hold the water in, so it just doesn't seep away into the ground... Holds about 15 gal I believe he said...

[PredatorTC]

have you been able to pick up the hill country DVD?? Im not sure about the refiling it part because of the extra scent, but i do know they talk about water holes a lot in this DVD

If you have not checked out the DVD, here is the video trailer. This short clip has three of the water hole kills in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiZVKfaaqe4

[dan]

Should work if placed in the right spot.

[Black Squirrel]

On Sunday, while turkey hunting I saw two deer drink out of a puddle on the edge of a field. Like Dan said, I don't see why it wouldn't work if placed in the right spot.

[Casper]

I made a 4x4 one last summer. It held water up until late Oct. Deer hit it really hard and it was in a good location. But warning.... if you put a trail camera over it, bad pics may come out of it

[dreaming bucks]

ha,ha that's funny..... ya, my buddy had a ton of pictures of coon, turkeys, squirrels, hawks and deer at the hole.. Alot of the deer were at night though. It was a cool picture of the Red tailed hawk, it was useing it like a bird feeder and taking a bath...

[Lookin 4 Pny]

A small kiddie pool will work but not necessary if you have clay type soils. We built one about 50 yards off a field in a low swale that ran off from the field. Even during dry periods there was a slow seep of water that would flow through. We simply placed a 2x12 across the flow of water, braced it with big rocks and filled in the gaps with dirt. The dam creates about a 4 ft circle of water, 12" deep. Because it is always running the water stays pretty clean and algae free. After big storms when surface runoff comes through we may have to dig out some of the sediment but over all it is easy and has been there 6-7 years. Kiddie pool would do the same thing. I have heard of guys using sheet plastic as a "gutter" to funnel water to a flush buried pool.

[martin peters]

Ask Singing Bridge about his experience on this topic. He should have some relative input.

[Singing Bridge]

Just over a year ago, I put in place a livestock heavy duty rubber water tub off to the side of a big bucks bed on the prevailing downwind side of a bluff, in a remote wilderness area. It was placed in the bottom of a dry creek bed, rock lined, that drained the bluff every time it rained. Whenever it rained the tub was refilled to the top with fresh water. I spot checked it in August, and was thrilled to find whitetail, moose and black bear hitting my water tub. If you look at the first pic below, you can see the ground churned up on the top and right side of the tub. I placed the log on the left side of the tub to position the buck, as it stuck up about a foot or so and they don't like having to straddle a log.



I found large, clumped deer droppings from the buck, along with his 4 finger wide walking tracks, next to the water tub:



I also had a moose watering from the tub:



And a black bear watering there, he scratched up this tree and I found black bear hair on the bark:



This water tub is many, many hours drive from my home. I first hunted it in early October, and heard the buck approaching from his bed 20 minutes before dark. Before I got a visual, he let out a soft snort and vanished. He had winded me, and I thought I had played the thermals well enough (not). I returned to hunt it again in the late prerut- poor planning on my part, as the tub was filled with hundreds and hundreds of maple leaves from leaf drop- including about a foot of extra leaves over the top of the tub- lessson learned.

[Jim]

I used an old satelite dish, plugged the mounting holes with bolts and caulked, placed near a bedding area in a shaded area and out of the wind, rain water keeps it filled. Originally had it buried, but with all of the activity all of the dirt was pushed to the middle so I had to dig it out, its been this way for 6 or 7 years. It has only been dry one time, I think the wind is a major factor in evaporation as I have other "ponds" that are exposed to wind and they tend to dry up quickly.

[dan]

Awesome Pic Jim... Welcome to the BEAST!