Gearing up for duck hunting 2018!!!

Duckslayer100

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About this time every year my mind begins to shift to hunting season. Makes for a loooong summer, but whatever.

I'm playing with the idea of getting some sort of portable marsh boat/kayak/canoe for duck hunting. Maybe I'd get gumptious and put a tiller trolling motor on it, but likely just a push pole or paddles. Something I can throw a dog and bag of decoys in and just mosey across a pond do the side where all the birds want to be.

Since I rarely hunt water when you can drop a trailer, it would need to be portage-able. I have a few waters in mind where it's a short drag to the edge, and with my topper I'd likely travel with it strapped to the top of the truck.

Anyway, advise on what to look for? A buddy of mine uses a canoe and that works just fine for him. But stability isn't the best. I wouldn't mind something with a bit winder footprint just to be on the safe side.
 


Migrator Man

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I picked up the Ascend H12 from Cabelas and it been working great so far. Only have fished out of it but I already know it will work good for hunting this fall. Best thing is the available space and weight capacity for gear. I would check it out if I were you.
 

Duckslayer100

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I picked up the Ascend H12 from Cabelas and it been working great so far. Only have fished out of it but I already know it will work good for hunting this fall. Best thing is the available space and weight capacity for gear. I would check it out if I were you.

That looks darn nice! Only problem would be how to lug the dog along. I found an older fiberglass layout-type boat on Craigslist that looks like it might work. Price is right, too. The guy selling it won't get back to me though...
 

Redmist

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I have an Otter 2000. It works well for both fishing and hunting and has a dog plat form and an optional dog ladder you can add so the dog can get back on board. The thing I like best about it is the seats are raised so your not sitting on the floor. My lower back doesn't like the floor models. Look up their web site or you tube some videos. Very stable and unsinkable. If your interested PM me I have one for sale I don't seem to have the time to use it anymore and what time I do get each year has turn to upland a good pointer is freaking awesome to hunt with.
 

KDM

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NOT a fan of boats for waterfowl as most boat hunters bust up the roost sites, but if you're set on getting something the first thing I'd do is peruse the MN duck boys sites and see what they use. Them guys are the KINGS of boat hunting and have to get through more cattails then anyone else I know to find duck waters. Look for one with stabilizing capabilities like holes to put poles through and drive them into the bottom for stability. When you find a possible product, look at weight first. Dragging/pushing/lugging/pulling ANYTHING overland and then through cattails sucks big donkey nuts, not to mention putting the damn thing on the roof of your truck. Just getting my own fat azz through cattails in waders is just about enough to make me not hunt there. Storage capacity would come next. I'd look at not having to put anything in the boat you can't carry on your back in one trip. Going back and forth two or three times just to get the boat/deks/other crap to the water means you have to do two or three trips just to get back to the truck. Hopefully with the added weight of a few ducks. Next would be durability and where you are going to store the thing for the other 50 weeks of the year. Then, after all that, I'd leave the dog at home when I use it. Dogs tend to jump around when they're hunting and tend to tip stuff over. Guys die when boats get tipped over while they are duck hunting. Getting back alive is kind of important. Good Luck!!
 


Duckslayer100

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My boys are plenty comfy in boats. We've hunted out of canoes before and they've gone on plenty of kayak rides with me. I'd rather stay home than leave my dogs behind. That's just nuts.

The key is portability. I'm from Minnetucky. I know what "they" do. I'm not going to jump roosts or whatever. There are PLENTY of transition sloughs prime for midday duck swats when the birds are coming off the fields and back to loaf. The idea is to get a little floater that allows me to tote along a dozen or so decoys, gun, blind bag, and dog. And I can toss on top of the truck or in a small trailer.

I'm about as minimalist as it comes when hunting. The more I hunt, the less I bring. Ninety percent of my hunts last year consisted of a dozen decoys, a spinner, dogs, and what I could carry on my person. So I agree...no sense in making multiple trips. Waste of time and energy.

What I really want a boat for is to get on some good diver hunting. I haven't killed a can in years, and it would be sweet to get in a mix of bills. Sometimes the best and most untapped duck hunting out there is divers, especially in this greenhead-obsessed state. Screw the mallards. I'll leave those to the nonresidents and duck snobs. Leave the "undesirables" to me. After all, takes one to know one!! ;)
 

FishSticks

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beavertail stealth, buddy has one that we fish small sloughs out of and they are incredibly stable. Might be a bit heavy for you but you can drag it up unloaded no problem. He puts an electric trolling motor on his
 

Migrator Man

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That looks darn nice! Only problem would be how to lug the dog along. I found an older fiberglass layout-type boat on Craigslist that looks like it might work. Price is right, too. The guy selling it won't get back to me though...
There is a lot of space in the front and the back of the H12 where you could situate the dog. The covers on the front and back hatch easily remove for toting more gear. Beavertail boats are nice but more expensive and harder to paddle/need a motor.
 

Lou63

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I picked up a small plastic boat for setting decoys if the water is too deep, most of the water we hunted last year was shallow enough to wade.

Gonna use a couple of bicycle wheels "I have enough bike wheels to build a whole dam fleet" and some angle iron to build a "trailer" for the boat to set on while walking to the water and can transport stuff in the boat.

Bike tires should get it high enough to clear the rocks and tall grass and the boat should 'float over cattails when pulling through them. Mud will be the only real problem I can foresee and I can always just pull the boat over the mud and leave the trailer set.

Also picked up a 5x8 homemade enclosed trailer I can toss the boat on top of and use the kids atv to pull stuff in where I have permission or its legal to.

P.S. just thought the bike tire trailer may work pulling ice fishing stuff out on lake or put the skis I bought on for winter. HMMMMM
 

Fly Carpin

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I hunt out of my canoe for divers quite a bit. It’s Kevlar so portaging is a dream. I rigged some pole holders that I attach with clamps so I can drive wood poles down into the mud but the boat can still float up and down. If I bury it in the cattails the dog can get back in with ease
 


KDM

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If divers are your target, the best diver hunts I've been on were when we threw a camo net over my 16 ft fishing boat and sat in the chairs with the net over our heads for cover. We just beached the boat on a point, threw the deks out (whatever we could fit in the boat) and covered up with the net. The divers came right in. No dragging, heaving, or other sweat producing activities. Used floating plugs to retrieve ducks or just pushed off and went to get'em with the boat. No deks on either side of the boat makes for easy recoveries. Shot LOTS of divers that way along with plenty of puddlers to boot. Added some canada deks and added a few of them to the bag as well. Good Luck!!
 

Finaddict

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Check out Carstens Industries in Melrose MN. Wide variety of fiberglass duck boats ranging from car toppers to trailerable. I have the pintail for hunting alone with a dog. Perfect for my needs, but at my age little heavy for heaving up on my pick-up.
 

Jim Carroll

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I have an Ascend H12 as well...very nice kayak that is super stable. My lab rides along all the time in the back and even when he is aboard I think you would have to work hard to tip it over. I've just fished with it so far but you could easily shoot out of it no doubt. You will need a long paddle (I have the Ascend Tournament paddle 250 cm) as its on the wide side as kayaks go. Overall I'm really happy with the yak...

. JC Ascend H 12.jpg
 

Duckslayer100

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7EF219B3-68EE-43F5-B4FF-B0696518C1A3.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

Picked up this little beauty on Friday. No, the toddler was already mine. Talking about the duck skiff. Super wide, stable layout boat with a spot on the transom for a motor. Came with an old bow-pound troller that I'm selling on Tuesday. Going to upgrade with a true transom-mount trolling motor int he 40-55 lb capacity, then figure out transportation later. She fits in the back of my truck with the tailgate down and slides perfectly under the platform I have for the dog kennels.
 

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