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I have some creek bottom marshes that we plant in buckwheat and flood for mallard and wood duck hunting. I've just built another area that will have flooded hawthorn crab apples. Does anyone have experience flooding crab apple for ducks?

Sooner wrote:I have some creek bottom marshes that we plant in buckwheat and flood for mallard and wood duck hunting. I've just built another area that will have flooded hawthorn crab apples. Does anyone have experience flooding crab apple for ducks?

Nope, looks like you are the guinea pig. Good luck.

I'm pretty sure apples float. So if you flood the "orchard" I'm about 100% sure the apples will all float away. Do ducks even eat apples? I've eaten duck stuffed with sliced apples but I put the apples inside the duck, they didn't occur there naturally.

capt1972: that's a good one. I love it. yesterday I sprung an oil leak in the D3 so my project is at a stand still right now.

Sooner wrote:capt1972: that's a good one. I love it. yesterday I sprung an oil leak in the D3 so my project is at a stand still right now.

Dangit, I really wanted to find out if Ducks eat apples. Get the D3 fixed soon.

Curious about that, myself. Have killed grouse in Eastern crab/haw apples, but I don't think of them as moist soil, let alone normal flood plain plants, so ducks would have to learn to like them. Might smell them fermenting, give 'em a go, cop a buzz and be hooked...

if nothing else it should make a great wood duck roost which will put the wood ducks close to the other marshes.

Well the project is done. It takes a lot of hours to build a damn 400 yards long with a d3 pushing it through gaps in the trees. Tomorrow I'll seed the damn with rye grass and hope to get some rain to flood it by first of October. I'll let everyone know if it works.

Sooner wrote:Well the project is done. It takes a lot of hours to build a damn 400 yards long with a d3 pushing it through gaps in the trees. Tomorrow I'll seed the damn with rye grass and hope to get some rain to flood it by first of October. I'll let everyone know if it works.

Hope it works good for ya. Sounds like a lot of work.

Looking forward to hearing.