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Hunting whitetails from a boat

2bowhunt

2bowhunt

Member
Just curious how many guys out there are using a boat to access their hunting ground/stands?

If so, what's your setup look like....bass boat, jon boat, kayak, inflatable, etc.

I'm looking to modify my current setup to be more agile and allow me to put in somewhere that I can't necessarily back my truck up to the water but still big enough to carry a stand, sticks, pack, etc.
 
I have been thinking this as well. If I could get a small boat I could float right down the small river and into my stand. I just don't know how hard it would be to navigate in the dark, if I could store it under the bridge and how hard it would be to paddle back up River.
 
I wondered this as well, it would save a lot of sweat and miles. I looked at kayaks last year for this purpose and to get one big enough for my stand, bow and gear it would have been cheaper to get a canoe in the end. Then you have the problem of getting a deer on it or dragging one behind it in an inflatable raft or with a life jacket strapped to it. Once I get storage space for a canoe I'll be going that route. Would love to hear or see what others do though!
 
I bought a used walker bay dingy for $200. It's made out of a plastic or fiberglass. Perfect for deer hunting. I bolted a piece of 2x12 to the transom with a metal rod that has two small (lawn mower sized) tires attached to it. This allows me to flip the boat over and wheel it around from the bow. It's easy to get it in and out of the water by myself.

I tried to post a pic of it. It uploaded, but I'm not sure where it's going to show up!
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buckill said:
I bought a used walker bay dingy for $200. It's made out of a plastic or fiberglass. Perfect for deer hunting. I bolted a piece of 2x12 to the transom with a metal rod that has two small (lawn mower sized) tires attached to it. This allows me to flip the boat over and wheel it around from the bow. It's easy to get it in and out of the water by myself.

I tried to post a pic of it. It uploaded, but I'm not sure where it's going to show up!
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So are you using a trolling motor on this? Sounds similar to what I was thinking about doing with a 10' jon boat (around 80 lbs bare boat) mounting wheels on the transom and wheel it around by the bow.
 
This is something I am seriously considering this fall, as a lot of public land around me is accessed by either private property or river only.

I have a 14 foot canoe with a transom on the back that will accept a trolling motor. I would think this would be enough to get up current on most rivers and would be very quiet. My only issue is loading and unloading it by myself, so I am thinking about building a small canoe trailer with some storage to pull behind the truck.
 
Presently I just row it. A guy could buy a small electric motor to put on it.
That's just added items to deal with. I like to keep it simple.
 
I had a 9ft 9 golden hawk canoe in college I used to use. I rigged a trolling motor on it with I believe a 55lb thrust trolling motor. There were a few times I went down river and could not get back up. Mainly due to insane wind through there and current at times around bends. Going down was easy but in the dark I was always scared to death.

Also it seemed in the mornings there would always be some fog. Talk about eery rolling down the river when you couldn't even see the front of the canoe in fog. I had many visions of hitting a log jam or the bank or flipping the canoe and losing ally gear or dying. Would have felt safer going across a lake.

Decided just to walk. Buddy had a flat bottom boat that worked well. I felt safer but still foggy, lots of logs and sand bars etc. Was great during the day. I never could get used to going in when dark but I am not a great swimmer either.
 
Absolutely! I have one farm where it's PERFECT. Small plastic type boat (can't think of how to explain it), 2 chairs set in it. It's kinda rectangle shape, flat bottom - I take one chair out so I can fit my bow & back pack in part and then I sit in back with trolling motor, fast & easy. 2 batteries and a trolling motor, oar (only if needed, otherwise I only use trolling motor), life jacket & flashlight if needed. Super easy, no sweating and it was super cheap to put all this together (boat was maybe $400-500, trolling motor was $125. & it's Quiet! I blow wind over the lake. Stands are about 40 yards off shore I'm guessing. Could hunt the same spot every day if wind was right. Worked out extremely well this year ;)
 
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Thanks for the input guys. This is by far my preferred way to access stands. Like Skip, I have stands that I can literally hunt every day with the right wind.
 
An acquaintance of mine dropped coin for a smaller Zodiac type craft, he uses it a lot. Don't think a perfect ramp is needed for it either.

I'd need a wider boat, none of this canoe or kayak stuff on rivers and definitely a quality life vest.
 
I picked up a small boat a couple of years ago, thought I would use it to access some public ground along the local river. Did a test run up the river during the day, kept running into sand bars, and logs everywhere. Messing around putting it in during the dark, running up the river in the dark, etc., has seemed like too much hassle.
 
JNRBRONC said:
I picked up a small boat a couple of years ago, thought I would use it to access some public ground along the local river. Did a test run up the river during the day, kept running into sand bars, and logs everywhere. Messing around putting it in during the dark, running up the river in the dark, etc., has seemed like too much hassle.
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Been there done that coupled with the fog Mike mentioned earlier it is not as much fun as it sounds!
 
Get a wide flat bottom, learn the river in the day time and you won't have a problem. Best hunts of my life were from a boat, loved it.
 
I've thought about doing this on some public along the river. I have the boats, just going in/out int the dark worry me so I have not tried it.
 
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