Arkansas Opener Video from Public Land

[William Reinicke]

There is a much smaller WMA that used to be lights out good hunting. It's size kept it mostly out of the lime-light of the "serious" poo-faced youngsters. Then came the mud motors. Who in the hell needs a mud motor in 3-8 foot flooded timber is beyond me, but it began declining more and more once the wicked-cool skinny hulls with overzealous lawnmower engines showed up. The reverberations run the ducks off of the rest area. I've stood there and heard the ducks get up as the mud motors fired up. What happened to being quiet and slipping in unnoticed? You wouldn't fire your rifle continuously while you were walking out to a deer stand. Why would you want a muffer-less engine on your duck boat?

This is 100% why I hate my mudmotor and wish someone would come up with a different motor for these platforms. If it werent for 3 spots I hunt, I would offload my mudmotor so fast. I run it much shallower waters than 3 feet though, and the sand I hunt would absolutely destroy an outboard. I wear out a mudmotor prop every season for the nasty stuff I put it through. I dont even have a loud hopped up muffler. If I could baffle it more, I absolutely would. Although I am one of these "poo-faced" youngsters..... I cannot disagree with anything you say in this paragraph sir.

 

[Jeff Reardon]

Finally, sad to see that Arkansas has ended their ban on motorized decoys. As a former poster here once said to me, the problem with spinning wings and other similar devices is that they make ducks do things ducks don't do, and land in places they otherwise wouldn't be. One of my favorite Aldo Leopold essays is an at-length expansion on this quote: “Then came the gadgeteer, otherwise known as the sporting-goods dealer. He has draped the American outdoors man with an infinity of contraptions, all offered as aids to self-reliance, hardihood, woodcraft, or marksmanship, but too often functioning as substitutes for them. Gadgets fill the pockets, they dangle from neck and belt. The overflow fills the auto-trunk, and also the trailer. Each item of outdoor equipment grows lighter and often better, but the aggregate poundage becomes tonnage.”

And another from the same essay:

"I have the impression that the American sportsman is puzzled; he doesn't understand what is happening to him. Bigger and better gadgets are good for industry, so why not for outdoor recreation? It has not dawned on him that outdoor recreations are essentially primitive, atavistic; that their value is a contrast-value; that excessive mechanization destroys contrast by moving the factory to the woods or to the marsh. The sportsman has no leaders to tell him what is wrong. The sporting press no longer represents sport; it has turned billboard for the gadgeteer. Wildlife administrators are too busy producing something to shoot at to worry much about the cultural value of the shooting....I do not pretend to know what is moderation, or where the line is between legitimate and illegitimate gadgets. Yet there must be some limit beyond which money-bought aids to sport destroy the cultural value of sport...our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is the voluntary limitation in the use of these armaments. It is aimed to augment the role of skill and shrink the role of gadgets in the pursuit of wild things."

 

[Steven Alexander]

This is 100% why I hate my mudmotor and wish someone would come up with a different motor for these platforms. If it werent for 3 spots I hunt, I would offload my mudmotor so fast. I run it much shallower waters than 3 feet though, and the sand I hunt would absolutely destroy an outboard. I wear out a mudmotor prop every season for the nasty stuff I put it through. I dont even have a loud hopped up muffler. If I could baffle it more, I absolutely would. Although I am one of these "poo-faced" youngsters..... I cannot disagree with anything you say in this paragraph sir.

Please don't misunderstand me. MMs have a place (hopefully far away from me ). In the timber, the sound can't escape the tree canopy easily. It reverberates on the water, through the trees, for a long, long way. Ducks have associated that monstrous sound with hunters coming to shoot them.

As for a different platform, I have a concept for that. If a guy only needed a small (less than 10 HP) mud motor; There is a company that sells an electric 10HP lawnmower engine now. It's a drop in replacement for your mowers gasoline engine. Couple that with a potentiometer/control box and one or two good deep cycle batteries (depending on how long your operating needs are), and you could be silent and have more torque than probably a 20 HP gasoline engine. The batteries would be the biggest expense (and heavy). I think I could build this entire setup (including the longtail shaft) for less than $3K. Cheap? No. But silent and all the low-end power you would ever need for a small boat.

 

[William Reinicke]

Please don't misunderstand me. MMs have a place (hopefully far away from me ). In the timber, the sound can't escape the tree canopy easily. It reverberates on the water, through the trees, for a long, long way. Ducks have associated that monstrous sound with hunters coming to shoot them.

As for a different platform, I have a concept for that. If a guy only needed a small (less than 10 HP) mud motor; There is a company that sells an electric 10HP lawnmower engine now. It's a drop in replacement for your mowers gasoline engine. Couple that with a potentiometer/control box and one or two good deep cycle batteries (depending on how long your operating needs are), and you could be silent and have more torque than probably a 20 HP gasoline engine. The batteries would be the biggest expense (and heavy). I think I could build this entire setup (including the longtail shaft) for less than $3K. Cheap? No. But silent and all the low-end power you would ever need for a small boat.

Unfortunately, I run huge waters and need as fast a mudmotor as possible since 90% of the run is Deep deep water and then the last 10% is 1-2 feet of water in the marsh. But I can be a mile from the marsh and already see the ducks lifting, so I completely understand. I am not even in flooded timber either. I think someone needs to find a way to put a crotch rocket motor to a surface drive frame. Surely there has to be something better than a hopped up lawn mower motor. We just had this discussion not too long ago and I dont want to hijack this thread.

 

[Ed L.]

I think someone needs to find a way to put a crotch rocket motor to a surface drive frame. Surely there has to be something better than a hopped up lawn mower motor.

I think they have. Check out Freedom motors.

Custom Motor | Freedom Outboard

Build your custom motor from Freedom Outboard!

www.freedom-outboard.com

 

[William Reinicke]

I think they have. Check out Freedom motors.

Custom Motor | Freedom Outboard

Build your custom motor from Freedom Outboard!

www.freedom-outboard.com

ya we went over this too. Not happy with prices. I reached out to them. They wont sell a motor separate either. You have to buy a new hull and motor. I dont want or need a new hull. Plus a tohatsu 60 is 6500 all day. They want 19k for just the motor when I looked into an all new set up. I did contemplate taking a risk and trading my entire rig in for a new one with one of these. When I looked at the break down, I could not justify 19k for just the motor. Its a 6500 motoor and then setup with their mods. Are their mods really worth 12,500?? NOPE! Not to me. I can almost buy 2 brand new 5000 efi mudbuddys for one freedom outboard. I will wait a few more years and see what theyre truly all about.

Plus every youtube video I have seen GPS'd, shows low to mid 30's. This is the exact same speeds I see with a big blade on my setup now. So I am not gaining all that much performance. And that is at altitude, and I know how much my optimax 150 dogged down at altitude on my bass boat. I had to go from a 23p at sea level to a 19p at the altitude here. It went from being a 60-63 mph boat to a 52-55 mph boat. But I couldnt get it on plane with the 23p prop here. I lose 15% performance at altitude. So I would have to assume I would see the same thing with one of these motors, and I may not even see the same speeds I am seeing with my mudmotor. So too many risks for me to take. But I do love the thought of a quieter motor one day.

 

[Kris Schaumburg]

I’ll try to articulate this from the first person so that it possibly offends less people.
I am the problem but I don’t want to recognize it. My son has been a menace to turkeys in multiple states for 1/2 a decade and he is 11. It’s my $$, my time , my knowledge that allows this. Yet I’m irrationally upset when I see other state plates in “my woods”. People are more free with their money and time than ever , and knowledge is literally at your finger tips ( Eric was likely there with his sons and their friends and possibly new friends they were showing how to do it). It spreads and $$ and time don’t seem to be the obstacles they once were
It’s clear to me that all public resources should have different limits than private lands, and commercial operations for both hunting and fishing should likely be very tightly regulated. You can’t leave a public resource to the exploitation of all. Imagine if a beautiful apple tree grew in your town park but there were no regs on who or how many could be picked

 

[Eric Patterson]

Kris

I see your point and believe you want access reducing restrictions, like draws, quotas, limits, etc. Correct? I don't want that. I have experience with it already and don't like it one bit. Here's what I want. I wish the state would ENFORCE existing rules on participants and make it DAMN UNPLEASANT when they ignore them. It is the state's responsibility to the public to change the prevailing attitude of "It's a freaking free for all race and fight for the spot woohoo!" to one of "We better tow the line, be safe, or they will fine the shit out of us and remove privileges." Why have rules if they are not enforced? My gripe isn't the crowding, it's the reckless behavior. If the state were to set a high standard for participation I can guarantee you will get rid of the folks who want to race and are attracted to the thrill of what goes down instead of simply wanting to hunt ducks.

 

[Ed L.]

ya we went over this too. Not happy with prices. I reached out to them. They wont sell a motor separate either. You have to buy a new hull and motor. I dont want or need a new hull. Plus a tohatsu 60 is 6500 all day. They want 19k for just the motor when I looked into an all new set up. I did contemplate taking a risk and trading my entire rig in for a new one with one of these. When I looked at the break down, I could not justify 19k for just the motor. Its a 6500 motoor and then setup with their mods. Are their mods really worth 12,500?? NOPE! Not to me. I can almost buy 2 brand new 5000 efi mudbuddys for one freedom outboard. I will wait a few more years and see what theyre truly all about.

Plus every youtube video I have seen GPS'd, shows low to mid 30's. This is the exact same speeds I see with a big blade on my setup now. So I am not gaining all that much performance. And that is at altitude, and I know how much my optimax 150 dogged down at altitude on my bass boat. I had to go from a 23p at sea level to a 19p at the altitude here. It went from being a 60-63 mph boat to a 52-55 mph boat. But I couldnt get it on plane with the 23p prop here. I lose 15% performance at altitude. So I would have to assume I would see the same thing with one of these motors, and I may not even see the same speeds I am seeing with my mudmotor. So too many risks for me to take. But I do love the thought of a quieter motor one day.

Yeah, I wondered what they cost. Knowing that puts it way out of line. It looks like a Borg take over. Resistance is futile! I knew my boat buying days were over when I retired. My old Lund still floats and my new Suzuki outboard will be paid off in 6 mos. I'll be happy with what I have.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

ya we went over this too. Not happy with prices. I reached out to them. They wont sell a motor separate either. You have to buy a new hull and motor. I dont want or need a new hull. Plus a tohatsu 60 is 6500 all day. They want 19k for just the motor when I looked into an all new set up. I did contemplate taking a risk and trading my entire rig in for a new one with one of these. When I looked at the break down, I could not justify 19k for just the motor. Its a 6500 motoor and then setup with their mods. Are their mods really worth 12,500?? NOPE! Not to me. I can almost buy 2 brand new 5000 efi mudbuddys for one freedom outboard. I will wait a few more years and see what theyre truly all about.

Plus every youtube video I have seen GPS'd, shows low to mid 30's. This is the exact same speeds I see with a big blade on my setup now. So I am not gaining all that much performance. And that is at altitude, and I know how much my optimax 150 dogged down at altitude on my bass boat. I had to go from a 23p at sea level to a 19p at the altitude here. It went from being a 60-63 mph boat to a 52-55 mph boat. But I couldnt get it on plane with the 23p prop here. I lose 15% performance at altitude. So I would have to assume I would see the same thing with one of these motors, and I may not even see the same speeds I am seeing with my mudmotor. So too many risks for me to take. But I do love the thought of a quieter motor one day.

I wouldn't drop that much coin on a motor either. Real world performance and longevity are still questions, and the price is just plain too high.

With respect to the noise issue, perhaps useful electric outboards are on the horizon as battery tech advances. Mud motors with electric motors will be a hell of a lot quieter. Won't solve the access issue, and nothing is more torquey than electric motors for the boat launch hole shot and 4 AM woodlot slalom race.

 

[William Reinicke]

I wouldn't drop that much coin on a motor either. Real world performance and longevity are still questions, and the price is just plain too high.

With respect to the noise issue, perhaps useful electric outboards are on the horizon as battery tech advances. Mud motors with electric motors will be a hell of a lot quieter. Won't solve the access issue, and nothing is more torquey than electric motors for the boat launch hole shot and 4 AM woodlot slalom race.

I know a lot of outdoorsman dog the EV world but you are 100% correct on low end torque of electric. Its instant power. Mercury and a few others already have electric motors. Talk about HUUUUGGEEE Trolling motors.... (just kidding). But there was a kid who took a tesla and stripped everything out of it except a seat and the battery cell. There wasnt a drag car that could beat it on the track. There really is something to the electric motors. Weight might be an issue though, and I truly wonder if they will ever truly be able to make a battery good enough to give us mileage needed without losing power. But maybe we reverse things.... instead of having an electric TM on the front of the boat as a back up to the ramp, we have a little gas motor TM on the front to get us back to the ramp.

I think your thinking here might actually be an answer, in the future, and the motor size of an electric motor is 1/3 the size of any gas motor. So might be convenient on size as well. Might be kind of weird to have a conversation with those in the boat for 30 min runs in the morning. I might not like all the bitching going on about how cold they are or the way I drive. Ill be wanting the noise back... lol.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

I know a lot of outdoorsman dog the EV world but you are 100% correct on low end torque of electric. Its instant power. Mercury and a few others already have electric motors. Talk about HUUUUGGEEE Trolling motors.... (just kidding). But there was a kid who took a tesla and stripped everything out of it except a seat and the battery cell. There wasnt a drag car that could beat it on the track. There really is something to the electric motors. Weight might be an issue though, and I truly wonder if they will ever truly be able to make a battery good enough to give us mileage needed without losing power. But maybe we reverse things.... instead of having an electric TM on the front of the boat as a back up to the ramp, we have a little gas motor TM on the front to get us back to the ramp.

I think your thinking here might actually be an answer, in the future, and the motor size of an electric motor is 1/3 the size of any gas motor. So might be convenient on size as well. Might be kind of weird to have a conversation with those in the boat for 30 min runs in the morning. I might not like all the bitching going on about how cold they are or the way I drive. Ill be wanting the noise back... lol.

I have my doubts that battery life will be satisfactory in my lifetime, but who knows? I would prefer the quiet even if I can hear the bitching, the outdoors experience is best in (near) silence. When we got our first four stroke snowsleds I missed the BBRRRAAAPPPP! thing from the two strokes. Now I enjoy cruising in relative quiet, no two-stroke oil stink, I see a lot more animals, and I don't come home deaf.

 

[William Reinicke]

I have my doubts that battery life will be satisfactory in my lifetime, but who knows? I would prefer the quiet even if I can hear the bitching, the outdoors experience is best in (near) silence. When we got our first four stroke snowsleds I missed the BBRRRAAAPPPP! thing from the two strokes. Now I enjoy cruising in relative quiet, no two-stroke oil stink, I see a lot more animals, and I don't come home deaf.

Oh I was just making a joke. I couldnt agree more with you. We have those two rigs with 115 mercs on them and they are dreams compared to my big mudmotor.

Im not sure they will ever come up with a battery strong enough to be capable of what gas motors are capable of. My other worry would be the cold on the batteries. To date, the coldest I have had my boat out on was -14. Then I am curious how big of a cell it is going to take to make it worthwhile. Then leads to the weight of these battery cells. EV's are hell on wheels and most EV owners are replacing their tread every 25-30k miles because of the weight of these vehicles. Lots of tire manufacturers are starting to figure out tires just for these EV's. But maybe that weight will slow down these crazies in the flooded timber in Arkansas. See how I tied it back to the original post.

Back to the nutty dudes who race around trees and scream at ducks through the timber and shoot em on the water. Where Im from, we scream "Feet hanging we bangin".... I guess in Ark flooded timber the saying goes "if they swimmin, we slingin"

 

[SJ Fairbank]

With respect to the effect of cold on battery life, they are making E-snowsleds. I have not seen one, but they're out there so there are some batteries capable of low temp discharge. There are also a handful of experimental GA aircraft running on battery power. It gets cold fast at altitude in the winter. I know the battery does not last very long.

 

[Rick Pierce]

That video is the same as any other video that's pimping a product out there today. I would have thought they would have cameras that could pick up first light ducks better, but it is sometimes tough to do. I don't condone any of them. And don't try and sell me on any specific brand of decoys if you're hunting first light in flooded timber. You don't need ultra realistic decoys. You need to be still and quiet when the ducks are looking, and you need to kick water. That's it. Quit over-thinking it.

I've hunted almost every AR WMA in the east half of the state at least once. I've hunted many, many days/weeks/months at some of them. "BahMeetuh" is the largest joke of a WMA circus I have ever witnessed. @don novicki nailed it with "This is everything hunting is not supposed to be".


There is a much smaller WMA that used to be lights out good hunting. It's size kept it mostly out of the lime-light of the "serious" poo-faced youngsters. Then came the mud motors. Who in the hell needs a mud motor in 3-8 foot flooded timber is beyond me, but it began declining more and more once the wicked-cool skinny hulls with overzealous lawnmower engines showed up. The reverberations run the ducks off of the rest area. I've stood there and heard the ducks get up as the mud motors fired up. What happened to being quiet and slipping in unnoticed? You wouldn't fire your rifle continuously while you were walking out to a deer stand. Why would you want a muffer-less engine on your duck boat?

All that dumbness is why I no longer hunt that state. AGFC will not get another dime of my money. I'll stay off the soapbox about the irreparable damage the AGFC has done to the old hardwood timber with constant flooding from NOV-MAR. For now...

Yeah, Beau isn't doing anything "unique" in terms of his videos. It doesn't have the higher end production that the Higdon videos do, but Beau does his own series in addition to the Higdon stuff, so I don't expect the high end editing. And I think it is intended to be more "homespun". A lot of cameras have difficulty in the flooded timber because of the transition between "bright sky" as the birds are working, and the darkness when they drop into the hole. Most don't handle the aperture/exposure change quickly and well.

I agree...flooded timber you don't need the highest end decoys...I remember buying the $29.99/doz Flambeau aqua keels to have something to put on the water. Get behind a tree, kick a little water, let the ducks work. But that doesn't seem to be "enough" for a lot of people - not extreme enough. Heck, I can remember hunts with no decoys at all - I don't know that you could convince anyone these days that decoys aren't a necessity.

I hate mud motors. I think they have allowed people to get further back into areas that before they would've said, "too difficult...I'm not dragging the boat back there or hauling everything through there to get to that hole..." And for some reason, there's something about mud motors that makes people "have" to jump logs, run through the buckbrush, etc. even when there's a wide open boat trail. Like kids having to stomp in a mud puddle I guess. I know on the Cache River, you used to hear the outboards coming up or downriver, but now it seems like you can hear the mud motors for a mile or more and just have to listen to the noise.

I wish AGFC would make more areas walk-in or no motor, but I know on some WMA's that would also be dangerous. Still, that would cut down numbers of people and stupidity if they have to walk, pole or paddle.

I don't know about the November flooding, but the fact that we've had water on some of the timber all the way through July in some cases doesn't help a single thing. It's no wonder we've got dead timber and more species like overcup oak than water, willow, nuttall, and other more beneficial red oaks. Of course, the AGFC going to a water management plan made people even angrier because the WMA's are no longer consistently flooded during duck season. This year being a drought year didn't help anything, either...it's been a pretty good while since so many of the WMA's across the state have little or no water on them, from Rainey on down to Cut-off and Seven Devils.

 

[Steven Alexander]

Oh I was just making a joke. I couldnt agree more with you. We have those two rigs with 115 mercs on them and they are dreams compared to my big mudmotor.

Im not sure they will ever come up with a battery strong enough to be capable of what gas motors are capable of. My other worry would be the cold on the batteries. To date, the coldest I have had my boat out on was -14. Then I am curious how big of a cell it is going to take to make it worthwhile. Then leads to the weight of these battery cells. EV's are hell on wheels and most EV owners are replacing their tread every 25-30k miles because of the weight of these vehicles. Lots of tire manufacturers are starting to figure out tires just for these EV's. But maybe that weight will slow down these crazies in the flooded timber in Arkansas. See how I tied it back to the original post.

Back to the nutty dudes who race around trees and scream at ducks through the timber and shoot em on the water. Where Im from, we scream "Feet hanging we bangin".... I guess in Ark flooded timber the saying goes "if they swimmin, we slingin"

Yes, battery tech has a ways to go. But... Some factors:

Weight:
[Electric MM]
Battery=100 lbs (or more for longer range)
Motor/drive shaft=19+62 lbs
Wiring=10 lbs (I'm sure I'm missing something)
Total: 190-ish lbs

[Gasoline MM]
6 gal gas tank (full)=50 lbs
Motor/drive shaft= 54+62 lbs (Predator 301cc engine weight)
Starting battery=10-20 lbs (or more)
Total: 120-180-ish lbs

Temps: That is definitely a huge factor for batteries. But, your starting battery seems to be taking it pretty well, so...


Obviously you wouldn't need the gas tank with many of the air cooled engines, but IDK how far an onboard tank gets the individual hunter. Either way, each gallon is 8 lbs. And that battery weight is for a very large battery. Lighter ones can be had, but you lose range. My biggest concern is the safety aspect. Electrical fires suck and we know what happens to a Tesla when water consumes it. It is obvious to everyone that electric isn't the "end-all-be-all" solution for anything. But, certain applications could benefit or at least be on an equal playing field as an IC engine. The only sound an electric MM would make would be the "prop-chop" of the water. And, if one wanted to drop some weight and have even more range (at the expense of some noise), we could get into the Honda quiet generator/rectifier/electric motor stuff and pretend to be a locomotive engine.

FWIW, this is all just for friendly discussion. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind or opinion.

 

[Steven Alexander]

I don't know about the November flooding, but the fact that we've had water on some of the timber all the way through July in some cases doesn't help a single thing. It's no wonder we've got dead timber and more species like overcup oak than water, willow, nuttall, and other more beneficial red oaks. Of course, the AGFC going to a water management plan made people even angrier because the WMA's are no longer consistently flooded during duck season. This year being a drought year didn't help anything, either...it's been a pretty good while since so many of the WMA's across the state have little or no water on them, from Rainey on down to Cut-off and Seven Devils.

Yessir, I was trying to be generous in my estimates of NOV-MAR. If Rainey Brake has no water, I assume they are purposely not releasing the water from Lake Charles, then? Or just sending it on down the Black River without it going through RB? That was my December and January home away from home for several years.

 

[Rick Pierce]

Yessir, I was trying to be generous in my estimates of NOV-MAR. If Rainey Brake has no water, I assume they are purposely not releasing the water from Lake Charles, then? Or just sending it on down the Black River without it going through RB? That was my December and January home away from home for several years.

I think they had some issues around Lake Charles or with the water control structures (repairs/damage?) and just started letting water in last week, maybe?

I read the Duck report (for what it's worth) and the 0% flooding levels across the State are dismal. But, if you have water, you should have what few ducks are around...

 

[William Reinicke]

Yes, battery tech has a ways to go. But... Some factors:

Weight:
[Electric MM]
Battery=100 lbs (or more for longer range)
Motor/drive shaft=19+62 lbs
Wiring=10 lbs (I'm sure I'm missing something)
Total: 190-ish lbs

[Gasoline MM]
6 gal gas tank (full)=50 lbs
Motor/drive shaft= 54+62 lbs (Predator 301cc engine weight)
Starting battery=10-20 lbs (or more)
Total: 120-180-ish lbs

Temps: That is definitely a huge factor for batteries. But, your starting battery seems to be taking it pretty well, so...


Obviously you wouldn't need the gas tank with many of the air cooled engines, but IDK how far an onboard tank gets the individual hunter. Either way, each gallon is 8 lbs. And that battery weight is for a very large battery. Lighter ones can be had, but you lose range. My biggest concern is the safety aspect. Electrical fires suck and we know what happens to a Tesla when water consumes it. It is obvious to everyone that electric isn't the "end-all-be-all" solution for anything. But, certain applications could benefit or at least be on an equal playing field as an IC engine. The only sound an electric MM would make would be the "prop-chop" of the water. And, if one wanted to drop some weight and have even more range (at the expense of some noise), we could get into the Honda quiet generator/rectifier/electric motor stuff and pretend to be a locomotive engine.

FWIW, this is all just for friendly discussion. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind or opinion.

I love this kind of stuff.... Ill bite.

So I am going to go real world here. My havoc hull I had custom made with a little thicker aluminum. I figure the hull weighs around 750 lbs. My mudmotor is the big boy and it weighs 312 lbs according to JD power. So lets say my entire rig weighs 1050 lbs. Big ol heavy sucker, but I actually move it around with ease by myself in only a 12-16 inches of water. Anything less than a foot, I am grabbing the winch out of the box or hoping I have an extra set of hands lol. I have a 9 gallon tank, so full full thats an extra 72lbs. I wont take into account any of the gear or dogs or humans. Let just play hypothetical hull for hull. So we can comfortably say 1125 lbs in weight for my current rig.

I know this is kind of apples to oranges but the battery cell in a tesla is 1200 -1700 lbs. I am not saying you need a battery cell that big. I did figure out I use 3 gallons of gas for 27 miles of travel in my boat, fully loaded. So with 9 gallons I am traveling ~80 miles. Obviously a tesla battery cell should go a LOT further than that because these cars go 100's of miles before needing a charge (I think, and definitely just assuming a bit here). A quick google search shows 250-275 miles on a full charge for Teslas battery cell. So for math purposes, lets do roughly the same conversion from miles travel to weight, using tesla battery cell numbers. If I wanted a battery cell to go 80 miles, I will take 1200-1700 and divide it by 3.5ish, (I am doing really really rough numbers here). The battery cell alone would weigh 350-480ish lbs. Now we are not taking into account the motor to push the hull forward. So weight for weight.... we are semi close to what my mudmotor weighs, but the electric is still heavier.

Here is the kicker though... Mercury has already made some really small electric outboards. So I looked at one of their motors. The 7.5 hp motor weighs 43 lbs without battery and the battery weighs 17 lbs so a total of 60lbs for a 7.5 hp motor. So we can say that for every 8lbs we get 1hp of electric motor. A 50hp motor (same hp rating as my mudbuddy) would weigh 400 lbs. Pretty close to what I figured out using the Tesla hypothetical above. Here is what shocked me.... A fully charged motor only runs for 5 miles at full throttle before needing another charge. I would have to charge that sucker 3 times just to get to one of my hunting holes from the ramp.

So basically, I wrote all this..... and its just a big waste of everyones time lol.

 

[Rick Pierce]

Finally, sad to see that Arkansas has ended their ban on motorized decoys. As a former poster here once said to me, the problem with spinning wings and other similar devices is that they make ducks do things ducks don't do, and land in places they otherwise wouldn't be. One of my favorite Aldo Leopold essays is an at-length expansion on this quote: “Then came the gadgeteer, otherwise known as the sporting-goods dealer. He has draped the American outdoors man with an infinity of contraptions, all offered as aids to self-reliance, hardihood, woodcraft, or marksmanship, but too often functioning as substitutes for them. Gadgets fill the pockets, they dangle from neck and belt. The overflow fills the auto-trunk, and also the trailer. Each item of outdoor equipment grows lighter and often better, but the aggregate poundage becomes tonnage.”

And another from the same essay:

"I have the impression that the American sportsman is puzzled; he doesn't understand what is happening to him. Bigger and better gadgets are good for industry, so why not for outdoor recreation? It has not dawned on him that outdoor recreations are essentially primitive, atavistic; that their value is a contrast-value; that excessive mechanization destroys contrast by moving the factory to the woods or to the marsh. The sportsman has no leaders to tell him what is wrong. The sporting press no longer represents sport; it has turned billboard for the gadgeteer. Wildlife administrators are too busy producing something to shoot at to worry much about the cultural value of the shooting....I do not pretend to know what is moderation, or where the line is between legitimate and illegitimate gadgets. Yet there must be some limit beyond which money-bought aids to sport destroy the cultural value of sport...our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is the voluntary limitation in the use of these armaments. It is aimed to augment the role of skill and shrink the role of gadgets in the pursuit of wild things."

Jeff,

In the first year or two of spinners, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with your first sentence. I saw things that were borderline obscene. Ducks would drop straight down from 200 yards, no calling, no hesitation. I saw a flock of widgeon get busted, go out, turn around, and come back over to get shot again. I watched ducks try to land on a spinner with a group of four people standing within 15 yards of it in an open rice field, talking and laughing after the hunt while people were going to get the ATV's. That's when I made up my mind that I would never own one.

I think there is some conditioning to them now, and I believe the effectiveness is less, but I think it does affect young birds and certain species more than others. I hear plenty of people say, "they aren't as effective as you think, and most days they don't do anything but flare ducks...", but when I say, "then don't take it", I get the, "wellllll...you can't always tell...and it might make the difference in killing ducks or not..."

That said, I hate the damn things, and I wish Arkansas would go the other way and ban them outright. I don't care what the other states do, and I don't care what landowners and guides and Mack's Prairie Wings or Mojo or whomever wants.