Managing a flight pond -- help!!

[Guest]

Archived from groups: uk.rec.shooting.game (More info?)

My landowners have dug a very nice flight pond behind my house.
It extends to at least half an acre and will be over four foot
deep in places with a gentle slope to the edges.

I have of course been feeding it but visitors are variable. All
mallard so far and there will be no duck for a week or several,
then up to 25 in rough weather. It is nicely sheltered amongst
trees, which I'm told mallard like, but will probably freeze
next month.

I have been advised that the duck will arrive when the weather
gets colder and the stubbles are ploughed in. Also, not to shoot
more than once a month and to stop before the flight ends. The
feed at the moment is high quality screenings (75% malting
barley) but I hope to get potatoes. Will duck still feed on top
of ice?

BTW, we have another pond which is rarely deeper than 12 - 18
inches. This one is in the open and the visitors are mostly
widgeon and teal. I fed it sporadically last winter and saw up
to 50 duck flighting in. Other nights there were only a handful.
But it was very variable.

Some say I ought not to feed as this will encourage mallard
which discourage widgeon. I have since been told that flights
will coincide with high tides and as these duck usually arrive
fairly late, shoots ought to be planned for a full moon. Any
suggestions?

Derry

 

[Dave]

Archived from groups: uk.rec.shooting.game (More info?)

Hello Derry,
You'll find that ducks will often flight erratically under the moon,
sometimes coming in early, others late and the result can often be a long
and fruitless wait. The ducks will feed on ice but like some open water, it
may be possible to give them a small amount of clear water by floating a
"boom" in the pond when the more severe weather arrives. At the moment due
to the stubbles and the availability of other foods the ducks are still
widespread. As the stubbles are ploughed in and the weather gets colder the
birds will look for their food in places that they've found it readily
available, hopefully your ponds. I would advise you to keep feeding them,
feed 2 or 3 areas don't concentrate all the feed in one particular area,
that way you give the birds a better chance of finding the grain. Feed at
regular intervals and increase the amount if necessary as more birds visit,
usually 2 to 3 buckets full scattered around the ponds fringes every couple
of days are sufficient to start with. Scatter the grain in the shallow areas
ie 12" to 18" deep or less, Mallard and Teal are "dabbling" ducks ie they
reach down the length of their necks and upper bodies by "up ending" to feed
on grain. Wigeon will also frequently graze grassy areas round the pond,
they will feed quite happily on the same areas together. The time interval
between your flights should be governed by the amount of birds using the
ponds but I would advise against shooting more frequently than once a
fortnight. On the foreshore where we shoot, we used to shoot 4 nights one
after the other and then leave the area unshot for the other 3 nights but
obviously the situation is different on an estuary to an inland pond. Tides
do govern the flight patterns of ducks and geese usually but if there are
islands where they can rest above high tide level then the tides do not have
as much effect.
Hope this helps
Regards
Dave
www.kwacs.freeserve.co.uk wildfowling / shooting based website

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: uk.rec.shooting.game (More info?)

"Dave" <deecee@theflykwacs.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in
news:ck4t6d$kpm$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk:

> Hello Derry,
> You'll find that ducks will often flight erratically under
> the moon, sometimes coming in early, others late and the
> result can often be a long and fruitless wait. The ducks
> will feed on ice but like some open water, it may be
> possible to give them a small amount of clear water by
> floating a "boom" in the pond when the more severe weather
> arrives. At the moment due to the stubbles and the
> availability of other foods the ducks are still widespread.
> As the stubbles are ploughed in and the weather gets colder
> the birds will look for their food in places that they've
> found it readily available, hopefully your ponds. I would
> advise you to keep feeding them, feed 2 or 3 areas don't
> concentrate all the feed in one particular area, that way
> you give the birds a better chance of finding the grain.
> Feed at regular intervals and increase the amount if
> necessary as more birds visit, usually 2 to 3 buckets full
> scattered around the ponds fringes every couple of days are
> sufficient to start with. Scatter the grain in the shallow
> areas ie 12" to 18" deep or less, Mallard and Teal are
> "dabbling" ducks ie they reach down the length of their
> necks and upper bodies by "up ending" to feed on grain.
> Wigeon will also frequently graze grassy areas round the
> pond, they will feed quite happily on the same areas
> together. The time interval between your flights should be
> governed by the amount of birds using the ponds but I would
> advise against shooting more frequently than once a
> fortnight. On the foreshore where we shoot, we used to
> shoot 4 nights one after the other and then leave the area
> unshot for the other 3 nights but obviously the situation
> is different on an estuary to an inland pond. Tides do
> govern the flight patterns of ducks and geese usually but
> if there are islands where they can rest above high tide
> level then the tides do not have as much effect.
> Hope this helps
> Regards
> Dave
> www.kwacs.freeserve.co.uk wildfowling / shooting based
> website
>
>
>
>

Excellent! Thanks Dave.

Derry

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: uk.rec.shooting.game (More info?)

Derry - I manage a flight pond on my shoot here, we shoot about 70 canada geese
anually on our first flight.

We shoot once a fortnight throughout the season and the ducks dont seem to mind
at all but if you shoot more than this you run a risk of scaring the pond too
much and loosing them all.

The trick I find is to put loads of feed down, but just beside the pond, not in
the pond.
You can still go and put your barley just on the edge of the water as usual but
having a huge pile of food there 24/7 is a good bird puller and you'll probably
find that more mallard will come to the pond as theyre greedy little buggers.

I get plenty of teal too, the water is about 10ft deep in most of the pond
which is roughly 2.5 acres in size. Again, they like the pile of grub!

Another thing you could consider is beans if you cant get hold of potatoes.
And yes - ducks will feed on ice...I've seen the before with thier legs frozen
in the water.
Sometimes in winter you might find that floating a plank of wood or a
scaffholding board on the pond with a weight under-water to stop it drifting
will help prevent all the water freezing over and the ducks will be very
grateful and they'll use it to sit on when theyre not feeding too.

Hope this helps!

Matty

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: uk.rec.shooting.game (More info?)

flintwooduk@aol.com (FLINTWOODUK) wrote in
news:20041009125912.03319.00001358@mb-m25.aol.com:

> Derry - I manage a flight pond on my shoot here, we shoot
> about 70 canada geese anually on our first flight.
>
> We shoot once a fortnight throughout the season and the
> ducks dont seem to mind at all but if you shoot more than
> this you run a risk of scaring the pond too much and
> loosing them all.
>
> The trick I find is to put loads of feed down, but just
> beside the pond, not in the pond.
> You can still go and put your barley just on the edge of
> the water as usual but having a huge pile of food there
> 24/7 is a good bird puller and you'll probably find that
> more mallard will come to the pond as theyre greedy little
> buggers.
>
> I get plenty of teal too, the water is about 10ft deep in
> most of the pond which is roughly 2.5 acres in size. Again,
> they like the pile of grub!
>
> Another thing you could consider is beans if you cant get
> hold of potatoes. And yes - ducks will feed on ice...I've
> seen the before with thier legs frozen in the water.
> Sometimes in winter you might find that floating a plank of
> wood or a scaffholding board on the pond with a weight
> under-water to stop it drifting will help prevent all the
> water freezing over and the ducks will be very grateful and
> they'll use it to sit on when theyre not feeding too.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> Matty
>
>

Hi Matty,

This is a totally new pond. Previously this was a wet patch that
formed a puddle in wet weather but was normally dry. But
the ownrs got a track laying machine in and it made a
very good job. The contractor has done a lot of work for
the RSPB. There's a picture at
http://www.adviegundogs.co.uk/buyadvie.htm. It has now filled to
well above the excavated rim.

I gather I have to be very gentle with the mallard the first
year. Yes, I like the idea of the big heap and it makes sense,
especially as I am way up north and it regularly gets to >10
degree below! A lot of these duck will be migratory.

Last year I intended to make a mini-heap at the splash in the
open as I had a trailer load of excellent screenings. But I got
the Land Rover and trailer bogged and ended up taking half the
load out in bags on the quad to the pheasant feeders and
shovelling the rest off into one large heap about three foot
high!(Getting the LR and trailer out single landed one week
after major surgery is another story!)

A lot of duck came to the heap and it had actually disappeared
by Spring! Roe deer were also coming in to feed on it. I didn't
do much that year but if I can get another load of screenings I
was hoping to repeat the performance (without getting bogged!)
on that pond at least. I would also move a high seat into range
for the roe as it is deer control here, not sport.

The new pond is about 500 yards from the house, so it will be
easier to manage. Up until now, I've been feeding the shallows
with some of the screenings left over from last year. The duck
are coming, but not in the quantities I had hoped. But, as
another poster has mentioned, it is early yet. I like the idea
of the plank. This pond has an island but I can see the movement
of the plank would also keep some water open.

Thanks guys!

Derry

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: uk.rec.shooting.game (More info?)

Derry - deffinatley go for the heap...nothing to loose there really + you may
find that it actually pulls the ah heck is like blazers.
When i first started making a head of food for the mallard here in Suffolk I
found that the duck visiting the pond about doubled in a couple of weeks.

Deer control, not sport.... hmmmm.... you just let me know when I can come up
and do some deer control... sounds bloody good to me.... am paying about £60 a
stalk here at the mo!!

The plank of wood works really well.... I have a huge plank of wood about 30ft
long in my pond and it keeps the water from freezing over around it which the
ducks love...they also love sitting on it in the evenings.

KR

Matt

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: uk.rec.shooting.game (More info?)

flintwooduk@aol.com (FLINTWOODUK) wrote in
news:20041011183058.16217.00000542@mb-m01.aol.com:

> Deer control, not sport.... hmmmm.... you just let me know
> when I can come up and do some deer control... sounds
> bloody good to me.... am paying about £60 a stalk here at
> the mo!!

Thanks for the duck pond comments. Heap duly intalled. They
don't seem to have approached it yet (plenty of grain in the
shallows) but judging from the feathers, etc. it is working
already by increasing their interest!

Believe me, I would need a lot more than £60 to sit in a High
Seat, being eaten by midges, and not seeing a bloody thing all
evening!<vbg> But, seriously, we have the deer reduced to a
level where barren stalks are the norm and a sighting a rare
exception. That is no longer fun.

Derry