# marsh de-icer



## strmchzr (Dec 22, 2004)

hey guys,

i'm looking for a way to keep some water open on my marsh during december and january when ice locks it up and renders it useless for waterfowl. here's what i've come up with:

1.pond aerators (bubblers)
2. dock de-icers (submerged props/motors that pull deep, warmer water to the surface)
3. pump well water into marsh

i don't have access to electricity at my marsh, so i was wanting to use multiple deep cycle marine batteries to power the set-up for an extended period (a few days at least) w/o having to recharge them.

any ideas??


----------



## AvianQuest (Dec 22, 2004)

It's not nice to mess with mother nature.


----------



## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

i hate to put a stop to anyones duck hunting, but i think your best off to let your pond be. do some scouting and find where they are at, it will be much cheaper and you wont be messing with nature.


----------



## strmchzr (Dec 22, 2004)

> It's not nice to mess with mother nature.


what????????


----------



## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Didn't some of you guys try to drill a bunch of holes with ice augers to bring the water to the surface? I guess you could cut out big chunks with a chain saw or something.....I'd opt for the scouting and going to the birds.


----------



## drjongy (Oct 13, 2003)

What?! Messing with nature?! I don't think keeping water from freezing is going to cause any environmental disaters.

You just have to keep the water moving somehow with a prop or bubbles like you said. I wouldn't pump water from a well. If you don't have electrical then I guess your only options are a deep cycle battery or a generator.


----------



## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Lots of antifreeze......JUST KIDDING!

I can't say I'm totally familiar with your weather down there. Depending on how cold it gets and for how long, messing with batteries will be a pain. Probably the bubblers or something that doens't take up a lot of juice is your best bet.


----------



## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

In fine pa & dubay fashion you get some serious "rube cred"!!!!

This has to be the craziest thing i have ever heard. Good luck. Thats alot more $$, time, and work i would do to shoot a few quack, quack's...but to each his own.

It would probably be cheaper, less stressful, easier to hop on a plane to cancun, sip on some margaritas, dance with some senioritas.


----------



## AvianQuest (Dec 22, 2004)

drjongy said:


> What?! Messing with nature?! I don't think keeping water from freezing is going to cause any environmental disaters.


You're kidding.....right?

When one body of water is kept from freezing while other waters around it are frozen, it sets up anomalies in the earth's magnetic field. Ducks are extremely sensitive to those anomalies and it can radically change their migration patterns.

In the James Roth study (Roth 1997 et al), radio equipped mallards flew over an artificially unfrozen pond in North Dakota and became disoriented and turned 180 degrees and migrated _north_. Those radio transmitters that weren't eaten by polar bears along with the duck carcass were recovered the next spring.

Scientists are working on theories as we speak to research the apparent link between these unnaturally manipulated waters and the current abnormal weather patterns.

By the way, the anomalies have been shown to have a direct effect on the heretofore mystery of oscillations within the Coriolis Effect....and I don't have to tell you what that is causing.

Meanwhile those same anomalies are changing the eating habits of Canada geese which is causing them to consume cattle dung along the flyway routes. This has resulted in many of them tasting like chit, which is appropriate since this whole post is bull chit....


----------



## Remmi_&amp;_I (Dec 2, 2003)

:rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin:


----------



## JIMC_ND (Oct 29, 2004)

[/quote]

You're kidding.....right?

"When one body of water is kept from freezing while other waters around it are frozen, it sets up anomalies in the earth's magnetic field. Ducks are extremely sensitive to those anomalies and it can radically change their migration patterns.... :eyeroll:

AQ- my solution is to shortstop or shoot every single duck or goose before it can even reach Texas. I think we would all be better off with less commercial interests in the sport. And no, I'm not kidding...we like it up here just like it is :thumb:

We all need to join Bubblers Unlimited (BU)!

Hail Call to Fetch! :jammin:


----------



## strmchzr (Dec 22, 2004)

thanks for the replies (i think)?!?!?

this is an awesome forum.. however, i don't think i _speak the language_, at least i don't understand what the hell you guys are talking about?

"rube cred", "heretofore mystery of oscillations", etc.. WOW! must be a long winter in n. dakota already and/or you guys must be hittin' the peace pipe a little too much!!!

any-who,
my idea isn't quite so far fetched (or necessarily $$$) as it may sound.. in my neck of the woods, small bodies of water (i.e. farm ponds <3acres) have 1/2" of ice in the morning that quickly melts, but it has gotten very cold this week (20* high temp. today) and i'll probably need an axe to open a hole in the marsh by x-mas eve. 
kansas weather is erratic and it'll probably be 50* next week, so i need a "temporary" solution to keep water open during duck season. that's why i think i could power my remote de-icer set up w/ multiple deep cycle marine batteries that only need to run for a few days at a time. 
i'm installing an aerator (early x-mas present) tommorrow afternoon on my pond behind the house (wired for 110V), so this should be a good test of the feasibility of a similar set-up at a remote site w/o electricity.
the last few weeks of duck season (late dec/early jan.) in ks. is my favorite time to hunt waterfowl. greenheads and canucks are concentrated on whatever open water is available (usually rivers, large reservoirs, and quarries) and i love to hunt the late-arrivers. 
here's a cool site: http://www.pondaeration.com/ --- click on video presentation to see what i'm talking about............


----------



## strmchzr (Dec 22, 2004)

ooooops,

i certainly didn't realize AQ was a texican, i hope no north dakotan was offended, but that explains his jibberish ramblings.. i hope you guys up north got your licks in during duck season, 'cause i'm going to try my darndest to make sure there's not a greenhead that makes it down to texas, LOL!

he got me: hook, line, and stinker...............

thanks for all the replies and happy hunting!


----------

