Wetlands Yearly Maintenance
Anyone that has hunted waterfowl in the club 10+ years has most likely heard of or been involved in some good duck hunting on Blairstown Lake, in Henry County Missouri. Over the past 3 years the lake has produced poorly compared to the past, due to extreme dry weather and bad luck with mother nature.
To reverse that less than desired duck hunting we drained the lake and installed a 6 inch pipe, which will enable us to drain the lake and plant duck attracting crops each summer. Draining the lake will also give us the opportunity to start fresh with the blinds. More water, more food probably will mean we will need to reposition the blinds. If everything falls into place, Blairstown Lake will be back to what we remembered it to be!
Back side of the drain pipe with a gate opened for intake water after the lake bed is planted and ready for water.
6" pipe installed to drain the duck lake to plant crop for feed for the ducks. Gate can be used for intake water source once crops mature.
Meeting with landowner, staff and machinery operator to determine long term duck lake game plan.
While it appears to be just a pipe this one improvement will have second order effects that cumulatively add up to a much better wetlands. Knowing what a difference this pipe would make over all other options is the benefit of our decades of experience building wetlands well suited to attract and hold ducks as well as support the duck hunter during the hunt. All the duck hunter must do is duck hunt.
Another
This picture represents just one aspect of our private Missouri wetlands lease development and just a one small point in the process. Below the picture are the details of what is shown. Repeat this one example several time for each of our waterfowl areas that we built and maintain each season and most will agree they are getting what they pay for.
The canal shown in this photo was dug to an adjoining drainage ditch as a water source for the 10 acre marsh type wetlands.
Water in the right place at the right time at the right level - managed wetlands. A newly installed gated pipe.
A water level control gated pipe open above for drainage just before planting and shown closed below and partially flooded.
The water on this wetlands will rise to just about the top of the boots where Jon Jr. is standing.
Once the river is 3/4's bank full backflow of water from the river feeds the 10 acre marsh, which is lower than the bank of the river. Once the water recedes (one way valve in the access pipe), the marsh holds 12 to 30 inches of water over 10 surface acres. After years of erosion we discovered a cut in the ground between the canal and the marsh that can be filled with a pipe in place that will help fill the marsh if the water level is just short of intake level and at the same time hold an additional 6 inches of water, which will expand the water surface acres of the marsh. By such action we will have a more consistent water level through the years in spite of rainfall amounts. With the majority of the Missouri wetlands dependent upon rainfall and subsequent river levels this enhancement takes away the likelihood of dry blinds.
In 1982 this 80 acre farm was part of a 1200 acre lease, leased primarily for quail hunting. When the landowner showed us this property he said we might want to duck hunt the back 20 acres since it held water at times and the ducks used it quite a bit in the fall when there was water. Several waterfowl hunters discovered this property and hunted it with success for a couple of seasons. Knowing we had a potential waterfowl property on a prime waterfowl flyway we decided to make some improvements to enhance the waterfowl hunting through wetlands enhancements proven effective based on our past experience.
In 1985 we built a levee to hold 7 acres of water that receded with the overflow water as it returned to the river. Building such a levee is no simple tasks requiring earth movers, survey, dry times to access the marsh area, rocked overflow flood release and on and on and on. Once the levee was built we temporarily posted duck blinds in the most likely spots. The next year after draining we planted select duck attracting grain producing millets, cut trees and reposition blinds. This cycle was repeated several more years until the basic marsh was to our satisfaction. This past year 2004, the marsh behind the levee is what we worked to improve. Later, 2005, that levee was expanded to make a 10 acre marsh and our recent work to expand that even further. And, it continues - such is Missouri wetlands development. Never a one shot deal.
Many of the MAHA managed wetlands with blinds have dirt paths and roads leading to the blinds that get very muddy after it rains. Several of these roads are over a mile in distance. To prevent grueling walks through the mud with gear and decoys, the members are welcome to use 4-wheelers, but they must be parked out of site of adjoining blinds.
Scouting the farms in daylight is highly recommended for safety purposes.
It is never the amount of surface water that is the key for the best duck hunting on any Missouri wetlands private or public. It is all about the Missouri wetlands location within the three sub basins and habitat composition. This 10 acre soon to be larger not only allows for more water during dry years it also allows for greater vegetation coverage, duck attracting vegetation. The other advantage is the continued separation of duck blinds. Just as we are adding surface water, that alone is not justification for more blinds. Separating or increasing the distance between the blinds is the goal on this project. This is along the lines that our hunters have continually told us through the years they are willing to pay more for better quality hunting than simply more places to hunt.
While the Missouri wetlands picture at the page top may seem inconsequential the amount of work behind it is more than can readily be appreciated. We have a lot of pride in our Missouri wetlands development and this one page helps show the duck hunter will be satisfied with the MAHA waterfowl areas, after that it is all dependent on the migration.
