New Boat Selection....

K

Kenneth Powers

New member
I am looking for a new boat (who isn't really lol). I am looking for a boat that has enough room for my dog, and occasionally another hunter besides myself. I am looking for a boat that can handle some bigger water conditions while on my way back into the marsh. I want something that I can hide and shot out of effectively. In some cases I will hunt from the boat. Other times it will just be used as transportation, and will be hidden once in the permanent blind. I was thinking about the scaup, but am a bit concerned as to the room available in it as well as the type of conditions it is safe in. The snow goose looks roomier, but a bit harder to hide. It also looks to be a bit much for solo hunts. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
I don't know where you are located, but there is a guy on long island that makes a boat called a 'Marsh Hawk' that is a really cool boat.
If a newer boat was in my budget i would have tried to get one of those! There was a guy on this forum that got one second hand and posted some pictures if you look back a month or so...


good luck with your search!


Dan
 
The smaller version of the scaup, the black brant III, has room for two 200 plus pound men and a dog with 2 dozen decoys not stored very effeciently. The scaup would hold the same number of men and dogs and more decoys.

If you want to hunt two guns by sitting on the floor the scaup would be better for tall men. I have tried that a few times in my brant III and it is way too cumbersome to get up and down off the floor with my beer belly in the waders.

The low sided, but decked boats take some getting used to in rough water, but work fine in most conditions that are not seriously scary in any small craft.

If you want a high sided boat then look at the Cackler, which is the small version of the Snowgoose.

It also depends on the cover in the marsh, if the cover is tall reeds or catails then either type of boat will be fine. If you are in low marsh grasses then one of the low sided decked boats with a dodger would work better.
 
I am the guy "Danl" referred to in his post... I purchased a Marsh Hawk used and spent the past summer/early fall working on it. Photos can be seen by searching my posts. Great boat, tons of room for one guy & a dog, you can hunt two guys out of it if you have to as well. Floats in 4 inches of water, hides well in a marsh.. I have a 15hp on mine and it moves as fast as needed.
You can really only find these boats on Long Island, NY as there is a guy here who builds them (fiberglass). Once you look at the pics in my posts, if you are interested send me a private message and I will give you his contact info.
 
Thanks for the replies. I am in SW Ontario. I hunt lake St. Clair occasionally, but I usually stick to a number of different marshes. The reeds are usually pretty high where I will be hunting. I am a bigger guy, and I am not tooo sure that it sounds all that comfortable to have two guys sitting on the floor of the Scaup. I am going to give the Cackler a look now too.
 
The smaller version of the scaup, the black brant III, has room for two 200 plus pound men and a dog with 2 dozen decoys not stored very effeciently. The scaup would hold the same number of men and dogs and more decoys.
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Ray, you only get 2 dozen decoys stored? Did you incorporate gun racks in your side bins? That's the only reason I could see a reduction in the decoys stored. In my BBII I can easily store 12 decoys per bin if I stack them like firewood, not to mention the storage area in front of the cockpit. I routinely carry 4 dozen decoys in the front four side storage bins and have plenty of room elsewhere for the heater and other niceties. I could probably get 8 dozen decoys if I wanted to fool with that many.

Eric
 
I am looking to have this boat by the start of the 2011 season. I am open to doing a build myself, or if the right boat come up for sale I would not shy away.
 
I have a TDB14... I have 6 floating goose decoys and 6 doz duck decoys.... this is in the front of the cockpit... I have about 5' of cockpit left open... The top of the boat is 25".... so it does hide easily... yet can be hunted out of without laying down...

As far as sea worthiness... ask around... and get everyone's impressions..... I like it 1000x more than my old BBII.... Heck... My honker hasn't even been out this year!
 
Kenneth,

I live in London Ontario and probably hunt the same areas you do. I have come to the conclusion that I need two boats, one for the marsh and one for the bigger water. I do think the Estuary might work for you in all areas except the muddiest of marshes. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to discuss as I have given this a lot of thought.

I am currently sitting on plans for a Devlin Honker. I hope to start on it in the spring.
 
I would look at a wrangler 15 duck hunter hunt 2 or 3 lots of room it is a great boat for both big or small water.
 
The LI boat you may be referring to is the South Bay- 13' 6" fiberglass. I had an early 70's one on Champlain w/ a 20 ( the thing would scream) I would also take tremendous weather if you drove it right ( you could put the bow under) I would carry 30 cork floaters, a dozen geese, two guys and a dog, no problem. I was stupid to sell it...
 
The smaller version of the scaup, the black brant III, has room for two 200 plus pound men and a dog with 2 dozen decoys not stored very effeciently. The scaup would hold the same number of men and dogs and more decoys.
Click to expand...


Ray, you only get 2 dozen decoys stored? Did you incorporate gun racks in your side bins? That's the only reason I could see a reduction in the decoys stored. In my BBII I can easily store 12 decoys per bin if I stack them like firewood, not to mention the storage area in front of the cockpit. I routinely carry 4 dozen decoys in the front four side storage bins and have plenty of room elsewhere for the heater and other niceties. I could probably get 8 dozen decoys if I wanted to fool with that many.

Eric
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Eric, I can store more than that, but we seldom use more than two dozen. I did not build the gun/oar racks in the knees so I can stuff decoys in all but one of the sections. One section has the electronic switch box so I keep it clear of stuff. The single strand of bungee cord did not work well and I am planning on sewing some covers like you and other guys have. I am looking at the black Phifertex mesh rather than camo cordura.

For our season the birds are still in family groups and seldom do you see more than 10 birds in one group. We set up with little family groups of ducks in what ever pattern the area allows. Towards freeze up in mid October we will start setting out larger strings of mallard decoys, but still have wigeon and teal in small family groups. Maybe once a season we will see a huge flock of teal, and by huge I mean 20 birds.
 
I've hunted out of a modified BB for 22 years in Horicon marsh and the Mississippi. Plenty of room for 2 hunters, dog and gear. I can put 5-6 doz decoys and lot of gear in it. But then again it has a permanent blind top on it and lots of storage compartments. I'm being challenged resizing a photo or I'd attach one.
 
Not to hijack the tread,but does anyone have any experiance with a Gator Boat Duckhunter?Seem like it would be a decent setup.
The duckhunter would be used for Horicon and The Fox river at Big Bend and the Hummer would be smaller waters
 
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Not to hijack the tread,but does anyone have any experiance with a Gator Boat Duckhunter?Seem like it would be a decent setup.
The duckhunter would be used for Horicon and The Fox river at Big Bend and the Hummer would be smaller waters
Click to expand...


Brad Toller of Toller boat works builds them. He is the moderator of the Gator Boat forums. They are a good set up.
 
Second the TDB if you can find one for sale. More than enough room for one man & his dog (dog "shelf" in the bow will accomodate a lab easily). Great pop-up blind that goes up & down quickly - easily trailered...and you can do a very effective rain roof yourself. Enough room for that second hunter as well. If I have someone with me, I'll usually drop them on the bank while I set up and pick up when conditions allow, as it's easier for me to move around and a whole lot quicker that way.
 
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