I have a 7-acre cattle pond surrounded by cow pastures. Usually there are several geese that are on the pond almost year round. There are occasional ducks that land on the pond but it is very rare. I threw a few decoys out in order to draw some attention possibly. Is there any tips or advice to help me pull in more ducks or grab the attention of more ducks?
how to attract ducks to a farm pond
GA Waterfowler
21 - 23 of 23 Posts
You can bring new ducks to an area by feeding them because I've done it multiple times on ponds where there was little to none before. However, in order to keep a decent number of birds in an area using the pond you have to have a lot of food. Just planting millet or rice in a pond will bring birds in especially if you're in a good flyway but it won't keep them very long they'll eat it out in a few weeks and then be gone. Imprinting in my experience doesn't work we tried it with corn before the season (all of it was removed 2 weeks before hunting as per our state regulations) had a lot of birds using our pond but once we removed the corn they left. Ducks and geese are driven by their hunger where the food is they will go you just have to have enough to keep them coming back.
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140 Posts
Natural pond weeds (milfoil, hydrilla, duck potato etc..) all grow in water and will draw ducks. Plant rice in the shallow sections that get full sunlight (1-2' deep) and plant millet on the edges of the pond.
Wood duck nesting boxes and mallard nesting boxes always help. Throwing some molasses in the pond (don't hunt over) helps draw birds as well...
I used to hunt GA a lot, now I drive West to catch ducks but keep the pressure down and you'll have some ducks. If you're near a creek or river you are set. If not might take a while for the birds to really find it...
Remember you want birds to imprint on your property not avoid it. Not hunting the pond and planting for waterfowl for 1-2 yrs may be your best bet, if you're patient
Wood duck nesting boxes and mallard nesting boxes always help. Throwing some molasses in the pond (don't hunt over) helps draw birds as well...
I used to hunt GA a lot, now I drive West to catch ducks but keep the pressure down and you'll have some ducks. If you're near a creek or river you are set. If not might take a while for the birds to really find it...
Remember you want birds to imprint on your property not avoid it. Not hunting the pond and planting for waterfowl for 1-2 yrs may be your best bet, if you're patient
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25 Posts
I have a 4 acre pond I've been working on for 4 years. I've planted sago pondweed in the water >2', arrow arum in the shallows, smartweed on the shoreline and millet within 6' of waterline then corn surrounding. I have a wire fence blind in the corn. Plant corn in/around the blind and then just knock down the stalks inside and you have a ready-camo'd blind. I've hunted it light and getting more and more coming every year. The pond plants have spread and ready to start hunting more. Water was so low this year I planted millet in the exposed edges. Hope to have a good season!
21 - 23 of 23 Posts
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