Hunting Water Sources for Deer

[ahab78]

I read that mature deer need 3-4 gallons a day to survive, so I started scouting all the watering holes on my property yesterday and jumped up a whopper of a deer. Not sure of the sex but it was massive. I got to with 5 yards of it before it spooked. I looked at where it was laying up and it was thick brush a few feet away from a canal with a low flow of water running through. Here in Georgia we get droughts and the water can be hard to locate. I plan on hunting these spots in the fall.

What strategies do you guys use to hunt water? And how close do you usually find deer to these locations?

[DarrinG]

In the mountains of NC where I hunt, creeks and small branches of streams are almost in every holler and valley, so hunting water sources here is not a good tactic. However if I was in dry, arid areas, I'd definitely scout potential watering holes, as that could be a hotspot.

[Sam McMichael]

I think it depends on what water sources surround your hunting area. There is a small spring fed creek that forms one of the boundaries of my property. It only dries up in the worst of drought. However, there are several ponds near my place that never go dry, so this tactic is not particularly useful for me, because water is never a problem for the deer.

[MikeF]

Here in the sunny south west desert region, water holes are at premium. Usually the trouble is the lack of cover. When I'm smart enough I like to set up ground blinds from stuff found in the area a bit before the season opens, that way I know there will be a ground blind near by and the critters get used to the stack of stuff. We do have trees here but they are very full of very nasty thorns usually and not very tall so tree climbing is not advisable.

Wow! First post in 13 years.

[BOHO]

Hunt late morning to early afternoon is what I do. Seems like they want a drink when the temps start warming up

[mnbwhtr]

I dug in a plastic tub about 10 gallon in size about 15 years ago in woods without any water source. I would fill it about every 5 days. We shot several deer over it, usually in the evenings. I started putting a trail camera on it about 3 years ago and found out they would come any time of day but most consistently evenings.

[monterey]

I think that typically there is more water than we think in most places.  Even so, if the country is dry and water scarce it's gotta be a good strategy to hunt it.

[BAK]

Here in IA where I am water is just about in every low spot.  Not a great tactic.

I have hunted the "Hills" out west and there hunting over water was very effective.

[jonsimoneau]

I've got a place I hunt in Pike county. There is a big long ridge running most south to north. Down at the bottom of the ridge is a very small woods "pond". Really more of a wet spot. A few years ago we had really dry and warm conditions during the month of November. One evening I setup on that pond in a ghillie suit and I passed up point blank shots at two bucks in the 120's. Both came to the pond and drank for a long time. It doesn't work every year but I filed that information away to take advantage of the situation the next time similar conditions exist.

[ahab78]

Our water table is pretty high where I live. I was thinking about digging a few holes in key spots during droughts to see what kind of activity I can get in those locations, starting in July.

[YORNOC]

When I am scouting a new area, I always look for brooks/streams/etc.
I follow them until I find crossings and go from there. Wonderful technique no matter where I am hunting....always find heavy trails.

[Mike Bolin]

It seems that deer prefer standing water/mud holes to streams and ponds around my area. Last summer, I cleared a few stumps out on the property that I hunt/manage. On a skidder trail there is a spot that always stays wet from an underground spring. I needed some dirt to fill in some of the stump holes so I took a couple of buckets from the wet spot with my Kubota to level out the low spots in the new clearing.

A few weeks later the low spot was holding water and there were deer tracks all around it, so I set a trail camera up on it. From July 17 thru the end of August I got 237 pictures of animals (coons, possums, turkeys, squirrels, coyotes and deer)using that water hole and almost 200 of them were deer.

Within 300 yards of the waterhole there is a small creek and within a 1/4 mile there is a 3/4 acre pond so there are other options for a drink. While setting on a ridge where I can glass the creek bottom, I have watched deer cross the creek and climb the ridge and head straight to the mud hole for a drink. Maybe the mineral content draws them to it? don't know  why they prefer the mud hole water for sure, buy they definitely do!

[old_goat2]

Where I grew up hunting in West Texas, that is how you hunted deer from a stand was at a water hole. Usually a couple of planks set into a windmill, it was rifle hunting then for me. Now my whitetail hunting is on riverbottoms, so water is everywhere, but a good crossing point can be money!

[FlintNSteel]

Deer don't want to travel any farther than they have to, so even though my area near the Mississippi has plenty of water around with the big river and almost all the valleys having at least small streams, a small (just a few feet around) "pond" liner dug in near thick cover will get lots of activity.   Even well-used licks that are deep enough to hold water gets lots of drinking activity, especially in the hotter early bow season.

The lease I am on has a trout stream running though the bottoms, but I see more deer activity in regards to water on the small ponds on the ridges.  On really hot days (80's) I have had deer come in and just plop right down into the water...and it's slimy, crappy, stagnant water!

While it may not work everywhere, one should never underestimate hunting water sources.

Mike

[Roadkill]

Google up and look at satellite image of where you hunt to help identify the hidden spots.  Out here in Nevada as soon as tags are out, I go to the area I drew on the computer and turn on satellite view. Anything green is worth looking ar as there is a hecka lots brown! Green means moisture

[ahab78]

I google my property and it is a sea of green. Have to find the water sources by beating the brush.

[Bowwild]

I wasted a bunch of time in my teens hunting some small ponds in hardwood forests. Hundreds of tracks, but no deer during am/pm shooting hours.  I was convinced eventually that most of the sign was made at night.

Only flash cubes in those days so no cameras to do my legwork.

We have a small river that flows clear and cold with several small creeks that feed it.  The water is cold enough to support trout in them, the deer prefer that clear cold water to the warm muddy of the larger near by river.  Late morning to early afternoon is when I watched deer load up with water in hot weather.

[johnnyk71]

as hot as it gets in south Alabama, the deer use creek bottoms as major travel areas. they travel almost exclusively up and down them in the mornings.

[Carpdaddy]

I hunt near a river so at certain times of the year the water hunts me. I got three ladder stands out in these woods somewhere!