Duck Hunting from a Canoe 101 - Plus Solo Tips, dogs tips and hunting tips!

Duck Hunting from a Canoe 101 - Plus Solo Tips, dogs tips and hunting tips!

Why duck hunt with a conoe? Here's why and here are some tips to improve how you hunt from/with a canoe! Tips and tricks from someone who's learned that hard way haha. Stay tuned for more hunting content coming your way. Duck season will be here before you know it!

[mattlewandowski]

Rule number one of canoeing. Secure everything... Put poles, spare paddle, etc on bungee leashes (I also secure my primary paddle to my PFD with a bungee leash), secure fishing tackle, blind bag, etc to the thwart closest to you, put your phone in a waterproof "ziplock" style case with some excess air in it (preferably on a lanyard attached to you or the canoe). I installed a number of extra tie-downs into my canoe to secure camping/fishing/hunting gear. With everything secured, I can submerge the canoe with out loss of a single item (have not yet tried swamping to verify, but I lost no camping gear on a roll over).

My canoe is a 14' old town knockoff which has hauled deer home, but I live on the wrong side of the state for waterfowl. IF I am lucky I see half a dozen flights over my town per year. I am planning on a trip to the mississippi flyway either this year after deer season, or more likely next season where I am planning on turning my canoe into a mobile blind with 1-3 dozen mallard decoys (maybe a dozen canadian honker decoys), a shotgun (remington 887 or 870 with full choke and bismuth BB shot), a blind built around a set of outriggers, a pair of custom pole anchors, etc. I also attach the rear sling swivel of the shotgun to my PFD with a bungee leash so if something happened and the gun went for a swim, I am not going to loose it. Worst case scenario I have a box of unused shells sitting at the bottom of the river/lake, and I am changing cloths (to some dry wool base layers that are kept in ziplocks in a drybag tied to the aft deck handle)

There are a number of DIY and commercial stabilizer styles out there that make a canoe practically roll proof. I built some out of foam and PVC with wooden outriggers, I can stand on the gunnels and not submerge one. This also gives me room in the outriggers for storage/cooler or a platform for a dog (sadly I do not have a dog at this time, much less one trained as a retriever)

When I am solo, I also keep a 50' throw line bag attached to the canoe with my PDF attached to the line with a carabiner. This keeps me attached to the canoe if I go for an unexpected swim, but able to quickly detach myself if need be.

I also keep an extensive emergency kit including 150' of climbing rope, a 5 ton come-along winch, a bailing sponge under each seat in emergency kit bags, first aid kit, fire extinguisher (even if I do not have any motors or fuel on board) a signal kit (mine is more extensive than normal recommendations), a hand pump style bilge pump, and more. I keep them in bags secured under the seats with recovery gear in front, emergency gear in back.

Every bag is attached to the canoe.

For those with a dog, it is easy to make a boarding ramp that can attach to the gunnel or outrigger spreaders with some wood and a couple cheap boat fenders. If you have an adequate set of outriggers you can even make a rope ladder and attach it to the gunnel or the outriggers and use it as a boarding ladder if you are out wading to place decoys, or you go for an unplanned swim (or even a planned one). basic rope ladder can be made by folding the rope in half, and passing the rope through "rungs" made of PVC pipe, EMT conduit, or even garden hose. You just want something that will sink so it remains underwater when you need to use it. Just bundle it up and secure the ends to the canoe and leave a pull tab on the end. (mine is a 12" loop of the rope tied off under the bottom rung)

[mrm]

Outriggers work really well for me, highly recommend them, especially when hunting solo with dog. Makes a 15’ Grumman rock solid.

[johnheuy]

I try to remember to carry a 1 gallon empty milk jug that the bottom is cut out of to bail water out and the biggest sponge I can buy to soak up and squeeze out the last little bit of water. PS I mostly hunt out of a 17' Old Town square stern canoe. If water is deep enough I use a 3hp Johnson weedless (down angled) prop which will push this canoe at 6mph. Motor weighs 33#. I have also used oars on this and shorter 15' canoe. Oars done right can really make you fly across the water and wind is not much of a concern.

[HighPrairieSportsmen]

Good tips. The best thing about a canoe in my opinion is being able to haul a lot more gear or people. I'm very limited with what I can haul with my kayak.

[mattlewandowski]

Many canoeists are turning to using kayak paddles over the last decade or so. Purists will still flip out over it as if you had relieved yourself on a holy site or national monument, but they are a good choice for solo canoeists in modern low budget canoes. Low budget canoes are just poorly made in terms of handling compared to a quality traditional canoe. If paddling tandem, the traditional canoe paddle is still the better choice. It is easy to make a blind for a canoe that will offer more concealment and roominess than a kayak with a blind. With a set of custom trimaran outriggers, you have acres of storage space as well as space for your dog if you have one (a 16' canoe with proper outriggers and a dog platform has more space than most aluminum hunting boats, yet can still get into and navigate shallow water less than a foot deep and can comfortably hunt 3 adults plus that dog)

You can make a wooden deck inside of the canoe for your dog with cheep lumber keeping it out of the water, but you will want a bailing scoop and sponge, or perhaps even a bailing pump of some form.

Traditional canoeists used boxes called wannagans that are fairly easy to build, and AMAZING at keeping your fishing or hunting gear stored and organized. (I have one that has a cooler I built into it by insulating the interior and covering the interior with fiberglass, but I have also designed one to hold a battery for a trolling motor (that I have yet to purchase) that in addition to holding one or two 100Ah lithium batteries (or roughly 35-50Ah deep cycles) still has room for storage of things like several tackle trays or potentially a box for spare boxes of shotgun shells, calls, etc.) It can also have an electrical panel that allows for plugging in the trolling motor to an external outlet, powering LED lights, recharging cell phone, and plugging in a bilge pump (the cooler could also be turned into a live well if fishing is your thing, and the power box could run an aerator and recirculation pump))

[DeeplyDrivenOutdoors]

I was looking at getting a canoe but went with the Ascend H12 instead. I just pulled a sled behind my yak last year to help solve the storage issue but that was a drag (literally.) I went with the H12, since it was sort of a hybrid between a canoe and kayak. Best of both worlds sort of thing.

[CC-pigm]

for river trips how do you get back up stream?

[rshields]

Check out the Carsten line of boats. I run a pintail. They are heavier than a canoe but they track straighter, carry alot of gear, and are cannot be tipped. I can get a dog, gear, 2 doz ducks half dozen goose dekes out to the spot easy and then hunt out of the thing if needed

[irvingdog]

Viewers can zip forward and start at 1:26. Practice before you go; especially with young dogs.

[adamhirerc]

Bout to do some duck hunting with my 17' Coleman scanoe this year

[kevinschoettler]

U don't need a kayak paddle use the j stroke and u don't have to keep changing sides

[FowlAssassinsOutdoors]

Great tips, canoes can be sketchy. Lol

[Craig_Cole]

The audio for this video was very low and I can't hear it. I was looking forward to the info in this vid too.

[rbakken]

Bring a sponge with ya. Soak up a lot of water fast.

[flyslinger]

You should see how much duck hunting gear I carry on my kayak. I have a still picture I can send you. pm me

[simontonpiland]

Anyone else just scrolling down in the comments

[redroofretriever]

There is no way to make a canoe stable. Get a hunting kayak and be safe. Kayaks are not just for 1 person. Most of your points against kayaks are wrong, unless you are looking to challenge this theory. 😳
If so, I'm in for that. I'll come up and see can do a test with gear, dogs, and all.