Hunting from a Jon Boat

[Augusta]

I am thinking about getting a 14 ft Jon boat for duck hunting. Does anyone have one? How stable are they? Thanks

[Tator2k]

I use one every year. 14' is better than the 10s or 12s. I put mine right up in some cattails and setup my blind.

[motley man]

The best for duck hunting, go with 14'

[Muthagoose]

Hunted out of mine with a blind since the 80's. Still got it would'nt sell it...1448 alumacraft...

[Augusta]

The one I am looking at is the 1448 model with a 15 hp Johnson motor. It has a homemade "Avery Quick set" blind frame, but no camo. Any chance you guys could tell me how you camo'd yours? Did you first put on some burlap type camo and then grass, or did you just do grass or the burlap type camo? Does anyone have pictures they could share? Thanks

[Muthagoose]

This is a old pic...

I used to use a tennis court net/cable ties and wire grass. Make my frame work out of conduit/brazed.. Its been on there since the mid 80's...

Had a 15 on it for years with a fin talk about move.. Slides right through the cattails easy.Sets on shore flat so you can use it as a box blind. I liked of little they draft. Excellent boat,stable and sturdy...

[ChuckN]

I own a 1448 Alumacraft and love it for fishing and hunting. It is incredibly stable and roomy for all my gear and passenger(s). A 15hp is a little underpowered for this boat when loaded for hunting...I'd say 25hp is about max hp and recommended.

1448 models are tough to find it seems, so if the price is right I'd get it.

Here's a pic of mine with the Beavertail blind w/ Beavertail's Ghillie matts and grasses attached to the blind.

All this talk of duck season is getting me excited...

[Muthagoose]

Hey Chuck its probably not but that view looks pretty close to one off a lake north of Ortonville...Is it?

[Augusta]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have to stand corrected, the boat is a 1436 model. So where did you get your camo mutha? How many pieces did it take to cover it?

[Muthagoose]

Grew wild, bundled it with twine and tied it to the netting.Found it just above low areas....Very durable would last all year.Took about a 12 pack to do it....

Now I use raffia,cant find the grass up here on the tundra and I get it pretty cheap..

[Stringerless!]

I use a super light weight 10 footer. Mostly hunt WMAs so no motor allowed. Great old boat but is starting to leak at rivets. Tried those glue sticks and all kinds of epoxies. Nothing stays. Time for a new one.

[ChuckN]

Hey Chuck its probably not but that view looks pretty close to one off a lake north of Ortonville...Is it?

Nope, this pic was taken near Fergus Falls.

[HNTNBUX]

If it is a 1436 it will be a little tippy unless you pull it up into the cattails or build some stabilizer brackets. I hunted out of mine for ten years and just upsized to a 1648. I built support brackets and I shot standing up all the time.

[Augusta]

HNT, do you have any pictures of your boat with the stabilizers that you could share? One more question, how wide is the opening of the tops of your blinds?

[HNTNBUX]

No pictures and the boat is gone. I had small piece of pipe welded to a piece of flat steel that was bolted to the sides of the boat. I would then insert a smaller diameter pole into the pipe and then tighten a bolt with a t-handle to secure the pipe. It worked very well in shallow water with the pipes being about 6-8 feet long.

[Augusta]

Got it! Thanks for the tip.

[Quackaddict9]

I have a 12 foot crestliner jon boat and is stable, It is not the narrow one you can get so it is actually 32" or 36" beam and is stable. Can hunt 3 comfortablly but usually have 2 guys anyway. I have boat blind on it but took it off for the last two seasons.