Wood Duck Boxes

A

anthony m coons sr

Well-known member
For almost forty years my small Duck Club has been building wood duck boxes. On Saturday we got together and built twenty new boxes. It was a really nice day here in upstate New York. We had members in their eighties out working the young bloods. It was a great time. Over the past forty years we have built around a thousand wood duck boxes and hundred or so mallard nest. We have planted tens of thousands plants and seeds for waterfowl and wildlife. We will be putting out another fifty boxes this. It makes a difference. Our wood ducks population is always in pretty good shape. As a waterfowler its a great felling to be able to see your hard work pays off.
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Great work for the ducks Anthony.

Friday after thanksgiving I was hunting ducks in a creek and found a wood duck box floating down the creek. Don't know where it was but I'll repair it and post it back up somewhere.
 
Ben

Great job bud, Wood duck boxes fall off the trees once in a while or a beaver takes the tree down. I lost a bunch last year to the beaver. But you have to keep on ticking. Find a box! or see a box ! check it out. If its not hatching time. You will see how well the boxes work. Thanks for the reply.

anthony
 
That is a great way to give back. We can't just take or eventually it will be gone.
I salute you Anthony and all that were involved.

Tom
 
Awesome!!! We all need to do our part to put back for sure! I try to record the number of birds that make it to jump day from my boxes. My goal is to put back more ducks than I harvest each season using a 10% survival rate. (I always pray it's higher but predators are tough on little woodies down here)

What kind of wood do y'all use up North to build your boxes?

What is that in the middle on the table? A jig of some sort?

Do y'all build hen nesting tubes for mallards or a different design?
 
P Taylor

In the middle of the table is a double wood duck box that I bought from Delta Waterfowl. That on is fiberglass. Works great, Wood duck love company of other wood ducks. There is a opening on each end of the box. Two houses in one. We use ruff cut pine most of the time, We have use oak and ceder before. I been doing this for a long time and I'm happy to report its makes a big difference. Thanks for doing your part.
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Outstanding work !! That's called being a good Steward of the environment. Paying it back for future generations.
 
Bill

Thank you , for the nice words, But I feel we all should do are little part. And I feel most of us do. Duck hunters Goose hunters have been putting back more then we take for years. Thanks again
 
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One of the all time great recovery stories. When I was in junior high you might as well shoot a bald eagle as a woody but now they are one of the most common ducks especially on opener. I have been hanging some houses every year for quite some time now and have a couple tips. 1. Check out the Oregon DNR site for some plans. They have plans that make 3 houses from a single sheet of plywood, no they wont last as long but mine are going on 5 years. The second tip is to contact the sign shop of public works where you live. Mine called me back with about 50 posts that were headed for recycling and offer of more when I need them. It helps if the guys working there are duck hunters but still It get those houses off the trees and safely out over water. Hope this helps.
 
Tom

So true, what your saying. We the hunter, made the come back what it is for the woody. They look great and taste even better. Thanks for the reply, have a great day.
 
Here in SC the State used cypress for our boxes years ago. I adopted a bunch of nesting boxes on our local lake and some boxes are 20-25 years old and still cranking out baby ducklings. This is one of my boxes that I maintain. Due to the long nesting season here I've had as many as 3 broods hatch out in one season. Are predator guards not needed up North? Snakes, coons, etc prey hard on our nesting hens and their eggs..


Thank you for what y'all do up there Anthony! I'm certain banding data shows many of your birds migrate and winter in South Carolina.





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P Taylor

We use guards on some but not all box. Mostly depends on where we place them. I have got more then ten years from some boxes. But most are about five I would guess. We lose are share to beavers. I lost about ten just on my land last year. Dang beavers came in and took down most of the trees along the creek.
Here we can only trap beavers. Not shot them, So it work to get them out. Thanks for the post. Merry Christmas
 
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