hunting the Mississippi river

[jparrucci]

Have a friend who just bought a 16 foot duck boat with a 25 horse. I also have a 17 foot canoe. I have never hunted the big river before. What areas should I look at hunting? Willing to drive a ways if need be. I have no idea where it is legal where there is pressure etc. I was thinking of taking the boat a ways towing the canoe and parking the boat somewhere and paddling in to some hard to reach areas. Any suggestions?

[BoxMN]

If you go to areas where there is barge traffic (Spring Lake-ish), especially when dark, take great precautions. They push a HUGE wake (in front and behind) and have little tiny lights on front of barges, which are waaaaay in front of the main tug lights. Don't hunt on the main channel.

Farther south (North Lake), or anywhere, you need to go early with capital E... ha! You will have company! It's fun though, I haven't done it in a few years now. Bring a BIG light too, like a 15 mil candlelight to make sure others know where you are and to light up the area.

Also, beware of getting into refuges or city limits where it is not allowed. Definitely do your research on this.

Have fun!

[Lunker]

If you get further south from the cities, there is a ton of refuge land that is backwater and you wouldn't be on the main river. I hunt here with a 14ft Jon boat with a 15 hp. As for "hard to reach places' the huge number of hunters combined with a lot of them having mud motors and even airboats, there are very few spots that are inaccessible to people. Best bet would be to get a refuge map so you can see what is open refuge and what is closed to hunting. Hunting during the week also helps to reduce pressure.