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Hi members I have read most of your success reports on the ducks,an are wondering whether you fullas with good numbers fed your ponds? If so how much and for how long.
I fed a few kilos of acorns but that was it,not worried about big bag limits for ducks just enough for a feed keeps me happy.
Anyway thoughts please?
Cheers Dundee
Yeah mate we did, we feed 1 ton of maze for 5 weeks leading up to opening:)
The ducks where eating 3, 40 kilo bags in 3 days in the last two weeks:)
We had the worst opening ever so we ain't going to bother next year.
:) We had the worst opening too, and didn't feed. So thought we would next year. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by BRADS
I will watch with interest what the guys with the big numbers did:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
We weren't allowed too in the last four weeks but some friends of some friends of some ones sisters friends told me they fed hard out for the best opening ever..
We fed ours up to the day you had to stop and I believe it helped keep them in the area.. Bit lucky seemed there were hundreds more acorns falling off the Oaks...
SShhh don't tell DOC they may want us to cut down our oak trees
ha ..
I reckon it helps heaps to feed them. Even if you don't shoot them all. Get a bit of fat on them to breed with and help them get through winter maybe ???
What do call big numbers those who got their limits ?? .. We actually stopped so did the ducks ?? around then but it just worked out fine. Have not heard as many stories as usual about peopleQuote:
Originally Posted by BRADS
getting hundreds.. We had 6 people probably everyone got limits both days on mallards and a few Parries..
More than the 3 I got is a big number:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy
Last year with no feeding we all got our limit, BUT the pond had waaaaay more water in it last year:)
Last year we didn't, built the pond 3 weeks before opening, shot 87 on saturday.
This year we fed about 900kgs over 3 months leading up to shooting. Limited out by later afternoon. Ducks came in consistently all day.
While there were more ducks around this season opening in general I think feeding our pond certainly helped somewhat. Still heaps around too.
No feeding our pond and we still got easy limits all weekend. In saying that we did feed last year and got our limits even easier.
The condition of the ducks this year was shite compared to last year, quite a few were bloody skinny things.
Total opposite for us this year Bryan. Ducks were fat as, last year they were rakes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan
Maybe it was all the feeding we did last year, a good majority of the ducks we shot then still had mouths full of corn.
I think its crop type/growth etc in surrounding area and available water that has most influence
The recon thread is very much in line with what contributed to our opening this year
Feeding generally results in good night shooting.
We shot on a BIG open water pond with no food in sight, just rocks. We had probably 1000 ducks on it the friday before. Feeding on a pond like that is pointless imo as the ducks are just going there to rest etc, if their are bulk ducks in your area and you are on a flight path you are going to shoot big numbers, feeding or no feeding.
If duck numbers are low and your pond is out of the way it could be benefecial to feed and therefore get some resident ducks.
All dependent on the pond
Thanks for the input guys
I think you have to have a few ducks living on the pond first before you start feeding.Your main pond is very open Dundee which to me looks like a spot ducks might go to in the evening as being open they can escape in all directions. Some daytime ponds that ducks love seem to have a few trees around them for a bit of cover so the duck can sleep on the bank or under trees a little bit protected from the hawks etc. Those type are easier to feed to bring more ducks in to live there. Timing of the feed is the most important thing in my opinion. Our pond is fed at night while the ducks are away eating everyone elses duck food. Doing this disurbs any nighttime visiters so they soon learn to keep away at night but breakfast is waiting for then when they return in the morning. We never go there during the day but the stock work on the farm might disturb them on occasions. Mai mais are built the night before in the dark.
The drought had a big effect on a lot of ponds this year, our pond water was about 2 meters down on last year and many ponds were dry around the area so many ducks left and went to big water, or down south for the late grain harvest.
It becomes an expensive operation if you can't acess cheap duck food, duck go silly over maize and peas if you are trying to attract ducks to your pond but we use barley as its cheaper and we have somewhere where they want to live.
Bread is also good at attracting ducks as its visible on the water and they love it the same as they do at the local park.
So we can sum up and say feeding costs time and money and is not garanteed to bring ducks in the opening morning.
Decoys and calling need to be spot on as well. TIP. Dundee paint those old decoys in the back of your mai mai with flat black paint they will pull ducks in the morning best as long as you resist the idea of putting them out before the season and pull them in after each shoot. Cheers for the rest of the season
Thanks gooseman
Our pond is fed twice a day in the morning every day via an auto feeder. Less feed is more. It creates competition for food and keeps the ducks keen. Feeding in the morning only seems to keep the ducks dropping in all day.
The feeder is only ever filled at night in order in minimize disruption to the residents !