Jump to content

Duck pond


bumpy22
 Share

Recommended Posts

Looking for some info on ducks. I have a farm where I am thinking of setting up a duck shoot. Field floods regular and is surrounded by ditches that hold duck. Plan is to dig pond in field and put down a few hundred ducks. Obviously this is a very early stages a few basic questions?

How big would the pond need to be ?

How early do you put ducks down? 

Any other tips would be great thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think you could run an entire Duck shoot from one pond, you would need a network of ponds to push them around. As someone else said far better dig a nice sized flight pond, feed it every day from August onwards and hopefully build up a good flight of wild duck. Nothing like the buzz of a gang of Teal screaming in 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest topshot_2k

If you can put in a pond then go for it, preferably with an island in the centre but I would plant it up properly and improve the existing habitat, put in a few nesting boxes and then just feed it up for evening flights. You will get far better shooting from the wild mallard and teal you pull in.

Edited by topshot_2k
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, ninjaferret said:

You can't just dig a hole and expect it to hold water.......what are you going to line it with and how will you clean it out ? Ducks can **** for england

We are on Somerset levels, scrape 2ft off the area making sure water from ditches go in then back out... Keeps it clean that way. Also @bumpy22 id suggest just feeding and flights, putting remote controlled ducks down imo is a bit to easy for the guns... 

1 hour ago, topshot_2k said:

If you can put in a pond then go for it, preferably with an island in the centre but I would plant it up properly and improve the existing habitat, put in a few nesting boxes and then just feed it up for evening flights. You will get far better shooting from the wild mallard and teal you pull in.

This, a few nesting tubes would do the job and much better shooting the flights

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As said above. We used to just release a dozen or so as call ducks on each pond and they rarely got off unless pressed but because we had food there ALL the time it pulled a lot of ducks and it was rare if we didn't flush 40 or 50 teal as well as mallard.     Feed almost every day and don't overshoot....once a month is good practise. They learn very quickly.

I had an evening on flighting mallard in Denmark a few years ago and as we approached the pool a few ducks departed and I noticed a very large pile of something close to the edge. On examination it was wheat and my friend said they tip about 16ton in one go and the ducks eat their way into it.  The two of us shot 35 mallard between us in an hour and a half that evening and they kept coming after we stopped shooting .  They only shot that pool once a month and stopped after one hour of shooting. He stayed longer with me as a guest.

Regarding the pond/pool , then excavate it and leave a largish island in the centre which you can plant up with bushes and one or two trees....remember trees suck up a lot of water.

Tail off one end where it will be shallow for feeding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On our rough shoot there is a pond which we feed and it is frequented by wild ducks throughout the season. Great for flighting first thing in the morning and at dusk, but I wouldn’t entertain putting ducks down on it really. 
On one of the shoots I used to beat, which had four large ponds, reared ducks would either not get off the water at all, no matter what you did, or just lift off enmasse and disappear. Very rarely did they perform as was wanted. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Scully said:

On our rough shoot there is a pond which we feed and it is frequented by wild ducks throughout the season. Great for flighting first thing in the morning and at dusk, but I wouldn’t entertain putting ducks down on it really. 
On one of the shoots I used to beat, which had four large ponds, reared ducks would either not get off the water at all, no matter what you did, or just lift off enmasse and disappear. Very rarely did they perform as was wanted. 

Over the years I have only seen the odd reared duck shoot that produced some half decent birds, the rest were just low bird bag fillers and as you say they almost become like park ducks semi tame and reluctant to fly no matter what you do.

Give me a well feed pond with wild duck any day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Idea came from one I had a invite on this year. Fifty mallard were shot and then time was called. It was a mixture of wild duck but they put down a few hundred aswell. I did not think they were going to fly aswell as they did. But it was some quite interesting shooting.which got me thinking

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, old'un said:

Over the years I have only seen the odd reared duck shoot that produced some half decent birds, the rest were just low bird bag fillers and as you say they almost become like park ducks semi tame and reluctant to fly no matter what you do.

Give me a well feed pond with wild duck any day.

Ditto. In my experience anyhow. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Perazzishot said:

HyFly and Jenkinson's in Lancashire have an exceptional network of ponds and bomb holes that they release many ducks on and manage to shoot the wholes season with good bags 2-3 times a week, with some of the cheapest and most sporting targets around.

If done properly it can be very successfully

Yes the one I was on said they were booked up and could sell days many times over. Seemed very established and have friends that have shot there for a few years. So got me thinking 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, FOXHUNTER1 said:

Stick to wild duck if you can m8 , released duck are seldom very good . Can become very tame and dont want to fly. 

This was my worry mate. Thanks for your input

1 hour ago, mossy835 said:

one farm i shoot on they let some one put ducks on, they were tame they had to put the dogs in to get they off the water.they would get off then do a fly round the pond and back in.easy shooting.the owner of the farm  said no more.

Same again dave. Thanks for your input mate. Hope you are well

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went beating on a local shoot about 10 yrs ago that had a flight pond, ducks wouldn't shift until dogs jumped in the water. 20 plus ducks just sat there and watched us all approach and only a few flew when the dogs entered the water. Pointless, the farmer ended up landscaping the pond and stocking it with fish 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...