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Canoe

B

Bowtechassassin

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2019
Messages
66
Ill start by saying I know nothing about canoes. What im wanting to do is there's some spots off the rivers that come out of the lake im wanting to hunt but walking to them is a no go. Its about 2 to 3 miles from the nearest lauch point for them. Whats the reality of solo paddling a canoe in that far by yourself time wise and whatever else im missing? What model or things should I be looking at if I where to buy a used on?
 
I'd recommend a kayak. Tow a beaver tail sled (made for duck hunting decoys and has high sides) to haul your deer out.

However 2-3 miles rather canoe or kayak is a long paddle. I'd say at least an hour paddle.
 
If you know nothing about canoes, perhaps you should look into sit on top kayaks. As someone who has spent A LOT of time on the river, canoes can have a bit of a learning curve on all but dead calm water. A sit on top kayak on the other hand, if you get a good one, you can float down the river backwards and just bounce off of rocks.

Other than that, wear your life jacket, wear your life jacket, wear your life jacket.

Do I mention that you should be wearing a life jacket? Hunting season typically means cold water season in a lot of places. Cold water is incredibly dangerous. You don’t get hypothermia, you drown because your muscles freeze and you can’t keep yourself afloat.
 
Totally doable but you should plan a few test runs. Canoeing exercises things you are maybe not used to, it can lead to cramping. I heard this story on a podcast about a year ago, guy planned water access but all the exercise/cramping left him in bad shape, he called it total muscle failure.

Also think about where/how to land. Your landing area should be solid ground, blind picking a destination spot on a marshy lake will end poorly but will make for funny youtubes.

Estimate 3mph for top speed.

I would look for a way to motor to such a spot.
 
What kind of climate are we talking about?
What kind of river, with what kind of current?

While folks have mentioned non canoe options, there are some serious advantages to a canoe - not least of which is the option to use an electric trolling motor, carry gear and deer, and be seated slightly higher allowing more visibility.

2-3 miles each way is quite a long distance to paddle before and after a hunt.

Whatever you do, I’d get tons of practice in before hunting season.
 
I have kayaks and a canoe. My canoe is 16 ft long. Only used canoe in calm water. Its easy to use but big. Normally put it on my ladder rack on f350. But its a handful to load myself.
Sounds like fun. But like someone else said wear your life vest. And tell someone where u r going and when u will be back.
 
Bowtechassassin said:
Ill start by saying I know nothing about canoes. What im wanting to do is there's some spots off the rivers that come out of the lake im wanting to hunt but walking to them is a no go. Its about 2 to 3 miles from the nearest lauch point for them. Whats the reality of solo paddling a canoe in that far by yourself time wise and whatever else im missing? What model or things should I be looking at if I where to buy a used on?
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If you can find a used electric trolling motor it would make a big difference in ease and time and as @Chimney7 said wear you life jacket and don't wear waders.
 
Ive thought about putting a trolling motor on one but in missouri you have to title it then. The current i believe is calm during hunting season but I can't say for sure which paddling for that long didnt sounds like an easy task but I wasn't sure and knew people on here could give me an honest answer on the reality of doing it. With having to title it makes me wonder if a 12-14 jon boat would be the easier and safer route.
 
I Spend a lot of time in a canoe all summer shooting carp. I ditched the paddle long ago and went to a kayak paddle. Much faster and quicker response. Alleviates water dripping into canoe also..
 
Bowtechassassin said:
Ive thought about putting a trolling motor on one but in missouri you have to title it then. The current i believe is calm during hunting season but I can't say for sure which paddling for that long didnt sounds like an easy task but I wasn't sure and knew people on here could give me an honest answer on the reality of doing it. With having to title it makes me wonder if a 12-14 jon boat would be the easier and safer route.
Click to expand...
Who said anything about a boat motor? We are talking about submersible fans.
 
I have done a few hunts that were about a mile and a half paddles in a yak. That was about as far as I would want to paddle in. Any further and I would want a trolling motor for sure.
 
Not to derail this thread, but I have put a trolling motor on an old town predator 13.

I did have to title it in PA, which was somewhat of a pain in the butt, but very doable.

I bought a 55lb thrust minn kota, first thing I did was take it apart. A typical trolling motor has a few forward speeds and an even less reverse speeds. Yeah no thanks. I also had every intention of putting it on the back of my kayak which would have made the control handle useless as I wouldn’t be able to reach it. So I took it apart and added what’s called a pwm,(pulse width modulation). With a pwm you have what is basically infinite control over the speed of the motor, 0-100%. Both forward and reverse. I mounted the pwm inside a water tight box and added a current draw led that would tell me how many amps I was drawing at any given speed, this was to help with battery management. I ran two 8 gauge wires to the motor from the box and wrapped them in a wire management sleeve. Water tight connectors in the box, I used a round outdoor box on the trolling motor pipe which just so happened to be 1”, so a 1” emt connector fit perfect on the pipe and in the box. The last two issues were steering and mounting. For mounting I used a piece of c channel aluminum I had laying around and attached it were the rudder nuts are implanted in the kayak itself. Steering I used a piece of a green aluminum frame I had laying around mounted it to the pipe with a stainless u bolt and ran strings along the inside of the deck of the kayak to the foot pedals that I removed the locking mechanism from so the would move back and forth easily.

Last step was to paint everything to match because why not.

Steer with my feet, controls are under my seat. Cruise!
a65052569e0042d69b35295adc48d031.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
BTaylor said:
I have done a few hunts that were about a mile and a half paddles in a yak. That was about as far as I would want to paddle in. Any further and I would want a trolling motor for sure.
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I agree. That distance when I first read the original post had me thinking man, I hope that spot he is going after is good. Cause that's a long paddle.

You can hook a trolling motor up to kayaks. Plenty of ways to do it. YouTube is his friend on this one if he wants to go this route. I think a yak has more uses and he would get more out of a yak than a canoe. That's the only reason I mentioned a yak.

I've hunted a couple times using my kayak. The paddle was about 3/4 of a mile on a river. Getting to the spot wasn't bad. Coming back (up river) was the part that sucked at times. My yak is a sit on top. I carry my pack and items in the front portion. I tow my beaver tail sled in the rear for deer haul out. It works great and gives extra room. I however do wear wadders, cause a couple spots on the river I hunt get too low that I have to get out and pull. BUT, I wear my life jacket no matter what. I never shot a deer in that spot but I have pulled a medium sized buck across a river inside the beaver tail. Not an issue whatsoever. Well balanced and stable. And it was actually what gave me to idea and confidence to use my yak to hunt some other spots.
 
Chimney7 said:
Not to derail this thread, but I have put a trolling motor on an old town predator 13.

I did have to title it in PA, which was somewhat of a pain in the butt, but very doable.

I bought a 55lb thrust minn kota, first thing I did was take it apart. A typical trolling motor has a few forward gears and an even less reverse gears. Yeah no thanks. I also had every intention of putting it on the back of my kayak which would have made the control handle useless as I wouldn’t be able to reach it. So I took it apart and added what’s called a pwm,(pulse width modulation). With a pwm you have what is basically infinite control over the speed of the motor, 0-100%. Both forward and reverse. I mounted the pwm inside a water tight box and added a current draw led that would tell me how many amps I was drawing at any given speed, this was to help with battery management. I ran two 8 gauge wires to the motor from the box and wrapped them in a wire management sleeve. Water tight connectors in the box, I used a round outdoor box on the trolling motor pipe which just so happened to be 1”, so a 1” emt connector fit perfect on the pipe and in the box. The last two issues were steering and mounting. For mounting I used a piece of c channel aluminum I had laying around and attached it were the rudder nuts are implanted in the kayak itself. Steering I used a piece of a green aluminum frame I had laying around mounted it to the pipe with a stainless u bolt and ran strings along the inside of the deck of the kayak to the foot pedals that I removed the locking mechanism from so the would move back and forth easily.

Last step was to paint everything to match because why not.

Steer with my feet, controls my under my seat. Cruise!
a65052569e0042d69b35295adc48d031.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Whoah... Sounds really cool.

Any chance you could post more pics of your set-up?
Thanks!
 
I would get a canoe if you think you’ll enjoy canoeing, I wouldn’t get it to access a single piece of hunting land. Since you’ll be spending a lot of time in it, it’s better if it’s something you enjoy. For me, there are no bad days on the water.
 
14 ft Radisson canoe with a trolling motor. Got a 60amp lithium battery from amped outdoors.
I can go about 4 miles full bore on a charge with 2 people in it. Not going to break any speed records but it beats paddling.
 
Center Punch said:
Whoah... Sounds really cool.

Any chance you could post more pics of your set-up?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

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Made the rod holder out of pvc and a cutting board. Because I like to make stuff.

Helix seven on there because if you aren’t over complicating the crap out of your projects, what’s the sense in doing it at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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