Devlin 'Bufflehead' inquiry

DWilliams

DWilliams

Member
Hello Gents -
Greetings (again) to all. I've been a long, long time lurker here and occasional poster in the past. I always enjoy a little vicarious hunting; it's impossible to get in enough of the real thing, no?
If I may enquire, does anyone here know anything about the devlin 'bufflehead' design. This boat is referenced in the inventory on this page but there is nothing on Devlin's site itself. I did e-mail them and Joel was helpful in replying with some dimensional information. I am posting here to ask if anyone knows more about the intended purpose of the boat. I am looking for a low-profile/low-shadow layout boat that can be rowed for, say, 300 yards and it light enough to be man-handled by one. Does the Bufflehead meet this description? Can anyone recommend something similar?
All the best of 2008,
Dan Williams
 
Dan

Sam Devlin made a short run of those plans offering them here only as best as I can remember. Some of the Lake Erie fans didn't like the design becuase it had hard chines instead of a gently sloping deck that rolls over into the water. You might contact Sam directly and see if he will print you a copy of the plans should he still have them somewhere.
 
Thanks, Eric, I appreciate the idea.
Do you have any thoughts on the design (or any other) as a 'rowable layout boat'?
All the best,
Dan
 
Dan

Actually if I recall the Bufflehead had a hull amenable to rowing. I'm not sure about other designs but you may want to contact Mark Rongers, www.mightylayoutboys.com, and get his perspective. I'm not sure what spread of decoys you have in mind but I'll admit rowing a layout boat and setting out a typical layout decoy spread from it sounds difficult, if not impossible, to manage.
 
Thanks again. (and wow - that was a lightening-quick response...).
I'm not thinking of a huge spread - a long-line supplemented with a pod of singles, say two dozen dekes. I've done it from a rather heavy bbsb. It's a work-out but feasible. It helps that generally I am hunting in wadable-depth water once the lake (Ontario) drops off in the fall, even a couple of hundred yards offshore. The rowability would help with safety and chasing winged birds.
Funny story - I was hunting with a couple of friends from a shore-based set-up last fall. I shot a bluebill that did the dive-and-swim-away trick. I chased it on foot out from shore until finally catching up at as the water threatened to lap over my chestwaders. When I turned back, I was about 300 yards from shore and my buds had knocked down birds from another flight into the decoys. Not only was I safely beyond range, but I never even heard them shoot...
Yeah, I know: gotta get a duck dog. Unfortunately, I don't think that I can sell the idea to either my wife or my Brittany.
All the best,
Dan
 
At 160 lbs. (72-73 kilos) it is not what I would consider light. Other than that, from the photos it seems nice.
 
Ya know, I was just wondeering about that little boat today. May have to give them a shout myself.
 
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