Hunting & Fishing Building a pond?

[loveha]

Clearing 15 acres of trees at the start of May for a food plot and 400 yard range. With the plot, I also plan to plant oaks (white, red and pin), then next year possibly apple and cherry. Another thing I would like to do, is get a pond built, with a windmill water pump to keep it fed.

My question is for those that have had this done, or do it, how deep should it be, and how big should I make it? I was thinking a 1/2 acre and 4 feet deep? It's for deer and whatever else needs to drink, hence my question is put here. I have no intentions of swimming in it, unless the deer I shoot decides it needs to go for a swim before death.

Want to have a plan before I start calling and getting people out for quotes.

 

[RTH1800]

Your local dozer operator will be your best source of information and advice due to local variations of runoff, rainfall, soil type, evaporation etc. One bad decision that I have seen many folks make is to build a pond in an area that does not have proper soil, adequate of soil depth, adequate runoff. Don't force it and end up with an expensive hole. A reliable operator with a good reputation will give you good advice.

Not sure how the rifle range and the food plot will work out but good luck.

 

[loveha]

Believe me, I have no intention of forcing its location. Already looked into most of those issues. Where I would like to build and put the damn for runoff etc.
My soil is mostly sand, so I imagine it will need to be lined with clay. Unless they find some down where I'm not aware. The first company I will be calling does landscaping and does ponds. So if they say it won't work, it won't work.

 

[WoobieJ]

Dm sent

 

[Anb618]

You plan to be bow hunting or just rifle hunting? If just rifle hunting, will you be hunting over the plot itself, or just using it for herd growth/QDM purposes? If you’re hunting from treestands and plan to bow hunt at all, I’d skip the pond all together. Instead, add a few water holes near your treestands along travel corridors between bedding areas and the food plot(s). It works better for most circumstances, and infinitely cheaper.

 

[TexLuke]

I do rural land improvement work for a living. My AO is Texas, which is probably not anything like Michigan, but heres what I’d tell a friend or potential customer down here.

The ideal and most cost effective small pond site is one that includes adequate runoff to keep it mostly full in all but droughty times, and with suitable soils to excavate and construct it without importing clay from off site. Unfortunately may times you can’t find that ideal site on a property, especially a smaller property. Keep in mind I’m not talking about small, ornamental landscaping ponds that kept fed from a potable water source. My experience is with real farm/ranch land type ponds.

- Topography of site. Do you have a natural pond location on your property? In other words a location that will maximize drainage area (runoff) into the pond? Is your proposed pond location on relatively flat ground or in a dry creek or draw? I know you mentioned using a windmill to fill it but ideally you’d catch adequate runoff and only use well water to help maintain a full level. As far as depth and size, 10’ deep is a mimimum to be considered permanent water. id design a pond to not be much bigger than watershed into it would support at 10’ or greater depth.

-Suitability of site, mainly Clay content of soil. Soil has to contain enough clay to slow seepage to an acceptable level for an earthen pond to “hold water”. For a small project Soil is typically evaluated with test holes dug with a back hoe or excavator. Do The test holes reveal clay soil beneath your sandy topsoil? If so at what depth and thickness does the clayey soil extend to, what quantities of suitable soil will be present within the excavated area? If There’s any doubt at all about soil suitability, a soil test is well worth the money. The test you’d want in this case determines a soils ”PI”, or plasticity index.

-If soil isn't suitable, often clay can be imported but unless it can be excavated and hauled from very close this can be cost prohibitive. Another option is a synthetic liner, usually made from reinforced poly ethylene. I’ve installed a couple and seen more installed recently here. They can be fairly expensive as well and have pros and cons, but unlike clay blankets and sodium bentonite application synthetic pond liners are guaranteed to hold if installed correctly.

Theres a lot more to look at if you end up building a pond but hopefully this gives you some things to think about before you start discussing your project with contractors. Good luck