Cleaning Pond

[wolc123]

About 20 years ago, I dug a small pond (just under 1/4 acre x 6 foot deep) using a 3-point scoop and my old tractor.  That took about (2) 50 hour weeks on that very dry summer, and the tractor needed a valve job after I finished.   I dug it at the lowest point on our farm, and it has held water thru every year but this one.  About 15 years ago, we had a dry year and it got down to about a foot left on thanksgiving weekend, but started filling back up after heavy rains that weekend.   When I went back there this morning, all the water was gone, with just a few feet of mucky sediment in the bottom.   As the level has dropped over the summer, the great blue herons have been cleaning out all of the frogs and fish (bluegills and bullheads).   

In a couple hours this morning, using a larger, 4wd tractor with a front loader,  I was able to clean out all of the sediment and dig it about a foot deeper.  It took almost as long to pressure wash that tractor afterwords as it did to clean the pond.   I am kind of thankful now for the drought we had over the summer, because I did not need to rent a backhoe or pump the pond out in order to clean it.  The deer use that pond a lot, so hopefully we will get some heavier rains now to fill it back up (Come on Matthew).  Hopefully it will also get cold enough to freeze it this winter. We all missed skating back there last year when it never had safe ice due to the mild winter.            

It feels good to get that, the last of the remaining big , pre-winter jobs done.   We just used our last package of ground venison, and all that remains in the freezer is about 30 pounds of vacuum-sealed roasts and chops.  I definitely have some incentive now for a trip up to the Northern zone next weekend for some ML hunting.   If I can do well up there, then I can leave the doe and two fawns alone who were watching me clean their bath tub this morning at home.     

[outdoorstom]

It's always nice to get big jobs done. Now you can hunt guilt free!