DuckSouth.com

My grandfather owns 80 acres in Sunflower county that always has either rice or beans on it every year, never cotton. It's already got a pump and everything. Nobody hunts it because my grandfather has never let anybody. He told me that I can come next year and fix us a field if I want to. My question is this: There is no cover whatsoever and no woods close either, will the birds work in these wide open places? All the hunting I've ever done has been in flooded timber. I bet you can see for 2 miles in every direction. Also, how much does it cost to run one of those electric field pumps and how many acres would I need to flood? I wonder if the guy that farms it would come and put the levees up for me after he has cut his beans or rice? Would I need to plant something first for feed or what? Thanks for your input.

I would flood the entire 80 acres. A pit would be the best choice of a blind but if you kept the water shallow enough you could use coffin blinds.

YEP. FLOOD IT ALL, MOST OF OUR NORMAL WINTERS
ARE FAILY DRY, THE MORE WATER THE BETTER.

NOT INCLUDING THIS YEAR@!!

You need to go talk to the farmer. Hope he will work with you on the property.

IMHO I would install pits. As many as you can afford so you can shift close to where the birds are going. Flood as much land as you can. Ask the farmer what the electric bill has been to flood the rice. You prob. won't have time for something to come up after he harvests so scratch that idea. I read somewhere that beans are totally degraded 80 days after flooding.

I agree with all of the above, a pit is the only way to go. And as far as the water, I have a diesel pump on one of my fields and it normally takes about 75-100 gallons to flood a DRY field and about another 100 gallons throught the year to keep the water level up and to keep it from freezing. I have always been told that electric wells are keeper to run than diesel so I would guest-a-mate about $200.00-$300.00 for the water. And about the same for the farmer. Your might trade hunting priviliges to the farmer only in exchange for the work. Good luck

cookmducks,--you mean to tell me that it only takes $200-$300 to flood 80 acres? Am I understanding you? That just seems mighty cheap. How much does it cost to run those diesel pumps? Also, 75-100 gallons, is that per acre? It is, right?

Every year we purchase 250 gallons for the diesel pump. being it is off road fuel it is not as expensive as reg diesel. Also my field has been lanformed to hold water evenly as possible over the entire area the field I am talking about is a 65 acre plot and we have been flooding it for about 5 years. there is also a section of timber on one side that we also flood with the same pump. the well we are using is a 12" with multiple heads