Duck boats

[fishnhuntnboy]

I'm looking at getting a duck boat this summer. Just have some questions. I'm not sure what size boat to get. I'll prolly hunt a lot by myself with my dog. I will have a buddy or 2 with me at times. Also will be hunting in and out of the boat. What would be a good size to look at and get? How do you have your blinds set up and what works best?

Thanks for any info. Figure I better start looking and figuring things out before I go and buy

[Gordie]

Remember the wider the more stable it will be but the bigger means heavier and you may have to move that boat by hand now and then thru the mud.

I guess I would probably strat in the 1448 Jon boat. I would think that is a good boat to start with.

It's tough to tell you a specific size without really knowing what kind of duck hunting your going to do. I mean big water,ponds,rivers,rice,swamps and what ever other type pod duck water you may hunt.

Tons of ways to set up blinds on boats kinda depends how elaborate you wanna get.

[Gordie]

Here's one link for duck blinds from years past.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2325831/Duck_Boat_Blind

If you go to the search tab on the side bar and type in duck blinds you will get a bunch of ideas from the past also.

[K_Josh87]

Check out the otter stealth 1200 and 2000 boats, they now offer a nice blind set up for these as well... very stable, shallow water friendly, and practical... but not great for a huge amount of space... 2 guys can hunt out of them.

[dan z]

You will be blinded by who likes what..... what works for them.... all I can say is I love the new Johnny we have. You may even get lucky and click on my previous posts and see the pictures of it.

Heck I'll save you some time and post up a couple pics

Its a 1436 with beavertail performance pods. theres also a scavenger backwater motor hidden inside to push it around, we also put a 25hp outboard when hitting up bigger lakes. I'm really impressed on how much water we can tackle with this thing... but then again I LOVE duck hunting I think one of the worst winds we have had it in is right around 40 mph and it did take on some water but I'm still alive and typing this right. O' I forgwt to about the blind its a custom tailored blind built by skybuster blinds.

[BoxMN]

Yeah, your first consideration is where you will hunt most. Does it have access for trailer? Is water deep or shallow? (By deep I mean where you can use a motor, and shallow you can't. Are you going to trailer it, or carry in pickup bed?

You already mentioned you want a dog and maybe a couple buddies. That probably means you will need at least a 14', and most likely a motor as well, so you are looking at bigger boats.

For small boats, we use Carsten Puddlers and a Pintail. AWESOME boats, but basically single person boats, and not for rough water or really big water. I can't say how many new hunting spots opened up for us once we got our first Puddler. Similar to the Otter. These are about $800ish new, or $350ish used. Best $350 you'd ever spend

For bigger boat, we have a 16' Alumacraft with 50 hp. This works great with blind, and very comfy. We can do 4 people and decoys as max, but great with 2 or 3. We also carry a Puddler with us in this boat, as we don't have dog and use the Puddler to retreieve birds and tweak decoys, etc. You can get these used pretty cheap - i.e. a 1985ish for $2000 max, and paint it up, put in new flooring, etc. Some work, but worth it. Finish it with a Cabelas Northern Flight blind and you are setup very nicely.

edit - oh yeah, with the 16' boat you will also have a boat that does great double duty as a fishing rig in the summer.

Good luck, sorry for the long post

[HNTNBUX]

I have had a few different boats and they all had different advantages. Choose where you are meost likely to hunt for awhile and make your choice based on that.

I have an Otter Stealth that worked great when I wanted to hunt by myself and not pull a trailer. Small electric trolling motor or kayak paddle and it moves pretty good. Limited decoys and your stuff is likely to get wet.

I had an alumacraft 1436L with a 15 horse outboard that was pretty good for two people and would run very fast. It was easy to pull and easy to hide it in the cattails or pull it up on a bog. Any more than two people was too tight for me as the front is not really usable for a shooter. Not good in rice or shallow weedy lakes.

I now have an Alumacraft 1648MV with a mudmotor and I love it. Still light enough to put just about anywhere after it is unloaded but I do need a landing as I am not dragging it across grass or weeds to get it to the water. Lots of room and very comfortable to hunt out of and best of all I only use a push pole when I want to. I now make breakfast or even take a nap on the floor when I get to a spot early and there is plenty of room for decoys. Did I mention no rowing or push poling.

I am not sure you will find one that will do everything but there are some really nice options out there.

[leech~~]

I now have an Alumacraft 1648MV with a mudmotor. best of all I only use a push pole when I want to. Did I mention no rowing or push poling.

Well kinda?

[fishnhuntnboy]

Thanks for all the info. What I am wanting to do is to start hunting more bigger waters. Right now I have a canoe and hunt some small ponds. So I will be at all different kinds of places that have ramps or not. For now I will prolly just transport the boat in the bed of my truck until I can get a trailer. Unless if I find a nice used setup that has boat and trailer in all.

Most of the time I will be hunting by myself and that is one of the biggest reasons why I want to get the boat and it will also be a plus to take ppl with.

[HugoBox]

Not sure how hard it iis for you to get to the east metro. It I saw a darn nice looking Jon boat for sale in a front yard on white bear avenue just north of 694. Didn't see a price but I almost stopped and bought it just cause.

[Finlander]

Look for a used 14' Lund like a C-14 as these are solid boats and real stable compared to other boats of the same size! And they can take on big water like Mille Lacs, Lake Of The Woods, etc.! Plus you can put a ton of decoys in them too!

[dan z]

Look for a used 14' Lund like a C-14 as these are solid boats and real stable compared to other boats of the same size! And they can take on big water like Mille Lacs, Lake Of The Woods, etc.! Plus you can put a ton of decoys in them too!

Had one as our first duck masher and it did serve us very well.

[fishnhuntnboy]

So I have been looking at some boats and have found some good ones. Which boat would be best. A normal flat bottom Jon boat or like a v hull. I did see a nice 14' Starcraft for sale. I just cant decide on which type of boat would do best

[rupprider]

The v hull will cut through the waves instead of bounce over them. If you plan on hunting bigger, open water go with the V. A lot of 14 v's will fit in the box of a pickup with a couple of ratchet straps to hold it in.

[Maxxed Out]

I know you've never done a hunt on my beavertail but I can tell you with that vhull you will cut through the water like rupprider says. The vhull makes for a very smooth ride.

[fishnhuntnboy]

Thanks for the info. That's what I was kinda thinking with the choppy type water. My only concern is will I be able to get into shallow waters? I would think I would be able to.

[Maxxed Out]

You won't have any issues with shallow water.

[Black Bear]

Kind of surprised no one here has mentioned a Grumman Sports Boat. My buddies and I all have them and absolutely love them for most water hunting. I also have a Carstens Pintail.

[rupprider]

Kind of surprised no one here has mentioned a Grumman Sports Boat. My buddies and I all have them and absolutely love them for most water hunting. I also have a Carstens Pintail.

I agree there is a spot for the sport boat in the duck hunting world. However, the OP said he was looking to start hunting bigger water. The sport boat might be a bit undersized. The extra width in a V is a major stability factor in the waves.

[magnum mike]

The Grumman sportboat has a tremndous capacity for what it is and it is more stable than a canoe. That said, they are still tippy and have very little freeboard. I would take my Grumman over a canoe any day but the Grumman has been all but retired.

[fishnhuntnboy]

Well I went and picked up my new boat! Got a 14' Starcraft. It's in great condition! I would post pics but I can't do it from my phone.

[Wallydog]

Maxxed out,

What is your beavertail.........? We are trying to relocate an old beavertail that vaporized from the Appleton,MN area 25 years ago.....

WD

[Maxxed Out]

Maxxed out,

What is your beavertail.........? We are trying to relocate an old beavertail that vaporized from the Appleton,MN area 25 years ago.....

WD

I'm not following the sarcasm. Is this a story about a local gal, the Paddlebar and the #3 green at the Appleton golf course J/K. Or did you actually lose a duck hunting boat out there.

[Wallydog]

Maxxed out,

No sarcasm intended. I grew up in Appleton. My great uncles built boats in northern MN from the 30's thru the 60's. One of the treasures was a beavertail they made that went missing a number of years ago after my brother and I had both moved away. Just hoping it could still exist. Yep on Paddlebar & 3rd green on GC.

Cheers,

WD