# Wood Duck/Mallard Pond Size



## bslittle79 (May 24, 2004)

My brother's and I have been talking about building a duck pond on our land. We want something we can plant, flood, drain, and basically maintain verses the deeper ponds and small creek we have on our land. 

Our number one spot right now is on the edge of the woods around some pin oaks and we'd be able to use the pressure head from an existing pond to fill the duck pond. 

I've started doing a little research on pond size but was curious what the 2cool duck hunting experts would think is too small for wood ducks and mallards?

The land is between I-10 and 90A and between Hallettsville and Eagle Lake.


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## AvianQuest (Feb 7, 2006)

Size is, well, the bigger the better. However, it depends on the surrounding area. If the pond is part of a complex of ponds throughout the area, then ducks will be trading back and forth, and you will make yours more of a desirable draw with improved habitat and food plots.

If your pond is a stand-alone, then you need as much size as possible to draw ducks both as a feeding and roosting site if possible.

Don't need to drum up more business, but I'll be glad to answer your questions as your project progresses...

www.AvianQuest.com


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## Swamp Root (May 12, 2009)

Brian I would say a 1/4 acre is not too small but if I were you I would see if you can flood the oaks themselves and make a small timber hole... talk about some mallards and woodies!!


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## bslittle79 (May 24, 2004)

Our #1 spot has two ponds within a quarter mile radius. One pond is .5-1 acre and the other pond is 2-5 acres(never measured them just guessing). One of the existing ponds has ducks roosting on it every year but they do not feed there because it is very deep. I think if we can keep the cattle, deer, and hogs out of our duck pond until we flood it we'd have plenty of ducks.


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## Rubberback (Sep 9, 2008)

I have seen woodies in some real small ponds.They love acorns & you stated that you were gonna build a pond where pin oaks exist. You might wanna add a wood duck house. The woodies will come back time & time again to lay their eggs. I once had 19 houses & got into banding & monitoring their hatches for years. Very interesting plus your giving something back to nature.Their definitely a unique & beautiful duck. Good Luck.


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## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

I would make it as big and shallow as possible.... that way you will draw in more birds....

Be careful basing everything on wood duck hunts.... a property without alot of adjacent wooded holes wont be much good. You will end up killing every wood duck around if your hole is the only one.

You need to focus on food and flood control. If you have food, the ducks will come. We shot 14 mallards out of a low lying area on the edge of a pasture on Sunday. The size of the place (area with water) was about the size of a 1/2 ton truck. It was rediculous. I will try to upload some photos tonight to show you just how small of a bit of water ducks will come into.... Its like we were shooting them in a puddle of spit.


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## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

Also, I would not suggest hunting your roost spot.... it will be an awesome hunt.... a SINGLE awesome hunt.... lol

We hunted our roost on New Years because we didnt think we would be back..... we went back last weekend to check on it and the birds werent NEAR as thick as they were....

Hopefully it will bounce back for the Cancer Society hunt this wkend for the closer... im keeping my fingers crossed.


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## bslittle79 (May 24, 2004)

justin, 

I'd like to see some pictures your small pond. We've killed ducks in our area in ponds about the size of a basketball court's three point ring. But it was their roost and they were coming in, we'd shoot, they'd leave, and come right back. 

Making a good feeding spot is my goal.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

We had a pot hole about as big as a basketball court. Baited it up until 2 weeks from opening day. Waited 2 more weeks just to be sure and it was loaded will mallards and woodies. It don't have to be big. It needs to be shallow cause they aren't diving ducks and they will come.


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## ~BUCKSHOT~ (Jul 9, 2009)

I just want to hunt it!!LOL


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## Sight Cast (May 24, 2004)

I would say let me come check it out around mid dec next year and I'll tell ya!!!!!


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## turbosdad (Oct 31, 2008)

You might call your local DU person. They might come out and give you some very educated answers.

Good luck


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## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

Not just any DU person though... its got to be one of their biologists....

If you want to do it right, then get in touch with a private firm that does work with wetland restoration and construction. 

Let me know if you would be interested in that and where your place is located. Im hunting with a bunch of Ecologists and Biologists this week that do work for all the big land companies and mitigation banks.


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## deke (Oct 5, 2004)

Brian, a couple acres will be fine, and make sure to do your levees correctly, over build them. And make sure to use a good draining device, the board system is fine, but since this is your property, you guys can get some pre made stuff that will allow you to control your depth with a turn of the handle. As far as food source to plant, ,millet and smart weed, but If I remember right you have to wait longer than a year to hunt over planted millet. Have fun, sounds like a cool project, you are lucky.


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## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

Ok... finally uploaded.... Below is a picture of where we hunted Sunday. It wasnt a pond or a known honey hole.... we were just driving around Saturday afternoon changing locks on gates and when we looked across the pasture, it looked like a bunch of mojos. So thats where we set up Sunday morning....

Here is what the spot looked like while pulling up to it....










And heres what we pulled out of it in 2 hours. I wanted to take this pic specifically to show how small this place was.... we could only fit 8 decoys in it.










It is important to note that there are varioius tanks and small lakes on this property, including 4 large sloughs, many tiny flooded timber holes and a large roost slough.

This hunt just goes to show that if the ducks want to be there, they will be.

It was actually kind of a tough shoot. Ducks were TOO close and we burned up alot of shells. Thank goodness they were coming in as singles and doubles.


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## seabo (Jun 29, 2006)

justinsfa said:


> Also, I would not suggest hunting your roost spot.... it will be an awesome hunt.... a SINGLE awesome hunt.... lol
> 
> We hunted our roost on New Years because we didnt think we would be back..... we went back last weekend to check on it and the birds werent NEAR as thick as they were....
> 
> Hopefully it will bounce back for the Cancer Society hunt this wkend for the closer... im keeping my fingers crossed.


 we hunted roosts on new years eve too h: .. back in the day. and no they don't usually come back.


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## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

seabo said:


> we hunted roosts on new years eve too h: .. back in the day. and no they don't usually come back.


I should note, we hunted ours in the morning time..... lol


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## bslittle79 (May 24, 2004)

Deke - we'll have all the heavy equipment, survey equipment, gate valves, hdpe pipe and concrete culverts we'll need.  My brother is thinking about putting a fire hydrant on our siphon line. But if the elevations don't work out we'll probably just pump the water in if we have a dry spell. 

Justin - after seeing your pictures it gave me the idea of catching some of our pasture next to the existing pond and then some of the woods. It will be easier to make the pond bigger this way. Plus catch the run off from the pond. 

If the ducks don't show we should be knee deep in hogs. Maybe both.


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## InfamousJ (May 21, 2004)

triple f would be a good resource on building ponds.. he does them for DU


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## C4E (Jul 9, 2008)

Just a thought...

I read somethin awhile back, in DU i believe, that said that 10 1 acre ponds are better than 1 10 acre pond.

X2 Triple f is who you needa talk to for sure


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## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

There is another thread everybody is discussing what to plant to improve waterfowl habitat that is going on right now.

Look for the link that Deebo provided.... PERFECT for what you are looking for.


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## Barber2678 (Feb 18, 2010)

Rather than building a pond, I would consider constructing a levee with a control structure that you can use to back up water (6" -24" deep) on a couple of acres. You just need some relatively flat ground and shoot grades to see where the levee needs to be placed. The levee should not be more than 24" high. You can drain it when you need to, plant when appropriate, etc. If you have the equipment, you have the expensive part licked.


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## specktackler (Mar 6, 2006)

I was googling some info and ran across this older thread..I was wondering if the pond ever got built..and how did it work out?


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## LandLocked (Apr 28, 2005)

Good problem ya got there!!!

Oh man, that green shoot in newly flooded ankle deep water sho nuff brings back memories. We use ro spank um HARD in stuff like that!!!


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