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Corn food plots? #6666163 02/08/17 03:03 AM
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I'm planning on making a new duck pond next year and was thinking about planting corn and possibly mixing in some milo and then flooding it. I hunt on the gulf coast and have never really seen or heard anyone planting corn for ducks around here, I know flooded corn fields are more popular up north but never hear about it in Texas . Just curious what some of your opinions are.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6666172 02/08/17 03:08 AM
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I am curious of the mechanics of how you flood a field, I have never seen that except in rice country.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6666179 02/08/17 03:14 AM
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Your corn will be burned up by the time kwaks show up

In illinois, it was awesome, but then again, all outfitters had flooded corn

Last edited by beaversnipe; 02/08/17 03:16 AM.

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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: nate33] #6666183 02/08/17 03:16 AM
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The pond will be right next to one of our fields we farm row crop on and we have irrigation on that field.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: beaversnipe] #6666194 02/08/17 03:23 AM
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Originally Posted By: beaversnipe
Your corn will be burned up by the time kwaks show up

In illinois, it was awesome, but then again, all outfitters had flooded corn


So you think if we planted the pond around the same time frame we plant our regular corn that it would be useless for ducks it we flooded it in September.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6666288 02/08/17 04:44 AM
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Originally Posted By: Casted-Out
Originally Posted By: beaversnipe
Your corn will be burned up by the time kwaks show up

In illinois, it was awesome, but then again, all outfitters had flooded corn


So you think if we planted the pond around the same time frame we plant our regular corn that it would be useless for ducks it we flooded it in September.


I didn't harvest until late oct last year. Grant it thats about 1000 miles from coast.

Key would be flooding it.


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6666437 02/08/17 01:54 PM
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So what about N Texas? If I can flood my spot shin to knee deep, could I plant corn in April and just let it sit till duck season?

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: muddyz] #6666473 02/08/17 02:34 PM
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I hunt a private place in E. Texas that plants corn every year. It's unbelievable what happens when you flood it in Nov. They only allow shooting 20 gauges. We've done it twice in Bosque county and it turned out great. Here's the problem; you have to put a fence around it to keep the pigs out. Most of these ponds are 2-5 acres. We set traps for coons at the place in Bosque co. The place in e. Texas put 2 hot wires on a solar panel for the coon problem. You have to have a fairly large budget for this but it works. Corn for ducks is the ticket.


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6666488 02/08/17 02:46 PM
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What time of year did they plant? We didn't finish shelling corn last year till the first of September due to rain keeping us out the corn was fine other than some of it starting to lay over due to all the rain we had. Hogs will be a concern because in this particular spot we have em BAD.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6666596 02/08/17 03:55 PM
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I think they planted in April. We've planted as late as first of May due to not being able to get in our pond because they are too wet.


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6667763 02/09/17 04:15 AM
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Originally Posted By: Casted-Out
What time of year did they plant? We didn't finish shelling corn last year till the first of September due to rain keeping us out the corn was fine other than some of it starting to lay over due to all the rain we had. Hogs will be a concern because in this particular spot we have em BAD.


Depending on variety 60-100 days before Nov 1


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: BOBO the Clown] #6667796 02/09/17 05:05 AM
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Originally Posted By: BOBO the Clown
Originally Posted By: Casted-Out
What time of year did they plant? We didn't finish shelling corn last year till the first of September due to rain keeping us out the corn was fine other than some of it starting to lay over due to all the rain we had. Hogs will be a concern because in this particular spot we have em BAD.


Depending on variety 60-100 days before Nov 1


You could never get corn planted that late around here unless you irrigate. Even millet on the mud flats is only so good. Right?

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6667815 02/09/17 06:06 AM
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Plain and simple, without the right resources and a lot of luck, corn for ducks in Texas is hard pull off.

If you plant in April you better have ducks in November. If the weather turns out mild and the migration is slow (see 2015), it'll all be laid over and rotted before the birds get here in significant numbers.

If you plant in May and don't get rain at the right time and in the right quantity (see 2014), you better plan on spending the entire summer giving it a drink.

Did I mention the cost of seed, fertilization, cultivation, etc.....??

And none of the above will matter if its not completely fenced in and trapped religiously.

Long story short. Like everything else, it's a gamble. Granted when it pays off it pays off big but it'll never be as often as you would like.

The guys up north are simply better resourced, have better rainfall patterns, richer soil and most importantly birds that arrive sooner.

All that to say, we've planted and flooded it for 10 years here in NE Texas and we'll do a few impoundments again next year, I'm sure but I do know this much, I could have probably gone to Canada and hunted 100 times for what we have invested.

Don't say you haven't been warned......


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: duckboogieman] #6668059 02/09/17 03:18 PM
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Originally Posted By: duckboogieman
Plain and simple, without the right resources and a lot of luck, corn for ducks in Texas is hard pull off.

If you plant in April you better have ducks in November. If the weather turns out mild and the migration is slow (see 2015), it'll all be laid over and rotted before the birds get here in significant numbers.

If you plant in May and don't get rain at the right time and in the right quantity (see 2014), you better plan on spending the entire summer giving it a drink.

Did I mention the cost of seed, fertilization, cultivation, etc.....??

And none of the above will matter if its not completely fenced in and trapped religiously.

Long story short. Like everything else, it's a gamble. Granted when it pays off it pays off big but it'll never be as often as you would like.

The guys up north are simply better resourced, have better rainfall patterns, richer soil and most importantly birds that arrive sooner.

All that to say, we've planted and flooded it for 10 years here in NE Texas and we'll do a few impoundments again next year, I'm sure but I do know this much, I could have probably gone to Canada and hunted 100 times for what we have invested.

Don't say you haven't been warned......


There is something to say about boarding a plane, shooting ducks and going home.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: duckboogieman] #6668901 02/10/17 01:43 AM
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Originally Posted By: duckboogieman
Plain and simple, without the right resources and a lot of luck, corn for ducks in Texas is hard pull off.

If you plant in April you better have ducks in November. If the weather turns out mild and the migration is slow (see 2015), it'll all be laid over and rotted before the birds get here in significant numbers.

If you plant in May and don't get rain at the right time and in the right quantity (see 2014), you better plan on spending the entire summer giving it a drink.

Did I mention the cost of seed, fertilization, cultivation, etc.....??

And none of the above will matter if its not completely fenced in and trapped religiously.

Long story short. Like everything else, it's a gamble. Granted when it pays off it pays off big but it'll never be as often as you would like.

The guys up north are simply better resourced, have better rainfall patterns, richer soil and most importantly birds that arrive sooner.

All that to say, we've planted and flooded it for 10 years here in NE Texas and we'll do a few impoundments again next year, I'm sure but I do know this much, I could have probably gone to Canada and hunted 100 times for what we have invested.

Don't say you haven't been warned......


Other than hogs the biggest thing I was worried about is what kind of stand it will have once its flooded if the birds don't arrive early.

Has anyone had any success with milo?

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6669141 02/10/17 05:27 AM
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Originally Posted By: Casted-Out
Other than hogs the biggest thing I was worried about is what kind of stand it will have once its flooded if the birds don't arrive early.

Has anyone had any success with milo?


The stalk will typically remain standing on most varieties, but the heads tend to fall over after the first significant rain/wind/frost event of the fall. We've planted as late as August 1st (w/irrigation) hoping to push it as far into the season as possible. The problem is that your yield suffers when you begin loosing daylight hours in late September early October. The heads don't have time to "finish".

Like corn it will need to be fenced and trapped and you will simply have to pray that the enormous flocks of black birds don't find it as they migrate through. The other issue I've run into with milo is that once it comes in contact with water (upon being flooded) the seed rots incredibly quickly (14 days??) and is then no long very palatable to waterfowl. Again, like corn, it's a timing issue. It's normally all gone or rotted by the time the birds arrive.

My personal preference for Texas is most soil plants and barnyard grass in particular. Hog, deer, coon and even cow proof. Its a perennial and only gets thicker each year. If you can irrigate and control your water, it'll produce more seeds then the birds could ever finish. And if you can remain disciplined enough to hold some back until mid to late December to flood (when all the other food through out the country side has been eaten), the second half of the season will be lights out.

Good luck.....


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: wal1809] #6669144 02/10/17 05:42 AM
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Originally Posted By: wal1809
There is something to say about boarding a plane, shooting ducks and going home.


It's incredibly cheaper, that's for sure. Just wish I didn't like farming for'em so darn much.


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6669234 02/10/17 01:18 PM
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Probably dumb question.... Is barnyard grass a staple seed at feed stores? Or does it have another name? I was looking into that this last year but they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. We ended up going with Japanese millet but I am interested in barnyard grass as well.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: duckhunter55] #6672056 02/12/17 10:25 PM
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Originally Posted By: duckhunter55
Corn for ducks is the ticket.

I use cracked corn and white Wonder bread up


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6672991 02/13/17 04:11 PM
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We had one of our DU units planted in corn that was then declared a disaster and wasn't harvested. We thought it was going to be bang up for the ducks. Like others have mentioned, most of the stalks fell over and the corn rotted before the big ducks showed up. The benefit was that all kinds of moist soil plants grew with the corn and that held the ducks till the end of the season. We are further south than you but my philosophy is either plant rice/millet or focus on moist soil plants. You should have a combo of both but ultimately the moist soil is where we are shooting birds most of the time.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Teamjefe] #6673917 02/14/17 03:19 AM
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Originally Posted By: Teamjefe
We had one of our DU units planted in corn that was then declared a disaster and wasn't harvested. We thought it was going to be bang up for the ducks. Like others have mentioned, most of the stalks fell over and the corn rotted before the big ducks showed up. The benefit was that all kinds of moist soil plants grew with the corn and that held the ducks till the end of the season. We are further south than you but my philosophy is either plant rice/millet or focus on moist soil plants. You should have a combo of both but ultimately the moist soil is where we are shooting birds most of the time.


We have a pond where we farm rice that we've never planted anything on, it's just moist soil vegetation and is great for duck hunting. This new pond we'll be building is right next to our row crop so I figured it' may be worth a try. I know a guide around our area had planted corn Last year but it may have been the same situation as y'all as he had millet mixed in with it.

I'd like to plant something just to try it out. The thing is that we do have irrigation where this pond will be but to route it to the pond we'll have to relift it from a canal. I'm trying to find something to plant that will be able to do well with regular rainfall incase we're to busy to irrigate it properly. I've heard millet needs to be irrigated at just the right times or you're just wasting your time. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6673962 02/14/17 03:42 AM
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I did 20'acres of flooded corn this year and would say it's not worth the $$. Keeping weeds/johnson grass out of it is critical or it's so thick the birds don't want to land in it. Also- if you put water in it before mid December it will rot. Lotta cost for a few weeks of hunting. This year I'm going back to millet for the most part. I'm planning on doing one two acre unit in corn for a roost. The birds definitely like to roost in it. Also the only birds attracted to the corn were mallards and teal. I was disappointed at the lack of gadwall and pintail using this wetland.

Re: Corn food plots? [Re: duckhunter55] #6674768 02/14/17 09:55 PM
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Originally Posted By: duckhunter55
I hunt a private place in E. Texas that plants corn every year. It's unbelievable what happens when you flood it in Nov. They only allow shooting 20 gauges. We've done it twice in Bosque county and it turned out great. Here's the problem; you have to put a fence around it to keep the pigs out. Most of these ponds are 2-5 acres. We set traps for coons at the place in Bosque co. The place in e. Texas put 2 hot wires on a solar panel for the coon problem. You have to have a fairly large budget for this but it works. Corn for ducks is the ticket.


Sounds like Bob Meads place.


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Re: Corn food plots? [Re: Casted-Out] #6676719 02/16/17 01:54 PM
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