Canoe/Kayak/Ducker packing for river trip
- Thread starter Kyle Hauck
- Start date
Kyle Hauck
Member
I know it's been a long time but here is an update just so everyone knows what ended up transpiring. After much searching on onxmaps and a few scouting trips I was able to determine a spot that was a little over a mile upstream from the predetermined spot I was trying to arrive at. It would be a little over a half mile portage on dry ground to a launch point.
I loaded up the deer cart and made my way down with the expected arrival of one friend later that day. I had everything I needed for the day and had already seen quite a few deer moving around closer to the river bottom. I had everything I need to survive 4-5 days although I only planned on spending 2-3 at the most as weather was to be moving in later in the week. It was already a little chilly during the day and dumping in the river could be disastrous if not well prepared.
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Late that afternoon I received a phone call saying my friend would not be joining me. My heart sank. I was looking forward to this journey. I launched my ducker into the river and gave a few strokes to test the current, despite the low water flow of around 200cfs it was plenty to drag me downstream. It took much effort to paddle the 25 meters back upstream to my launch point. This solidified my decision that I would not be going to the block of woods downstream. I was able to access directly across river a smaller block of landlocked grassland of about 400 acres. I stayed and hunted in that area and encountered lots of deer and several quality bucks but nothing mature enough to make me want to pull the trigger. By the time I pulled the boat and head back to the truck 2 days later it was hell! Freezing nighttime temps and daytime wet snows made my deer cart with the boat damn near impossible to pull uphill toward the truck. Thank goodness I didn't shoot a deer I thought.
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The struggle was well worth the effort and I believe it might be my new favorite hunting spot as I only encountered one other individual who only drove his truck by at a distance of about 2 miles away.
Sounds like a nice back up adventure for your buddy bailing on you.
If the ground is soft like some of the places I hunt in MT when it rains then I can imagine quite easily the grunt it was to pull that boat and deer hauler through the muck. There are a couple places here in FL where the dikes can get squishy when wet and makes hauling stuff or riding your bike through it a pure nightmare.
Thanks for sharing what you ended up doing...
Dani
If the ground is soft like some of the places I hunt in MT when it rains then I can imagine quite easily the grunt it was to pull that boat and deer hauler through the muck. There are a couple places here in FL where the dikes can get squishy when wet and makes hauling stuff or riding your bike through it a pure nightmare.
Thanks for sharing what you ended up doing...
Dani
Mark W
Well-known member
Beautiful.
I used to have a ducker it sold it a few years ago. Liked it. It liked another boat in the fleet better and didn?t need 4 duck boats.
One thing I have learned dragging boats on carriers such as what you have there. Load the back heavy so the end you haul from almost lifts off the ground on its own. Much easier to pull with the weighting this way. You probably already know this but passing along anyway.
Mark
I used to have a ducker it sold it a few years ago. Liked it. It liked another boat in the fleet better and didn?t need 4 duck boats.
One thing I have learned dragging boats on carriers such as what you have there. Load the back heavy so the end you haul from almost lifts off the ground on its own. Much easier to pull with the weighting this way. You probably already know this but passing along anyway.
Mark