Put in 2 water holes today

[Drycreek]

With them being buried even with the ground, you're not concerned about silt ? Looks like they would fill up with silt after several rains.

 

[Someday Isle]

Well not at this point anyway. It's really an experiment for me. I certainly can see how it might be a concern. Time will tell I guess. I'll be sure to post my results as they occur and follow up.

 

[Sconniebiente]

Just put #4,5 in last month. Best kept secret. First i dug was 22 years ago. Deer, turkey magnets.

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[rlb165]

Something I ran into and I will suggest here is adding a piece of hardware cloth or chicken-wire to the side. For some reason mice will swim around the edge of the tub and not to the center where they can reach the branch. If the water level is low they can't reach the branch at the edge. Maybe I just have stupid mice.....but my water hole turned into a water based mouse trap. As soon as I added the wire at the edge - problem solved. Otherwise it looks real good.

So far I've found the remains of a box turtle in an old bathtub, and a mouse in a small plastic wading pool. Both had sticks in them. Now I pile rocks on the edge so that maybe critters can climb out easier. I'll post a pic as soon as my patent application gets filed...

 

[buckdeer1]

I put mine where I can at least get a 4wheeler to them and most times a pickup so I can dump 275 gal if it stay really dry

 

[j-bird]

So far I've found the remains of a box turtle in an old bathtub, and a mouse in a small plastic wading pool. Both had sticks in them. Now I pile rocks on the edge so that maybe critters can climb out easier. I'll post a pic as soon as my patent application gets filed...

never thought about turtles - mine turned into pretty effective mouse traps! Since I added the screen/wire - no issues with that.

 

[Someday Isle]

1.8 inches of rain this week. Both of them are now full!

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[rlb165]

Thursday afternoon I put a Rubbermaid 50 gallon tub next to a clover/chicory/weed plot. There are 2 salt licks within a few feet of it. I sat the tub on top of the ground rather than dig it in.

(By the way, I realize that to the untrained eye, that may look like a regular pile of rocks. Believe me, careful thought was given to the placement of each piece, kinda like with those stone fences they build in Europe. But I digress...)

We've seen turkeys in the plot since then, they don't seem to pay any attention to the tub. But the deer...

The fawn (top pic) came in this morning and came unglued when it saw the tank. It ran off for a while, then came back and fed at the end of the plot opposite the tank. After a few minutes, it started pacing back and forth, working it's way closer to the tank. The above pic was taken when the fawn was at the closest point it ever got to the tank.
After the fawn left, the doe (bottom pic) came in and went through the same routine as the fawn, only she left out quicker than the fawn did.

I wouldn't have thought that this tank would scare them like it is. Usually when I do some kind of habitat work, deer come check it out 5 minutes after I'm finished.
Also, I'm a little concerned that this fawn was by itself today. There are reports of EHD killing several deer in the Eastern part of my state (KY). I haven't heard of any here in Central KY yet, but....


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[rlb165]

I'm out scouting, and it just occurred to me that the last sentences in my previous post make me seem insensitive to the men and women in Eastern KY who are losing deer to EHD. Please believe me when I say that wasn't my intent. I know that deer numbers in general are lower in that part of the country, and that this is the last thing you guys need.
I apologize if anyone took offense. Also, Someday Isle, 'sorry for jacking your thread up...Can somebody please post something about a waterhole so I'm not left hanging?

 

[Someday Isle]

It's all good. The idea of the post is always for the purpose,of,sharing information. Your info and experience will add to the discussion. My guess is that it's your scent from putting in the tub that spooked them. I've seem similar video reactions to newly place trail cameras.

 

[Drycreek]

My place has a seasonal creek, sometimes it dries up in holes. A few years ago I had a trackhoe in digging some stumps up for me to pile and burn. I had him dig me two waterholes in places that I thought that they would stay full. One of them I put a camera on for about a month. It didn't take long for the deer and the ^%#~|\#% hogs to start drinking.

Another place I hunt I think I need to put a couple tubs in, but I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

 

[rlb165]

Thank you Someday Isle.
I've seen those trail cam reactions too, so I get what you're saying.
This plot is pretty close to our house. I'm in it almost every day, looking around or walking our Yorkie. Deer come in right after I leave sometimes. Sometimes they don't even wait until I leave. This pic is from a 10 second video that my son took a couple of weeks ago. I can't figure out how to post a video with Tapatalk. Anyway, I was weedeating the seed heads off of weeds (plantain) in this plot. I turned around and a doe was in the salt lick behind me. According to my son, she'd been standing there for quite a while before I saw her.

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[rlb165]

Since I posted those pics on 8/13, I've watched a few more deer come in and act skittish after seeing that tank. Saturday afternoon, a mature doe came into the plot, saw the tub, and took off without looking back. So, for the time being, I'm putting my lifelong dream of having an above-ground deer water source on hold.
Yesterday evening, I dug a hole in the exact spot the tank had been sitting, put the tank in the hole, and filled 'er up.
Today:

Lesson learned.


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