swamp work

[LMR]

^Go check your douche rag, it may be to capacity.

[Aging Baby Boomer]

I just came across this thread. I like what you've done! For me, nothing in the waterfowl hunting world.....not out-of-state hunting, not DNR drawn duck hunts, not paid preserve shooting.....beats improving or creating duck habitat on your own land.

After a few years of "beaver ponding" we ponied up a little money for heavy equipment to begin creating a greentree impoundment with a small field that can be planted in corn. Nothing beats working on, and hunting, your own land!

BTW - Beavers are a double-edged sword. Getting them to work with you instead of against you can be a real challenge!!

[NUTZ]

I've killed mallards and black ducks in January,all the way to the last day of the season, that feel like bean bags because they are stuffed with AA.

[JABIII]

You shut your whore mouth.

[NUTZ]

Exactly. It is impossible for AA to go past December 2nd at 11:18am because it's a perennial.

[Calibogue]

I got a Swamp with more AA than all the fuckin golf course honkers in the state could consume!!!
Where y'all get this idea from is beyond my comprehension!

[Calibogue]

Speaking of ducks full of food.... I walked up to and shot a hen mallard in VA years ago that was so stuffed with soybeans she was puking them and couldn't fly..... No shit!

[JABIII]

[Calibogue]

Bwahhhhhhh..... I was scared to pick that nasty bitch up!
Thought she had the hivs or something....

[Rock & Rye]

Man you guys are some evil Duck Killin' MOFO's around here....


Nice job on your swamp dude!

[marsh chicken]

I get that, but it can only help. Jap Millet is not much better for me. Millet will last a few more weeks, but what does not get eat lays over after its flooded a month.

AA would be awesome in FL.

Easy to promote "useful" perennials, and change a swamp filled with burreed to a swamp filled with duck potato and rush

Spray in March when growth starts, wait a couple weeks and broadcast seed.

Give it a little help and duck potato and rush's will out compete reeds.

If you can't add water to corn, then I think SAVs is the best thing you can do for migratory birds in SC.

Are you saying the ducks won't feed on the millet after it lays down?

[Tee]

That there is awesome.

I am going to try and turn my place into something special after this season. I have a lot of birds. But I kinda want to turn it in to one swamp instead of 9 different bodies of water on 300 acres.

I just need to sit back and really figure out what I want to make it or how.

I do have a question in regards to to the beaver dam. How did you keep it open? And did the Beavers not leave?

300 yards long 60 yards wide and ranges from 12"-8' deep.

[803]

almost none. it's pretty much gone by this time of year.

local/early wood ducks, geese and maybe a few teal.

Resident geese will mow it down.

SAVs for migratory birds.

SAVs like this?



Leading to this

[YoungBuckTX]

That there is awesome.

I am going to try and turn my place into something special after this season. I have a lot of birds. But I kinda want to turn it in to one swamp instead of 9 different bodies of water on 300 acres.

I just need to sit back and really figure out what I want to make it or how.

I do have a question in regards to to the beaver dam. How did you keep it open? And did the Beavers not leave?

300 yards long 60 yards wide and ranges from 12"-8' deep.

That's a big damn swamp..no where near the size of mine. 300 yards long is the main beaver dam, but there are others?

I think I would prefer multiple spots to work with. Easier to drain, work, and plant smaller spots, versus one large swamp.

You will just have to experiment with draining, being mindful of what's downstream.. Maybe I have lazy beavers, but they did not really care about the cuts I made. I did it mid-summer, so the creek was nearly dry. The swamp drained in less than 48 hours. They probably did not have time to find the hole until it was too late.

I try to not drain until it's close to work/planting time. It helps keeping the grass and weeds at minimum, so there is less work to do.

[YoungBuckTX]

Update from my swamp

The amount of rain we received prior to the season created a flash flood, uprooting half of the mature millet. I hope this was just a one-off, and won't be as bad next year. Usually the swamp isn't even full until the second split. There was also a lot of clearcutting upstream - which probably did not help either (more runoff).

The wood ducks ate what was left of the millet before opening day. There is a ton of Bur-reed seed floating around, but there are zero ducks. Well, a couple wood ducks have been coming to loaf in the afternoon, but that's it. We usually don't see many ducks in there until around Christmas. The weather wasn't great last week either.

Next season I will clear more brush near the wood line and also try to disc it. That should keep the millet far enough away from the strong flow of the creek. I will be trying Arrow Arum and Duck Potato also.

Should I leave the Bur-reed or remove and plant?

[Tee]

That's a big damn swamp..no where near the size of mine. 300 yards long is the main beaver dam, but there are others?

I think I would prefer multiple spots to work with. Easier to drain, work, and plant smaller spots, versus one large swamp.

You will just have to experiment with draining, being mindful of what's downstream.. Maybe I have lazy beavers, but they did not really care about the cuts I made. I did it mid-summer, so the creek was nearly dry. The swamp drained in less than 48 hours. They probably did not have time to find the hole until it was too late.

I try to not drain until it's close to work/planting time. It helps keeping the grass and weeds at minimum, so there is less work to do.

Yes. There's probably 10-15 dams in this particular "swamp system".

I typically fly over before each season. Didn't get to this year. But new water opens up every year. I watched 200 birds fly in Saturday morning and some were landing in places I never knew had water. I'm going to find someone with a drone to get me some aerials of it during this split.

[Drakey]

Dang Tee...that's a lake.

[gamecock1974]

Update from my swamp

The amount of rain we received prior to the season created a flash flood, uprooting half of the mature millet. I hope this was just a one-off, and won't be as bad next year. Usually the swamp isn't even full until the second split. There was also a lot of clearcutting upstream - which probably did not help either (more runoff).

The wood ducks ate what was left of the millet before opening day. There is a ton of Bur-reed seed floating around, but there are zero ducks. Well, a couple wood ducks have been coming to loaf in the afternoon, but that's it. We usually don't see many ducks in there until around Christmas. The weather wasn't great last week either.

Next season I will clear more brush near the wood line and also try to disc it. That should keep the millet far enough away from the strong flow of the creek. I will be trying Arrow Arum and Duck Potato also.

Should I leave the Bur-reed or remove and plant?

similar issue at my place. Not uprooting, but all the rain ran the water over the beaver dams and they all seemed to have broken. beavers are hard at work fixing it all, but sucked getting to my spot for my first hunt on thankgiving morning and seeing a bunch of area that is typically water - now is mud banks. went and walked all the different ponds - i have 7 different beaver dams and all but one of them was broke and areas where there was typically water were high and dry. Hope them little rodents are hard at work fixing all this, else it is going to be a slow go this year for me.

[Tee]

Dang Tee...that's a lake.

This is the lake...

And it's about 600 yards from the previous one.

From the air



From the ground

[Relentlous]

That's purdy sporty tee. Do you get a bunch of mallards in there?