Posted: 6/29/2014 3:49:48 PM EDT
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If any of yall followed my garden threads you know I bitch n moan n complain about the deer eating my garden. Truth is I really don't mind sharing with God's creatures. Since the area around me is being developed at a rapid pace I have let my back 10 acres go back to nature. I keep the perimeter bushogged and a few trails cut for the dogs to run in. I no longer have a stream fed pond - fucking developers screwed that up somehow. A month or so ago I began putting out 5 gal buckets of water for the deer - started with 3 - up to 8 now since they found em. Put em out in the evening and they are mostly empty when I go get em in the morning.
So my questions - how much water does a deer need ?? And - am I doing more harm than good by providing water vs them having to search for it ?? I'm too damn old to shoot deer anymore - drag em to the house - hang em n skin em - etc - but I still want them around for an emergency if needed. |
| I don't have any information for you about the water, but I can relate as far as developers moving in and destroying their habitat. We used to have acres of woods and wetlands behind our house until a retirement home was able to convince the city council that it would be better to clearcut the woods to build a "walking path", rather than just build a sidewalk through the woods. At least it gets used a lot......oh wait............no.....it doesn't. |
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Water Trough with an autofil setup.
Grad parents have this setup at their house just because my grandmother likes to watch the deer. Personally I'd plant an acre or two of land with pasture mix from countryside organics and then run a paddock setup to fatten them up on good grass for harvesting. |
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Quoted:
Water Trough with an autofil setup. Grad parents have this setup at their house just because my grandmother likes to watch the deer. Personally I'd plant an acre or two of land with pasture mix from countryside organics and then run a paddock setup to fatten them up on good grass for harvesting. Been feeding them for years - plant fall peas and rye grass for em - plus they get half of my garden every year - but that's OK. A year or so ago I looked out my kitchen window one morning and saw my Lab puppy nose to nose with a yearling on the other side of the fence. I really want to keep them around but they gotta have water. Kiddie pool is a good idea too. |
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Quoted:
Deer will move to water to survive. If you want them to stay on your property can you run a line/hose to a water trough and put a fill float on it. It would save you from having to water all the time. X2 beat hauling water. I would think a gallon or two a day depending on heat. Might be minerals in the water if it is well water, they come to the trough at the house bypassing two ponds and a stream just to drink well water. |
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Quoted:
Deer will move to water to survive. If you want them to stay on your property can you run a line/hose to a water trough and put a fill float on it. It would save you from having to water all the time. Sorry not to get back sooner. Tried this with 3/4" sch 40 PVC - all I had or could borrow - plus a few water hoses. Just gonna test out the pressure 1,300 feet downrange. Not enough pressure. Started pulling hoses and pipe lengths down to about 400' - still low volume but at least I could fill the buckets. Don't think it would be enough pressure to run up to a fill valve into a trough - plus the deer haven't touched the water since I moved the buckets. I'll leave em a few more days but may end up putting them out back again and haul the water. Hey - I've been retired since 2004  - just another task to add to my daily routine.
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