Water Depth in feeding ducks

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Well yesterday I went to the impound to begin the process of draining water off the 40 acres I flooded there were a dozen ducks near the blind. Well I was able to pull 24 inches of riser boards out. I let it drain over night and went back today to see about 50 ducks around the blind. You could clearly see the dark mud where the water was. My question is did duck use increase because I lowered the water depth? I have noticed they favor the south end which is the shallowest part. Depth around the blind was about 20" not sure what it is now. I'll continue to pull riser boards through the week until the crop field is drained

 

[cmn]

you will find ducks almost always like to feed where the water is the most shallow. I am talking about puddle ducks. I see them in fields where there is only sheet water due to rain. I try to keep my fields just deep enough to float a decoy and have some movement

 

[KPH]

I have seen them use less than a inch.

 

[prstide]

Around 5" is what they prefer.

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Guess thats part of the learning process. Wished I known that tidbit during season. I just assumed more water more ducks

 

[Dodge Man]

Water levels need to be different for different types of food. If you are flooding corn you need the water 6"-8" below the ears so the ducks can feed but the corn is not wet. If you have millet or other grain you want the water level 6"-8" below the head of the seeds.

Late in the season ducks are eating insects, snails and other things like that in shallow water to build up fat for there migration back North. You would probably be better off with deeper water through the season and maybe lower the levels the last week or 2. But the really shallow water is more likely to freeze in cold temps.

 

[Grnwing]

Rising water will always draw birds into a new area, falling water will see birds move on. Moist soil management fields usually keep the water levels below 2ft along with a fluctuating water level can give you season full of good hunts. As mentioned before different seeds and invertebrates are more readily available at different depths. I would say the ideal field would be slowly flooded over the season and use a layout blind to hunt the freshly flooded sections of the field. Most fields are set up with a pit or blind in the center and aren't as mobil and end up having the birds land just out of range as they move to a different section of the field. I had a great public land hunt in Utah where I walked across a dry field to the edge where the field was being flooded. I had a group of hunters ask me in the morning if I knew it was a dry field as I was getting ready to pack into my spot, I said yes and took off across the dry field. 30 minutes after legal, I am walking back out with my birds and they haven't fired the first shot. They were hunting were the birds were several days ago and not hunting the current conditions. It is too easy to hunt a memory and not the current conditions! I use the same basic principle on flood timber hunts.

 

[MickThompson]

I'd leave water a few more weeks. Ducks are starting to move north again, and some may remember it when they come back, especially if everyone else is already drawing down.


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[Viney Pond VOL]

Knee deep---Knee deep to a duck that is! 2 inches

 

[Randy5213]

Just enough to float a decoy

 

[scn]

All of the above about the extremely shallow water is 100% true. Another factor to throw in for the actual hunting is that the more shallow the water, the faster it totally freezes up when the cold weather hits. Some deeper water holes will take longer to freeze and/or give you the ability to break ice and still hunt a little.

 

[X-Tennessean]

I went by my bottom last weekend, the duck hole was at normal level which is an average of 2' by the blind and deeper the closer you get to the levee. There was 20-30 birds sitting there but in the field next to it there was a "mud hole" and you could not put another duck or goose in it or within 40 yards of it!! 3-400 birds sitting there and another wad about 100 yards away.

 

[Cotis]

As cold as it was this year, it doesn't matter how deep the water is, it froze up. Busting ice that thick just sucks, I won't do it again.