At our property in middle GA the beavers have created a pretty good size lake. i would say 4 or 5 acres. The lake has 3 sections because of beaver dams. I have never really hunted ducks and would love to. i have seen a duck or 2 on this lake already. My first question is what is the process in planting something to attract ducks. Would i need to blow part of the top dam up and let that drain, then come in and plant some type of crop, and let the beavers dam it back up for me. Also how long does an area need to stay drained for the crop to grow and what is the best crop for mid GA. oh yeah and when do you plant. thanks for any help and sorry for all the questions

Not sure what kind of plants work in GA but around here wild rice or celery is a real hit and you can plant them with standing water. Make sure you are ready to plant immediately if you are going to blow up a beaver dam, those things will be out fixing that thing so fast you won't believe it.

thanks for the help i have read somewhere that instead of planting i could just drain the beaver pond in June for several weeks and let the sun help grow natural vegetation. Then flood the lake again. This sounds better for my type of land and money. My new question is where can i see plans for how to drain the top part of the pond without destroying the dam and then one to control the water level after it is flooded again

I would start by emailing your local DNR and asking them for some help. Usually if they have some great info if you are creating habitat and may even be able to help out financially if you decide to do more extensive work.

Put a drain pipe in the dam and let it stick out about 6 feet. The beavers will try to fix the leak but can't because of the pipe. If you drain plant Japanese millet. It takes about 90 days to mature. So plant according to the season. Yes, the beavers will re-flood the pond for you. Learn to work with them. It will save you time. Live in harmony with nature. Less stress.

WW

another alternative is chufa. however, it maybe harder to manage in your situation but in regulates inpoudments its a great fit

Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I have a pond that is a great roost pond; lots of flooded timber. The ducks pour into it every day. Well, we all know the law on hunting a roost these days, so the huge inventory of ducks was very difficult to hunt. I knew I needed a feed pond. I considered making one in the back portion of the pond I had, but then came up with a better idea. I simply had a new pond built further up the small stream that was flowing into my roost pond. I cut timber in 5 acres around this little stream and had a pond built there by a guy that knew exactly what I wanted. We kept it shallow. I now am able to plant whatever I like in this new feed pond. I flood the pond around the first of November and drain it at the end of February.
During the pond's first two years I planted some corn and milo in it. I then baited the stew out of it but never hunted it. Soon the ducks found it. I ever used a recording of wooducks that I made to lure them over. The ducks soon started feeding heavily in the pond and we dumped 3 or 4 five-gallon buckets of milo in the pond each day. The ducks absolutely loved it and I had about 700-1,000 ducks feeding there twice each day by February of that year. The plan was to get the ducks in there, let them like the place, and then let them migrate back north, hoping they'd bring their friends back the next year. I've since figured out that corn works best as milo and is gone by December. The whole plan was coming together!
Now the ducks roost in my old pond and pour into the new pond for morning and afternoon feedings. By only hunting the feed pond, the ducks are not disturbed by the hunting. We hunt the pond with 5-8 hunters every 7-10 days. By having both the roost and feed ponds on my farm, I am able to monitor and control the pressure that is on the ducks. I don't have to worry that my neighbor is blasting away and causing them to be overhunted. It's fun!
Here are a couple of pics of my farm. The first is a pic that was taken last summer when the corn was growing. Below that is a pic taken this past Sunday, followed by a pic looking back into my roost pond. Then you'll see us enjoying the fruits of our labors!