Dad always told me......

[Native Hunter]

Deer will gravitate to a nasty old pond rather than drinking out of a clear stream. By the looks of this pond, I think he was right....

 

[Mennoniteman]

and deer love walking in the mud...

 

[THE LLC]

Apparently they like old skidder ruts, too.

 

[FL Plotter]

Seems like every time I pile up some dirt, there are deer tracks the next day on it. Not sure what they are looking for, but they can't seem to resist walking on a pile of fresh dirt.

 

[dogghr]

Mine is not as intense. Usually never see much use of ponds by deer except this ur w our drought they did make use. I have two ponds that never go dry despite lack of rain.
And yea that is a popup blind that was blown into the middle years ago. And no I’m not wading in there for retrieval.

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[Native Hunter]

Mine is not as intense. Usually never see much use of ponds by deer except this ur w our drought they did make use. I have two ponds that never go dry despite lack of rain.
And yea that is a popup blind that was blown into the middle years ago. And no I’m not wading in there for retrieval.

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LOL, I would have never guessed that was a pop up blind. Good stuff.....

 

[Drycreek]

I read somewhere that they drink the muddy water for the mineral content, but I have no idea if that’s true or not.

 

[lakngolf]

I read somewhere that they drink the muddy water for the mineral content, but I have no idea if that’s true or not.

I was going to suggest that.....in jest

 

[THE LLC]

I read somewhere that they drink the muddy water for the mineral content, but I have no idea if that’s true or not.

That is what a biologist told me. Says as the water recedes (we were discussing skidder ruts) the evaporation concentrates minerals and salts. Sounds plausible.

 

[Cedar Ridge]

Added a new water hole a month or so ago and so far the deer seem to be loving my muddy water.


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[Deadeye]

Hmm.

Learned something new here today. On our property we have drainage ponds the timber company made to form a land bridge.

The one side is always muddy and the other side is always clear.

During the drought when the water got low and dried up, the edge of the muddy pond was covered in tracks. Didn’t see much on the clear water side.

Didn’t give it that much thought but now after reading this it makes sense.

 

[weekender21]

I’ve seen the same thing. We have no shortage of clear springs and creeks on our property but every mud puddle is covered with tracks.

I would think the noise of a creek makes them more vulnerable to attack from a predator compared to a puddle or pond.


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[THE LLC]

View attachment 17303

Added a new water hole a month or so ago and so far the deer seem to be loving my muddy water.


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Me likes. Very much.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Deer seem to be addicted to strong drink.

 

[dogghr]

I'm quite sure the same people who wonder how cattle stay warm being outside in the winter { and yes I've seen that question posted on the internet} will have a coronary of deer having to drink unfiltered , muddied water while standing in muck to the top of their hooves, or as they would say, feet. Those poor things. Have you guys no mercy??

 

[THE LLC]

It's because we are racists and have never told them any different so that we can keep them drinking dirty water and not having to pay for a filtering system. We are all just greedy capitalists.

 

[Triple C]

Yep - Got 7 water holes scattered around the property along with 2 creeks that form property lines. The oldest water hole is seriously green on top from all the algae. Always curious why deer gravitate to muddy water holes when running water is nearby. Unfortunately, pigs seem to enjoy them just as much if not more so.

Perhaps they're like 5 yr old grand youngun's...They look for a reason to go tromping in the mud.