Watering Hole

[shadow]

This spring I set out a large kids pool for deer to drink from. I dug a shallow hole and put in the ground, it had filled naturally and has stayed pretty much full all year but the water is dirty from leaves, sticks and dirt that has been kicked in.
Does anyone that has a kids pool like this or any type of man made watering hole ever clean it??
I figure that deer and other animals drink from ponds and swamps where the water is dirty all the time so is there any benefit for me or them to clean it out?

[bowhuntingbiker]

I would think that if the deer drink the water all is good. Try a trail cam to see?

[DoeEyed]

This is a good one for MSBadger. She has manmade watering holes. Hopefully she will see this thread.

[Goose]

Actually I think deer prefer muddy water......they will choose a mud hole in the woods before an open stream from what I have observed.
If there are dead mice floating around, then I would recommend cleaning it out.

[msbadger]

Lets see if 4 x's a charm...
 
 Yeppers I'm here DoeEyed..[;)]
 
Yes I do clean them...I have light colored bath tubs sunk that I clean every other year due to algae build up..pull plug scrub with bleach and refill...the frogs like to breed in them ...The blk tubs every few years ...they are cleaned of leaf litter every spring with a small gutter rake...they do not get alot of algae build up....In the ones that do'nt have frogs I use a small amount of skeeter killer and you can also put a solar fountain in them to keep skeeters at bay.....

[shadow]

Thanks ms b! I figured they needed to be cleaned but didn't know how often. I'll check for mice or squirel floaters then I'll wait until spring to clean other debris.

[buckhunter21]

Has anyone ever actually made a watering hole?  By this, I mean digging a hole, putting down a tarp or some kind of plastic...etc..

[msbadger]

yes a few ....thats how I started out getting practice with the backhoe....it had been years since the last time I'd operated one....we have natural grey clay in a couple of areas and one I double lined with a tarp...actually worked pretty well.....

[duckunder]

I have also made my own water holes, and I have to say, it works awesome.... especially if you don't have any natural ponds or creeks nearby.. Those deer need water bad at certain times of the year... What I have noticed though, is certain times of the year, like now for instance, with the warm days and cool nights there is plenty of dew on the grass or alfalfa in the morning, and I've heard that's all they need for water for the day, but come later like mid october and on, they visit my water hole very much.... I put a trail camera up on the hole and I get a ton of pics this time of year, but like I said, not so much right now......  I live in Wisconsin, so it might be different down south...... But I'm telling you, IT WORKS GREAT...  When they get off their bed in late afternoon, the first place they head for, is water, and then out to the fields to eat....  All I made, was a little 3 foot by 3 foot hole about 2 feet deep... The ONLY problem I have had is, it going dry, I have had nice pictures of bucks standing in the hole when it was dry, having that look on their face like, where the heck is our water.....ha,ha