Canoe hunting

[easyrider25]

Been hunting out of a canoe last few years and looking for some improvements to make.  Wondering if anyone has any advice for support systems to use.  We have got a pretty good system for stability when hunting out of it.  We us a couple wood steaks with a cross bar that is adjustable that goes across the canoe.  This works very well and does not take up much room in the canoe.

With 2 guys, gear, and a dog just paddling out to big lakes is a little intimidating.  Has anyone made or purchased similar set ups? Or when paddling out any type of float system to help stabilizing the canoe while paddling?

[fishuhalik]

These work pretty darn good. You can buy em or make em yourself real easy. 

Edited September 28, 2015 by fishuhalik

[nofishfisherman]

Being fully loaded with gear should make your canoe more stable in the water/wind.  Without the gear and weight you'd be sitting higher in the water making you more susceptible to being pushed around in the wind and also allowing more side to side motion.

I've done plenty of big water paddling in the BWCA and I much prefer it with 2 people, my dog, and all of our gear versus an empty canoe.

If you are worried about paddling on bigger water the outrigger can work and can be made pretty easily.  I've seen guys make them out of pieces of metal as the cross braces that attach to the canoe and then they use a length of PVC that is capped on both ends for the float.  Only down side to them for duck hunting is that they may make it harder to get yourself into cover.

[fishersofmen]

I have been hunting out of a canoe for a long time. I agree with nofish as far as having plenty of weight. I have one of those mounts that clamp on the back rails and goes off to the side for my trolling motor. Fortunately many of the places we hunt we can get out and stand in shallow water, but there have been times where things have been a bit tipsy.

[Kettle]

I definitely need to get one of those, I have a standard 14 foot boat with an outboard but a lot of the placed I hunt have rice so running the traditional outbound is not an option and a mud motor is not in the budget. I like the canoe aspect, traditional and quiet. It is nice to see a few places recently go to canoe only, I know many despise this, it is nice for those w/o the mud motors. Great thread!

 

Kettle 

[easyrider25]

For the outrigger, pvc capped is float enough?  Or do you need to add some type of float to it? Appreciate all the feedback!

[nofishfisherman]

I haven't personally used the PVC option but have seen it done by others.

All it needs to do is provide lateral stability, not keep the canoe itself afloat.  By capping the ends you are trapping air in the PVC pipe giving it buoyancy, the bigger the pipe the more air that is being trapped.  Also the bigger the pipe the more water it will displace and the more stability it will provide.

Play around with it and see if you can make something work.  The nice thing about the pvc is you can cut it to a length that will work for your boat and its fairly cheap so it if doesn't work exactly as you'd like you aren't out much.