rick ervin
Active member
just wondering has any body built a 14'7 duckhunter latley and how was it to built
duck hunter boat
- Thread starter rick ervin
- Start date
If you mean the Duck Hunter II by Gator boats, I built it three and half years ago. It was not difficult to build, I shot a limit of divers out of it yesterday in fact. There used to be a forum on Gator boats website that had an incredible amount of info related to building this boat. It would be unfortunate to build it without consulting that wealth of information.
I don't think the forum still exists so I'm going to tell you some of the things I feel one must modify about this boat to make it better. I really like the way mine turned out. I took all the rocker out of the rear of the boat, This made it easier to build (I think) and allows it to plane out and haul ass with a 25 on it. This is the only thing I really think you have to do, I couldn't imagine any advantage to not doing this. Of course by doing this I had to redesign the bulkheads and cockpit and move things around a little bit but it was really straight forward as you go what needs to be done. Also I would use two whole sheets of plywood for the entire floor. I followed the instructions and only used a small piece of plywood on the seam in the floor and down the center Line. I also glassed the entire floor inside the boat with 10oz cloth and epoxy resin. The floor is now cracking. There are hairline cracks all over the floor. Nothing too serious but I should do a major overhaul of some sort real soon. I use my boat in a large river that gets pretty rough some time. When I'm bouncing around I can see the hull flexing much more than I like. I put more glass on my boat than I read about anyone else doing. I glassed the entire hull inside and out with 10oz cloth and glassed all my bulkheads and all the seams inside the boat with bi-axial cloth that has chop mat on one side. The only part of my boat that doesn't have glass on it is the bottom of the deck and the deck framing and I painted all of these areas with epoxy resin. I used plane old exterior grade wood from lowes. Not a bit of Marine grade wood to be found. The transom and bulkheads are all made of Advantec. I love using this stuff in boats and highly recommend it. My boat has lived outside its whole life and is still in really good shape. I attribute this to all the glass I used. I made the combing around the cockpit out of 1x6's and have made a blind that is attached by sliding over the combing. The blind works great and is super easy to take on and off. I've got an open water grey paint job on the boat for open water sea duck hunting. It's like hunting out of a big layout boat. I then put my blind on and can pull up to the marsh and hunt. I usually run 75 diver decoys on long lines out of it and can hunt two people out of it this way with no problem. I have packed over a hundred decoys in the boat before.
I love this boat. I've been hunting out of it for three years now and it has worked great. I put a 25 Merc 2-stroke on it and it goes as fast you would ever want to go in this boat. I highly recommend building it, it's not hard.
As you can see I love talking about my boat so if you have any questions I'd be glad to help if I can.
good luck
I don't think the forum still exists so I'm going to tell you some of the things I feel one must modify about this boat to make it better. I really like the way mine turned out. I took all the rocker out of the rear of the boat, This made it easier to build (I think) and allows it to plane out and haul ass with a 25 on it. This is the only thing I really think you have to do, I couldn't imagine any advantage to not doing this. Of course by doing this I had to redesign the bulkheads and cockpit and move things around a little bit but it was really straight forward as you go what needs to be done. Also I would use two whole sheets of plywood for the entire floor. I followed the instructions and only used a small piece of plywood on the seam in the floor and down the center Line. I also glassed the entire floor inside the boat with 10oz cloth and epoxy resin. The floor is now cracking. There are hairline cracks all over the floor. Nothing too serious but I should do a major overhaul of some sort real soon. I use my boat in a large river that gets pretty rough some time. When I'm bouncing around I can see the hull flexing much more than I like. I put more glass on my boat than I read about anyone else doing. I glassed the entire hull inside and out with 10oz cloth and glassed all my bulkheads and all the seams inside the boat with bi-axial cloth that has chop mat on one side. The only part of my boat that doesn't have glass on it is the bottom of the deck and the deck framing and I painted all of these areas with epoxy resin. I used plane old exterior grade wood from lowes. Not a bit of Marine grade wood to be found. The transom and bulkheads are all made of Advantec. I love using this stuff in boats and highly recommend it. My boat has lived outside its whole life and is still in really good shape. I attribute this to all the glass I used. I made the combing around the cockpit out of 1x6's and have made a blind that is attached by sliding over the combing. The blind works great and is super easy to take on and off. I've got an open water grey paint job on the boat for open water sea duck hunting. It's like hunting out of a big layout boat. I then put my blind on and can pull up to the marsh and hunt. I usually run 75 diver decoys on long lines out of it and can hunt two people out of it this way with no problem. I have packed over a hundred decoys in the boat before.
I love this boat. I've been hunting out of it for three years now and it has worked great. I put a 25 Merc 2-stroke on it and it goes as fast you would ever want to go in this boat. I highly recommend building it, it's not hard.
As you can see I love talking about my boat so if you have any questions I'd be glad to help if I can.
good luck
Andy Newman
New member
John
I am debating making either the duck hunter or the hummer. A few questions I have about the duck hunter. How rough of water have you had it in? There are some fairly good sized Corps lakes in Kentucky that my MoMarsh simply is not safe on. Also, is the cockpit wide enough to shoot sitting on the floor? What depth does the boat draft?
If I decide to make the duck hunter, I may have some more questions.
Thanks
Andy
I am debating making either the duck hunter or the hummer. A few questions I have about the duck hunter. How rough of water have you had it in? There are some fairly good sized Corps lakes in Kentucky that my MoMarsh simply is not safe on. Also, is the cockpit wide enough to shoot sitting on the floor? What depth does the boat draft?
If I decide to make the duck hunter, I may have some more questions.
Thanks
Andy
I've had my duckhunter out in 2ft chop in the Pamlico Sound in NC. Now the boat can take it but it's a most unpleasant experience. I cross the river (3-5 miles) from time to time but always make sure to pick my days. I believe the Duckhunter does as well as any 15ft boat will do in rough water. It is just a 15 footer. Mine is over 15 due to taking the rocker out of the back. I also made the sides a little higher and increased the size of the cockpit. The boat does well. The only thing that could make it take big water better is to just make it a bigger boat.
The cockpit is big enough to lay down in and shoot. I do this. I'm 5'8" and only weigh 140lbs. I think a big guy would have trouble trying to pull this off. I prefer to hunt with my blind up which sits a foot and a half higher than the cockpit. This allows me and another person to sit on milk crates with throw cushions on them and have the top of the blind right at eye level. This is much more comfortable.
The boat is of course 4ft wide and it is very stable. You can run around do jumping jacks or whatever all over the boat. Very stable platform. The boat draws about 4 inches maybe more like 6 when it's loaded with gear and two people. It is light enough to drag around and shove in the marsh. My boat is probably the heaviest duckhunter ever. If you used marine grade plywood yours would be way lighter than mine and might draw a little less. I do however believe a little weight is good when driving around in rough water.
I like to drive my boat a mile or two into the river or sound and shoot scoters. It looks like a big layout boat with its grey paint job and disappears pretty well. I only do this on pretty calm days but I'm not afraid to be out in big water in this boat. And I've never had any luck hunting this way in rough water anyway because the birds flare when they see the boat bouncing on the waves.
The cockpit is big enough to lay down in and shoot. I do this. I'm 5'8" and only weigh 140lbs. I think a big guy would have trouble trying to pull this off. I prefer to hunt with my blind up which sits a foot and a half higher than the cockpit. This allows me and another person to sit on milk crates with throw cushions on them and have the top of the blind right at eye level. This is much more comfortable.
The boat is of course 4ft wide and it is very stable. You can run around do jumping jacks or whatever all over the boat. Very stable platform. The boat draws about 4 inches maybe more like 6 when it's loaded with gear and two people. It is light enough to drag around and shove in the marsh. My boat is probably the heaviest duckhunter ever. If you used marine grade plywood yours would be way lighter than mine and might draw a little less. I do however believe a little weight is good when driving around in rough water.
I like to drive my boat a mile or two into the river or sound and shoot scoters. It looks like a big layout boat with its grey paint job and disappears pretty well. I only do this on pretty calm days but I'm not afraid to be out in big water in this boat. And I've never had any luck hunting this way in rough water anyway because the birds flare when they see the boat bouncing on the waves.