Spring Done Gone Dry

[Brian Shaffer]

The only water on my little chunk of paradise is a wet spot I found at the base of a bluff down in the creek bottom. A few years ago, I noticed that it stayed wet most of the year, and so I hogged it out with some equipment to make a little pool. It is a nice secluded spot, shady much of the day, and it gets a good bit of traffic on my property. Two years ago during the drought, it went dry. Unexpectedly, it has run dry again and the water hole pool level dropped significantly.

It seems maintenance never ends. As a landowner, I now know why so many people lease but I would not trade it for the world. I have to drive my truck down about a 10 foot steep incline to get close enough for a water hose to reach, the descent getting a bit gnarly with the extra half ton of sloshing water in the back, but I now have the process down pretty well.

I will go back out in 2-3 days and repeat, likely making multiple trips when I have more time. In all, the little pool will hold about 400 gallons if I recall correctly. And of course if I am going to go out to add water, then I might as well check cameras, lop tree limbs, and gosh then I can stay and hunt...

Inspecting the water hole

Water Buffalo

Starting to fill after shoveling out some of the silt

Could have used 200-300 more gallons, but done for the day. Pool level is still about 4-5" below the overflow pipe.

Everybody needs water...

 

[Itsazonik]

looks like a good place to just line of and shoot

 

[FrankT]

You need some strategically placed bathtubs from the recycle center to fill up around the property ie..feeder stations. Would a plastic liner help your spring hole?? Nice water buffalo. Our homes in Destin all have a yard well for a lawn pump(free water) that I could fill that thing with.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

There is actually a nice tripod on a bluff point further down the creek (dry ravine, really) about 50 yards away that overlooks most of the water hole and creek bottom. I haven't shot any hogs at the water hole itself, but have shot several in the bottoms around it. As long as the water stays turned on, it is really a nifty spot. We get hawks (even have picks of one swimming in the water), owls, hogs, coyotes, bobcats, turkey, deer, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, vultures, crows, blue jays, all other manner of little song birds, bats, toads/frogs, and sometimes the cams pic up some good action here...

Cooper's Hawk getting after a squirrel

 

[Ident Marking]

Oh what fun that would be!!! I'm thinking belt fed

 

[FrankT]

Pretty cool!

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Frank, the pool size is about correct for the normal flow of water from the spring most of the year given surface area/evaporation, leakage, animal use, etc., so there isn't much I can do there. A former tenant on the property years ago had a metal water tank with PVC pipe plumbed to it from the bluff base in order to water his cattle, but the excess just made for a lot of mud around it. So a plastic liner would likely be a bit too much, resulting in a lot of overflow much of the year.

I do appreciate the brainstormed suggestions, however.

 

[FrankT]

Hey no problem, you want water, we got is...LOL That is one issue I don't have with 5 swamps and 2 creeks on the lease.

Speaking of leases I would rather own my own property as then all the work I did would be mine forever.

 

[histopicker]

I think I would refrain from doing any killing at the hole. By the amount of wild life getting water there it is likely the only water source in the area. If they cant get water they will leave for another area where they can get some. Just thinking out loud.

 

[Itsazonik]

Oh what fun that would be!!! I'm thinking belt fed

im thinking 10 lb air burst shell from the free give away thread. TLM, we need that cannon back lol

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Trees! We have to preserve the trees. Air bursts are very bad for the trees.

 

[Itsazonik]

trees are over rated, you can grow new ones lol

 

[Brian Shaffer]

...not as quickly as I grow skin cancer, LOL.

 

[Itsazonik]

Ill get you an umbrella until the trees come back lol

 

[FrankT]

you got 20 years to hold the umbrella??, like in the hill country trees grow and about 1/4 the rate as in normal soil.

 

[Itsazonik]

They make hats with umbrellas on them. Problem solved

 

[Brian Shaffer]

How do I get the pigs to wear them?

 

[Itsazonik]

Duct tape

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Okay, so we go with my wife's plan of 2 years ago to give inexpensive digital watches and dayplanners to the hogs so that they know when to show up for the hunt and will add to that the umbrella hats and duct tape. I supposed they will be using boar's tusk to cut the tape.

Itsazonik, are you sure you didn't get a degree from TAMU in engineering?

 

[FrankT]

I just wanna give them an obama phone so They will call and tell me what time to be there.