duck hunting out of canoe

[ole matty]

i had been thinkin abt get a canoe for duck hunting in shallow grassy pond and to hide in 3-4 feet of grasses as my 12' boat r to wide. was wonderin whats the ideal legnth and width for hunt out of it? aluminum or plastic? and where can i find the good canoe?

[youngie22]

one or two guys? dog? lots of decoys?

[Twins 57 Fan]

I use a 16 foot canoe and have smacked some quackers with 3 of us out of it no problem. I wouldn't go much smaller though. It can get a little tight late season rolls around and you have 3-4 dozen deeks.

Whether you buy aluminum or plastic I recommend you camo it out. I did my aluminum and it turned out awesome.

Let me know if you want my canoe camo secret. I will gladly post it up here for you.

Good luck

[Powerstroke]

I've used my canoe for years. Its a 16'r. Its even RED. I use a drab colored tarp over the top and sides cause my canoe is plastic and doesn't like paint. It just cracks and chips.

I've used extra paddles buried in the mud, or pieces of wood with clamps to stabilize the canoe in the cattails. I think it works very well.

[MikeH55343]

I've been duck hunting out of a 12' OT Discovery for many years. You need to stabilize it in some fashion. I use two 10 foot 2x2's that I clamp to the cross beams. If you can pull in next to a muskrat hut, plant one of the 2x2's in the hut and clamp to a crossbeam. The canoe will be a very solid shooting platform.

I like the composit canoes do to they are not as noisy.

[dan z]

My first years of duckin was outta a 17' cruiser style canoe werked gr8t moved on to a boat to many decoys I will still jump shoot outta it if I have to.

[Se Mn FishSlayer]

hey check out river ridge custom canoes they have great camo canoes and they are made from fiberglass they also have a square back stern great for a motor

[skee0025]

Canyak has some good models made specificly for hunting and the have a good weight limit and stability and if you want anything special they will work with you to build the boat you want.

[Tom7227]

I think I have seen some clamp on devices that allow you do use your push pole to stabilize the rig. I wear waders and most often just get out and pull the rig in to a place where it's steady. The big risk I took is having a jumpy dog in the rig. After a near tip I decided that the dog has to walk or swim to the hunting spot. If you get over 3 dozen dekes it gets a bit crowded. I've seen some guys tow a little raft for the dekes. Maybe one of those bases they use for the ice houses would work.

I bought a couple of those nylon canoe seats that fold down. When you're paddling having something for a back rest is nice.

Take some foam pipe wrap and put it over the thwarts with zip ties and across the front lip with some silicone. The guns get banged up if you don't and they also make a lot of noise.

Main thing - PFD's for all and mandatory use while the canoe is moving. I also usually lash the guns down during movement just in case. Bring something to bail the rig out if it gets water in it.

Here is a hard earned lesson - if you tip over don't go nuts. The canoe will float even if it's full of water. A bag of decoys will hold you above water if needed. If you lose the gun it's cheaper to get a new one than to have your family buy a coffin. Don't spend a lot of time trying to empty out a canoe while you're in the water. Get in it and move it to where you can stand. Then empty it out the best you can and flip it up so that you can get the water out. Get back in and get to shore and head for a warm place. Hypothermia is right at the doorstep and you have to get those wet clothes off.

I bought one of those waterproof bags and put an extra set of clothes - a sweatsuit, some socks, things like that. Put your wallet, smokes, cell, license and stamps in zip lock bags.

Canoes are great for duck hunting - decoying or floating a river. Just think a bit about the worse case scenario before you leave the landing and be prepared for it.

[slabchaser]

I as well have hunted out of a 16 footer. I wouldnt go much smaller than that if you want multiple people. and prepare to fall in as tom said.

[GRH]

I hunt out of a SPortspal canoe. 16' Alum, it has foam lining and a strip of foam down each side. Almost imposible to tip. A guy would really have to work to tip it. I really like it.

[B@ssmaster]

My partner and I have hunted out of an 18' Grumman aluminum for over 30 years now. Way easier to paddle/hide on the WMA we hunt that any kind of a rowboat. Being an 18', it has a pretty wide beam, and it holds that dimension until you get to the thwarts. Pretty stable for a canoe. Knock on wood, we haven't tipped yet. The normal load usually consists of two guys (I'm @ 240#), a 100# lab, 3 bags of dekes, two 5 gallon pails to sit on (loaded with shells, lunch, thermos, etc.) guns, and a waterproof bag for our heavy clothes. (We put them on after we have the blind spot set up.) We typically hunt in a very muddy WMA lake, so we bring 2 push poles and 2 other poles without the duckbills. We hardly ever are able to pull the canoe up onto marshy areas for stability, we are typically floating when we hunt (in rooted cattails). We push the poles straight down into the mud at the 4 corners of the canoe where the thwarts meet the gunwale, then use black rubber bungee cords to do a figure 8 around the thwart and the vertical pole. Very stable! 2 guys can jump up to shoot while the 100lb lab is standing up to watch the action. And as a benefit, if the cover is a little thin, we don't push the poles all the way down, we leave them about eye level (when sitting on the buckets) and drape a piece of camo burlap in front of us to help break up our outline. We even will lay another piece of camo burlap across our laps or behind us on the other pair of poles. All help break up our outlines.

System works sweet!

Of course, we never portage that beast, we have a different canoe for BWCA trips, etc.

We never shoot or take the life jackets off until the poles are secured with the bungees.....

If it is just me, I shoot over the bow, if it is both of us, we shoot sideways over the gunwale. The poles ensure that we don't roll the canoe with the gun recoil or the dog leaping out/climbing back in.

As far as where to look, the last place I bought a canoe from carried all kinds of canoes and kayaks. They also deal with used boats if that interests you. I am not sure if I can post their company name, but they are out of Mountain Iron, MN and make a really sweet portage yolk. I bought a lightweight aluminum used from them along with a portage yolk. A buddy has their float/oar system for his canoe. About 3 other of our BWCA guys also have their yolks. We all love them. Their name begins with a season, then add the words "creek outfitters". "_ _ _ _ _ _ Creek Outfitters" Should be able to find them on the web with that info.

[Se Mn FishSlayer]

river ridge custom canoe all the way for hunting they have a flat back for motor and custom camo also boat seats in them check them out

[Ray Esboldt]

I use a boat/canoe called a Gheenoe. Absolutely the best small water duck boat I have ever owned. It's the shape of a canoe, but very stable. Stable enough I can pull lab over the gunnel in open water. It rows nice with 2 people, but not so good with 1. It's way better with a motor on the back.

It does weigh in at about 130 pounds, so it's not something you want to drag for a long distance. Spider Boats makes the Gheenoe (or at least something similar to it).

[Cold_blood]

if your just lookin for a canoe to hunt out of maybe you be better off just getting one of the otter pintails or something of that effect there made for the marsh they come fully camoed and are very stable we've hunted two guys and my dog which likes to break early specially when the first shots go off and we haven't tipped yet if you want to you can take and push rods into the ground and help stabilize but thats just my opinion

[TruthWalleyes]

Get a canoe! I love mine. 16' holds 2 people, decoys and a dog. But if your going to pile that must stuff in you better have a little experience in cold water. Also i put a 50lb thrust trolling motor on mine for the rough days!

Material...go light.

[Fish&Fowl]

I would go with aluminum and at least 16' long. We hunt out of an old 17' ft. alumacraft when we can't get in with the big duck boat or even our Grummans.

[deadeye]

That is why I got my old 17' grumman. Duck hunting is just so easy on smaller water with them. Plus for paddling a stream its dynamite.

When I set up with it, I like to stabilize it too. I usually try to hunt off of shore when using the canoe, but that isnt always a option. The paddles on each side work pretty good. Im going to weld up some kind of a stabilizer with some floats this summer too.

Oh yeah, dont forget the PFDs!

[Fullmoon]

I've got a Meyer's Sportspal, 14 ft. It's flat bottomed, square transome, wide with a foam bottom and foam along the outside gunnels. Can be put on it's edge but not flipped ( a plus ). Very stable and fairly light for aircraft aluminum. Mine is OD green. I love it for hunting and fishing.