Jeanie here with a few notes on water holes and Aquatic Food Plots™
Water and specific aquatic plants Aquatic Food Plots™ can be introduced almost anywhere to attract and hold deer, turkeys, waterfowl and other wildlife;
• Especially if no other water is nearby
• Even if other water is nearby, they will come for the minerals, plants, location, relationship to cover…
Here are a few items to consider:
• Location: near food, cover, bedding, stands, cabin
• Changing or creating travel corridors
• Create several ponds at different locations
• Soil types, soil modeling, wildlife activity around test holes, minerals in soil
• Sources of water-we offer 13 ways to fill and maintain water levels
• Ponds don’t need to be big, but they can be
• Ponds don’t need to be deep, but they can be
Design and construction: primary purpose, size, depth, shape, cost
Lined vs unlined
o Lined ponds can be constructed anywhere, any elevation, any shape, any depth
o Lined ponds can cost less, elevation can be brought up to grade with less excavation
o Lined ponds can be created in natural ditches, gullies, ravines or draws
o Lined ponds can remain clearer and age slower than earthen ponds
o Trees, shrubs, plants do not affect water level fluctuations
o Nearby large willow and cottonwood trees can consume 1,000 gallons of water per day
o In earthen ponds, water can leak out through tree roots on pond edges or dykes
**** Liners don’t leak ****
• Cover around pond for security
• Sunlight for aquatic plant growth
• Trim tree canopy on the south side to allow sunlight on north side or other sides
Aquatic plant selection primarily based on water clarity, location, chemistry, depth, sunlight and pH
Aquatic Food Plots™ are sought after and consumed by deer, turkey, waterfowl and muskrats
Aquatic Food Plots™ can grow in muck, soil or between rocks
Plants or tubers are easy to plant
Newly planted tubers or plants may need to be protected with fencing or chicken wire for the first year until the roots become established
Once Aquatic Food Plots™ are established, they will spread
• Other native aquatic and shoreline plants can be added for natural habitat, filtering, nutrient uptake and shoreline stabilization
• Add stumps, logs and rocks for additional habitat and to create a natural look
When wildlife is in or near a pond, deer and other wildlife feel secure. Wildlife and deer concentrate their attention to the water and other wildlife and less on the hunter
We will be at the Madison Deer and Turkey Expo - Aquatic Biologists, Inc. booth 617 April 5, 6 & 7
We have a few hundred tubers for sale there (plants won't be ready until June or July)
Jeanie
http://www.aquaticbiologists.com/about- ... life-ponds
