Lets do a wood duck box challenge

A

anthony m coons sr

Well-known member
Fellow Duck Hunters ! I challenge each and everyone of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got a great idea, Lets really help each other out. Lets all build two wood duck boxes. And place them anywhere you want. Take a photo and post it on here. As a group we could help thousands of new wood ducks. Yes we will lose some to the food chain. And some of the boxes will not house birds .But think about the ones who make it. You and I can make the world a little better. I'm sure some of you may not have wood ducks in your area of the world. In that case do two things that could help your duck population. Mallard nest , plant food, clean out a wetland etc. anything.
View attachment December 2018 photos from Galaxy 1145.jpg
 
Also I would say post your designs and layouts. Some people set wire inside for the chicks to crawl up. Some do steps while some just rough the wood up real good.

Some hinge the top some hinge the side and some don't open at all.

Let's see some ideas for this too so we can put ideas together to fit our needs. I'll look at home later and see if I can get some drawings on the board to show one type of layout
 
Md. Wood Duck Initiative has plans on line. Opening for cleanout in side bottom which I,ve found makes it easiest to clean and check. The most important thing is putting a proper guard below bx. on post to keep predators out. Cone shaped guards work the best that I,ve seen. Speaking of woodys , tomorrow I,m going out to a marsh blind where I regularly shoot crows after duck & goose are over. I,ve got a south faceing bx in that area that usually is occupied about now. First one that gets use in the 4 I,ve got scattered around that immediate area. Always produces.
 
Roy

Guards work great but we put a bunch out with out and have had great success. When we put them in ponds and swamps we use guards. But snapping turtles eat a lot of young also. I have had coons jump from tree to tree to come down from the top. What ever works do it, That's what I say. Great job. I have had boxes up for ten years and one year they use it and next year nothing. 6-16 eggs some twice in a year. That's great. Your not going to have success all the time. But you will have some success most of the time. Two years ago we put out sixty boxes and had more then 25% success. And some boxes had eggs that didn't hatch. We lost about 10 boxes to beavers, so our success might even been better. The beavers took down the trees where the boxes were.
View attachment December 2018 photos from Galaxy 707.jpg
 
We don,t mount to trees anymore because of making it to easy for coons & snakes to destroy eggs. Even an overhanging limb within 5' of bx. will allow mr. snake to enter. Watched one do it while doing some spring fishing. Dropped off limb to roof and in he went. Came back next day with pole saw and cut back that limb and found one stuffed blk. snake in bx. Lets just say snake had his last meal! Turtles and even pike/bass will pluck those young swimmers if given the chance. Md. wood duck initiative does tracking yearly of bxs maintained by them. Friend of mine does the bedding replacement and records hatched egg shells from bxs. in section he maintains. Pretty impressive hatch rates yearly.
  1. Slide the cone down to rest on the tennis ball and bracket. The tennis ball fills any holes or gaps that would allow small snake or mouse to come up the pole trying to reach the box.

  • conical.gif
[strike][/strike]
 
Last edited:
Roy

We have use that plan before. Works great. We hang a bunch of ours on trees along the Hudson. We cut the limbs on top and even some on the bottom. Over the years we use to build frames and drive them into the mud in the bays. They worked great! But every year the ice or a really high tide would take them down. We have put more then one box on a frame. And had families of wood ducks hack right next to each other. I am sure many groups do it better then me. But I'm only doing it for the love of the sport and nature. I have seen people hollow a hole in a tree. Like a wood pecker and wood ducks used it. I once saw a wood duck box with spikes all around it to keep things out. I was scared to even be around it. But who ever build it tried, One year I mad a floating dock and put five boxes on it. Worked great. Until the turtles found a way to climb on to the deck. Thank you for your plans, Thanks for your post.
 
I went with the white cedar kits from Michigan. Maybe a little more expensive but excellent product and saved me time I don't have to spare. Just google and they come up. Not for everyone but for those without access to lumber or without a lot of free time, a great way to get a box or two out there.
 
I just purchased 5 boxes from Central NY Waterfowlers, They are complete with a small bag of cedar and a climbing ladder inside for chicks. Remember to hang the boxes at least 6 ft off the deck, something about the fall stimulates the chicks digestive track. I also try not to put them where they will get all day sun. I have always used used guards on my boxes. This is the perfect time to clean out and check your current boxes
 
Kevin

Great job my friend, Everyone has different ideas about the Wood Duck. I have used all different kinds of looks over the years. Putting them in trees with out guards, putting them in swamps on pole with and without guards, Built floats with five boxes on it, Used store bought wood duck boxes, Had great success in trees, And have failed in trees. Great success on poles with guard and poles without. But fail plenty with both of them also. So which ever way you place your boxes. If a wood duck go into them and hatches eggs we are all winners. Anything is better then nothing, One success box is about 6-16 new wood ducks. Then its up to mother nature if they make it. Thanks Kevin!
View attachment getPart-21.jpg
 
Kyle Hauck said:
Not many wood ducks around here but I usually throw out a half dozen or so mallard nest tubes.
Click to expand...

How well do the mallards use your nest tubes? We have a local population of geese and mallards. Since we have very few mallards that migrate to SC I'm planning on adding nest tubes to our local lake for the mallards. Thanks.
 
P Taylor

They work good if you have mallards to use them. The years that we put them out it was hit and miss. But if you have a bunch of mallards to look at them. I'm sure they will be hens to use them. Just like with wood duck boxes. Some are used and some are just left alone.
View attachment IMAG0504.jpg
 
Last edited:
The weather finally broke and I was able to clean out 17 wood duck nesting boxes this past Sunday afternoon. My young chocolate lab was my partner.

I had a surprise visitor in one nesting box and a hen sitting hard on 15 eggs already. I still have 3 new SCDNR cypress boxes to put out but I need some extra help getting them up.

Excuse the "tiller" Honda 135 hp outboard......a little coonass engineering when my steering went out on my last duck hunting trip. [laugh]

Sorry the pictures posted sideways.....I don't have clue why, other than they are off my phone.



View attachment IMG-0500.JPG



View attachment IMG-0502.JPG

View attachment IMG-0490.JPG


View attachment IMG-0512.JPG
 
P Taylor

Great job my friend, Its people like you that makes us look good . In the eyes of the non hunter. The man that puts back to nature. In the eyes of a hunter your a true hero. You care and your always putting back. Thank you! Great pictures thanks for sharing.
View attachment getPart-21.jpg
 
Anthony -

I have been keeping up with your idea and this post, as Wood Ducks are near and dear to me.

You and all others here are working at a very worthy cause. Thank YOU all.


Years ago my cousin Frank and I would put up Wood Duck nesting boxes in the best places we could.

When decoys, and decoy carving/making took over my life, another idea came to me.

Donate Wood Duck decoys to DU fund raisers, and have the proceeds fund boxes for the Game Commission, to place where they saw fit.


This was not as easy and doable as I thought. As using funds generated for certain purpose/projects (like Wood Duck boxes), at a local level was not allowed.

It had to go though certain folks before it was approved, and nest boxes put where they could do some good.

So it may be time for me to run it by our local chapter, and see if is possible these days.

Just another way to help out.


Best regards
Vince
 
Vince

In a normal world a club would be more than thankful to put your donation to good use. But I have found out in the past that DU can't be troubled with such small jobs. Don't get me wrong I love DU. And I wouldn't want to think where we would be without them. Here is a idea:find a boy scout troop or a 4H group . And they would be happy to build the boxes for you. They may even put them out. I have taken scouts and their scout masters out in the field. They were happy to have a project and the kids really did a great job. As always your heart is in the right place. Thank You !
View attachment December 2018 photos from Galaxy 208.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top