# water trough to attract doves



## barbless (Jul 27, 2004)

I've had this water trough up for about a month and put it out to attract doves. My place is above Del Rio and water is scarce. I have great dove hunting on this place mainly because it has lots of dove weed. Last winter while deer hunting I saw a hole in slab rock that was 1/2 the size of a trash can lid and had water in it. There must of been 75 doves around it and it got me to thinking about having a permanent water source for them (and deer, turkey, quail, etc). Deer have found it but it doesn't seem to be attracting doves and there are lots of them flying around. This weekend I spread some milo out around and near the trough hoping it makes a difference. I'm wondering if the white color is the problem. I put the rocks in there to give the doves more area to land on and cut down on the evaporation. What do you think, why aren't the doves taking advantage of it?


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## hog_down (Jan 11, 2010)

I would make it ground level and put a concrete bottom to it, and reinforce the concrete with chicken wire. Kind of like a big, open shallow bath tub. Do you have cattle on your place?

You would be amazed at the amount of wildlife that would be attracted to a permanent water source in west TX.


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## Bull Red Daddy (Oct 7, 2006)

It could be the water level is too low. I know that doves will land on the outer rim of a trough & drink, but have no experience as to whether they will land on the rocks in the middle of the trough. We had a trough on our lease that was a jam-up dove spot. The water level was always within an inch or so from the top edge of the trough. The trough cracked & when they put in the replacement, they set the float to fill to about 2 1/2" from the top & the doves couldn't reach the water. They completely abandoned that trough until we reset the float.


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## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

Good post!! I think your on the right track with the rocks but may still be a little to deep. We have a big problems with crackles in our cow troughs. Once I decided to re set the floats deeper in the trough, about four inches from the top, they couldn't reach it and all but left it alone. Good idea, the best bird spot I ever had was were a trough would overflow and made a little shallow spot about 10 yards wide. Dove flocked in by the hundreds to drink from it. Just FYI we never hunted over the little water hole but about 100 yards away. This allowed them to still come into the water and it didn't ruin the spot. I would keep seeding the snot out of it to.



Bull Red Daddy said:


> It could be the water level is too low. I know that doves will land on the outer rim of a trough & drink, but have no experience as to whether they will land on the rocks in the middle of the trough. We had a trough on our lease that was a jam-up dove spot. The water level was always within an inch or so from the top edge of the trough. The trough cracked & when they put in the replacement, they set the float to fill to about 2 1/2" from the top & the doves couldn't reach the water. They completely abandoned that trough until we reset the float.


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## Garwood57 (Jul 1, 2007)

Just like Rack Ranch, some of the best South Texas dove hunting around water was a cattle water trough that overflowed and made a small watering hole maybe 30 yards from the trough in a clearing of mesquite. It was crazy action!


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

X2


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## Heavy D (Jul 10, 2013)

I've run across the same situation in seeing that doves like the puddles at ground level especially if there is a little gravel around. I've thought about creating the same type of waterhole except digging it down below grade about 1-2 inches so it resembles a puddle. You could use a piece of pond liner as an inexpensive way to hold the water and if a little mud/dirt falls in it, it will look eve more realisitic as far as being a natural watering spot. Installing a drum close by full of water with float switch.


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## barbless (Jul 27, 2004)

Thanks for the posts. It's hard to tell from the photo but the rocks are sticking up just barely above the water so if they land on the rocks it's no problem reaching the water. Maybe they won't land on them, I don't know. I'm going back out there next weekend and will see if they're using it. If not I'll raise the water level up close to the edges and see if that works. Maybe they'll only use the edges. That trough weighs 300-400 lbs and I really strained my milk sitting that thing up, not to mention the $$ I've got in it.


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## pg542 (Oct 9, 2006)

Just a thought:: Is area pretty wide open around the trough? I mean from the perspective of a dove. Maybe there's to much cover around it and they don't feel safe from predation there.....Just a thought............ I'm out in Carta Valley and I know what you mean about scarce water. We have to keep troughs going, haulin water etc.


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## barbless (Jul 27, 2004)

pg542 - you betcha, it's in a wide open area; no brush near it. The flat it's in also has lots of dove weed and during the season it's pretty popular. I put the 275 gal water tote that feeds it back in the brush and ran a pipe to the trough.


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## pg542 (Oct 9, 2006)

barbless said:


> pg542 - you betcha, it's in a wide open area; no brush near it. The flat it's in also has lots of dove weed and during the season it's pretty popular. I put the 275 gal water tote that feeds it back in the brush and ran a pipe to the trough.


 I wouldn't give up on the spot. Maybe all it would take is for one to find it and then he can tell his friends. They've probably been knowing about the flat rock puddle for a long time and as precious as water is around there, once they find your oasis, they'll be back. How far are you from the lake?


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## Johnny9 (Sep 7, 2005)

Doves like a tank with no grass on the sides. Makes them feel safer. Most good dove tanks have just dirt about 5-10 from water edge. Does your water hole have any grass near, from picture is looks just rocky.?


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## fin&feather (Jun 24, 2008)

white wings come to my pond each evening, but only if the waterfall is running.. wonder if you can get one of those small 12v pumps to run off a old solar panel?


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## MLK (Oct 5, 2009)

Like RackRanch mentioned, looks like the water level is a little low, if the birds cant just walk in and have to reach down to low, they may not be attracted to the water. Out in the sweetwater area where we have a family ranch, we have several miles of water line ran from a well. I have been making water stations at the faucet locations by digging a hole in the sand usually about feet deep by feet wide and then mixing quick crete concrete and sculpting the concrete into the dug out hole. this makes like a birdbath on the ground. the dove, quail, deer, hogs and other wildlife frequent these waters on a regular basis. also when hunting dove from these, we also stay about 50-75 yards from the water hole to not ruin the hole. don't like to sit over the water and shoot the birds off of it. Good luck and great idea. if the water trough that you are using is self contained, you may try partially burying it and see if you can run it at a fuller level.


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## barbless (Jul 27, 2004)

pg542, I'm 20 minutes from Rough Canyon Marina. 

Thanks for all the ideas. I'm going back out there this coming weekend and I'll see if they're coming to it. I'm gonna set up a game cam too. If doves aren't using it I'll raise the water level to near the top edges and see if that helps. If that doesn't do it I'll shovel dirt up against the sides and ramp up to the top.


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

water.. doves... they want an open area to see predators...
a shallow tank/ditch w/o any veg nearby...
that's why during late summer/early fall, we always had a good dove shoot on a half-dry tank. 
weedy tanks weren't any good.


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