Wonder how many folks have bowhunted successfully out of or use canoe, kayak or similar watercraft to access hunting areas?
After 10 years taking it up again this year. Built a big balloon wheel cart to bring a canoe down to the points difficult to access (swamps, cattails, bridge crossing etc., with no official landings).
Scouted a few islands today, marked trails trees for stands and possible ground blinds. Afterwards fished the small stream and caught pike, lost some lures. Good sign everywhere as you can expect anyplace there is acorns.
So any stories, tips to to share?? I am currently using a big old 17 ft aluminum Grumman.
I have 2 kayaks, do not like them for hunting, except for ducks at times..........
My other canoe is a raddison out of Canada,,,13 foot square stern, wide in the middle, even has oar locks....... I can stand in it, nicely if needed, and packs well.... if I have some lake work needed, I have a 2hp internal, to use, on windy days,,,,,,
anything over 50lbs to me is useless, to hard to handle, but mine get pulled in and out all of the time,,,,, I do not have drive in lots I am going on, so weight is my concern.....
sometimes, in the fall, I take off with the 13 footer for several days, my wife will pick me up. I just enjoy the paddling, loafing, etc....... so many good water crossings I find, I set up usually on the ground, right off the water...... very few, hardly no one, unless private property, and even then seldom, does anyone hunt, by or in the water.........
I like this type of hunting, but hey, have have a lot of water to explore when I want
They are apparently no longer being made, but I still see one laying in a backyard or on a rack out next to a garage fairly often.
A couple of my favorite pics are the ones with my younger brother in the bow seat and a deer atop our tent and packs and ML's as we paddled out to my Jeep a mile or so down a slow little creek to our launch spot.
The wife's favorite moment to recall and retell was when we were loading back up at the end of a fun overnight camp with our son. He was about fifteen at the time, and we had been canoeing a few times and were, of course, pretty much "experts" with all that experience. So when we had emptied the canoe of all the stuff that needed to go inside the vehicle and walked back to the landing to swing the canoe smoothly up and over our heads for the carry up the slight slope to the truck, she was watching her guys and admiring the smooth expertise we had developed. Until we swung the canoe up settled it down over our heads with each of us facing in opposite directions! We had always had the canoe on a slope before with the uphill lead end being obvious by its position, so had never needed to agree beforehand on which end was to be the lead, and we had both assumed it to be our end. And of course neither of us could see the other to see our error until we both tried to step towards the truck. That 3-stooges moment was too much for her, and she couldn't even retell it for couple years without stopping to catch her breath from laughing.
One caveat about using one for gun hunting. The recoil of two twelve gauge shotguns firing a simultaneous broadside at a rising duck, is enough to put a 17' canoe with a couple of 180# hunters completely upside down about as fast as a mousetrap closes.
That one will do what you need!
Corey
