hey hendup. i just joined a hunt club in toano. There is a big lake behind our club and we have ducks and geese that fly over into it. We have a pretty good sized pond on our property ourselves. was wondering what if anything i could do to attract the ducks and geese to our property. thanks

That depends on a lot of things. If you have some fields around your pond you can try planting some corn (I like Dwarf corn the best for waterfowl) or you might be able to plant some Japanese Millet around the edges. If you have some areas that stay shallow you can even plant some rice. Just soak it in an old pillow case for a few days before you plant it so it will stay on the bottom. Do they hunt on the other lake near you? If it gets a lot of pressure you can through a bunch of dekes and a few mojo's and try to attract them to a "safe" place after they have been blasted on the other lake. Also, in late winter after the season is over you can try to put up some hen houses or wood duck boxes. Once the local ducks find them and raise a successful brood the whole bunch will come back to the area year after year. Delta Waterfowl has plans on their web site for building the hen houses. If you want I'll be happy to come down there and help you out and make some better suggestions after seeing the place.

Man I hear you guys talking and turn a little green with envy. I live just north of Baltimore and wish I had some of the access you all have. Living here in the People's Republic of Maryland is just a little nutty. At one time I thought about buying some land but the cheapest stuff I see now is $20k and acre and most is around $100k per acre.

I think Hendup is right though. If you have an unpressured pond you should be able to get them in there during season. The planting of crops would only sweaten the deal.

Vic

Man Vic...wish I had access to Marylands Eastern Shore!

there should not be any pressure at all on the big lake behind us. It is on a boy scout reservation, so i wouldn't think that there should be any hunting on it.thanks for the ideas to help. you mentioned about making the houses for the ducks to breed. someone told me that you could buy chick mallards. you know if that is true and if that is true where can i find out where to get some. Thanks for your help so far. I just got into duck hunting last year. I have 5 acres in gloucester that i used to deer hunt but a beaver came in and damed it up. anyway we wouldnt even have to call and there would be groups of up to 8 woodies flying in. and ever since then i was hooked. If you ever have time sometime i am trying to find somebody to help me learn how to call for mallards. anyway thanks again.

I am happy to help you out any way I can. We can hook up this winter and hunt a little if you'd like. I don't think that any store bought mallard chicks would make it in the wild but I don't know enough about it to be sure.

hey bud. i feel bad asking you to come down. your thing says richmond, but how long would it take you to get to the toano norge exit. I would be more than happy to pay for your gas. I would just like your opinion on the pond to see about where to plant what and the best place for a blind. The afternoons or a saturday would be best for me. just let me know if it sounds like something you could help with. thanks again for everything that you have helped me with so far.

Toano's not that far. I can probably make it down there on a Sat afternoon if you want. Just let me know when you've got an opening and we'll hook it up.

If you are willing to do it that would be great. Just let me know what saturay would be best for you.