I'm going to start with a little ramblin' backstory, bear with me. 
The Mobile-Tensaw River Delta has been a prominent figure in my life for as long as I can remember. As a small kid driving back and forth across I-10 to visit my grandparents, I used to peer out the window at the seemingly endless swamp and fantasize about running away Huck Finn style and living off of wild game. In college, I started hunting it, gradually exploring deeper and deeper into the backwaters and islands. First by foot, then with waders (or swimming!), and then with a collection of small boats.
I have killed a good percentage of my game with the aid of of pirogues, canoes, kayaks, and jon boats. Between paddling for exercise, camping, fishing, and hunting, I have probably been on the water almost every week for the past 7 years. There have been periods where I was out every single day for several weeks at a time. My love for the delta is apparently contagious, because I was able last year to convince my wife that we should purchase a home on a bluff overlooking it; a home that we found while navigating the 50 mile Bartram Canoe Trail!
My love of all things outdoors also led me to pick up a part time job while I was in college at a sporting goods store. I was enthusiastic enough that they eventually promoted me to department manager, and I got to see first hand the explosion of kayaking popularity that has swept the nation. I spent 5 years helping people buy kayaks and canoes, and have established friendships with many of the customers and coworkers that I sold boats to. I moved on to greener pastures, but I still miss that job.
I say all this because I have an unpopular opinion when it comes to hunting kayaks, and would like to emphasize that while it is contrarian, it is at least informed.
Long story short, sit-on kayaks are terrible for hunting.
In my mind, it's kind of like the saddle vs treestand debate. Treestands (and sit-ons) are definitely the norm for hunters, and have a lot of marketing behind them. They're the "normal" and "safe" choice. Lots of glossy magazine pictures and "celebrities" using them. And there are definitely more options for a sit-on paddler, with lots of snazzy battleships sporting camoesque colors, gun racks, and trolling motor mounts. People say they are roomier, more comfortable, and safer.
But folks say the same thing about their summit.
My opinion after having spent countless hours in and around kayaks is that sit-ons are unacceptably heavy, cumbersome, slow, and expensive for what they are. A sit-on is not safer than a sit-in, and the supposed stability advantage is overstated.
Some of the same advantages that make a saddle a better choice for the mobile hunter make a sit-in kayak a much better option. Namely, a sit-in is ridiculously lightweight and can function in places a sit-on cannot. It also offers a much lower profile, which is good for stealth. And it is easier to hunt further back in a sit-in than a sit-on, just like it is easier to hunt further back in a saddle than a treestand.
A run-of-the mill sit-on kayak is going to weigh right in the neighborhood of 80-100lbs. The cheaper models made from thinner polyethylene are going to be a few pounds lighter, and some of the more heavy-duty models with lots of accessories and fancy seats are going to push into the 120+lb range. They are also going to have an average width of 33-41" at the widest part of the hull, which is generally right at your hips.
Contrast this to my "main squeeze" kayak, a Wilderness Systems Pungo 120. A 2019 Pungo weighs only 49lbs, and some of that weight is in the "cockpit tray" that can and should be removed. 45-55lbs is pretty much the average for a 12ft sit-in. And at 29" wide, my pungo (and sit-ins in general) is substantially narrower.
A lighter weight kayak is a huge advantage for several reasons.
As far as the supposed 3 big disadvantages of a sit-in; stability, capacity, and safety...they're all a non-issue for the typical saddle hunter.
On the water a sit-in is more stable due to the low center of gravity. Most people flip getting in and out. I promise you, if you can sit on a bed and swing your feet up onto it, you can get in a sit-in and never worry about flipping it. Load your butt first!
Capacity is also a non-issue. My gear consists of a backpack and a weapon. Both if these fit in a well thought out sit-in with room to spare for a cut-up deer. If you can't cut them up, buy a canoe. It will be lighter, narrower, and more spacious than a sit-on, and be faster to boot.
And finally, safety. I have heard it repeated ad nauseam that sit-ons are safer due to their air tight design and scupper holes. I would point out that in the event of a man-overboard situation, a polyethelyne boat is naturally buoyant, and contains additional flotation to keep it from sinking. Re-entry is usually as simple as flipping the boat and crawling in over the bow so as not to flip the boat again on it's short axis. If you flip it carefully, you shouldn't fill the cockpit with water. If you do, it is true you'll have to bail it out. However, this is a fair tradeoff given the difficulty of flipping a 100lb sit-on boat while treading water!
I know a lot of guys like their sit-ons, and kill deer out of them. My dad likes his summits, and kills deer out of those too! But if you like to hunt lighter, faster, and deeper, a sit-in makes sense like a saddle does!
For the visually inclined, here's a video of me going over my very simple (and dirty, shame on me) kayak, as well as loading, unloading, and shouldering it. I hope this helps anyone looking at adding a kayak to their list of hunting tools.
The Mobile-Tensaw River Delta has been a prominent figure in my life for as long as I can remember. As a small kid driving back and forth across I-10 to visit my grandparents, I used to peer out the window at the seemingly endless swamp and fantasize about running away Huck Finn style and living off of wild game. In college, I started hunting it, gradually exploring deeper and deeper into the backwaters and islands. First by foot, then with waders (or swimming!), and then with a collection of small boats.
I have killed a good percentage of my game with the aid of of pirogues, canoes, kayaks, and jon boats. Between paddling for exercise, camping, fishing, and hunting, I have probably been on the water almost every week for the past 7 years. There have been periods where I was out every single day for several weeks at a time. My love for the delta is apparently contagious, because I was able last year to convince my wife that we should purchase a home on a bluff overlooking it; a home that we found while navigating the 50 mile Bartram Canoe Trail!
My love of all things outdoors also led me to pick up a part time job while I was in college at a sporting goods store. I was enthusiastic enough that they eventually promoted me to department manager, and I got to see first hand the explosion of kayaking popularity that has swept the nation. I spent 5 years helping people buy kayaks and canoes, and have established friendships with many of the customers and coworkers that I sold boats to. I moved on to greener pastures, but I still miss that job.
I say all this because I have an unpopular opinion when it comes to hunting kayaks, and would like to emphasize that while it is contrarian, it is at least informed.
Long story short, sit-on kayaks are terrible for hunting.
In my mind, it's kind of like the saddle vs treestand debate. Treestands (and sit-ons) are definitely the norm for hunters, and have a lot of marketing behind them. They're the "normal" and "safe" choice. Lots of glossy magazine pictures and "celebrities" using them. And there are definitely more options for a sit-on paddler, with lots of snazzy battleships sporting camoesque colors, gun racks, and trolling motor mounts. People say they are roomier, more comfortable, and safer.
But folks say the same thing about their summit.
My opinion after having spent countless hours in and around kayaks is that sit-ons are unacceptably heavy, cumbersome, slow, and expensive for what they are. A sit-on is not safer than a sit-in, and the supposed stability advantage is overstated.
Some of the same advantages that make a saddle a better choice for the mobile hunter make a sit-in kayak a much better option. Namely, a sit-in is ridiculously lightweight and can function in places a sit-on cannot. It also offers a much lower profile, which is good for stealth. And it is easier to hunt further back in a sit-in than a sit-on, just like it is easier to hunt further back in a saddle than a treestand.
A run-of-the mill sit-on kayak is going to weigh right in the neighborhood of 80-100lbs. The cheaper models made from thinner polyethylene are going to be a few pounds lighter, and some of the more heavy-duty models with lots of accessories and fancy seats are going to push into the 120+lb range. They are also going to have an average width of 33-41" at the widest part of the hull, which is generally right at your hips.
Contrast this to my "main squeeze" kayak, a Wilderness Systems Pungo 120. A 2019 Pungo weighs only 49lbs, and some of that weight is in the "cockpit tray" that can and should be removed. 45-55lbs is pretty much the average for a 12ft sit-in. And at 29" wide, my pungo (and sit-ins in general) is substantially narrower.
A lighter weight kayak is a huge advantage for several reasons.
- It is drastically easier to load, unload, and carry. I can cartop a sit-in effortlessly in one swift movement, and carry it rested on one shoulder with ease. Every sit-in owner I have paddled with has required assistance or a mechanical aid to handle his boat, or been winded and sweaty by the time he had wrestled it into place.
- It is easier to get to small, remote waters. I frequently launch my kayaks in places that are definitely not boat ramps or kayak launches. Many places require me to lower the boat down a 6-10ft creek bank, stern first with a long rope, and then scramble down with my gear. I also frequently cannot park my vehicle on the bank, and have to tote my boat a long way over logs, cypress knees, and swampy ground. Doing this with a 100lb boat would be exhausting, impractical, and not at all fun. Loading and launching my kayak is a complete non-issue, vs the hassle of loading a sit-on or hooking up a trailer and going through the checklist a boat requires. This means I can, and will, go for long stretches using it every weekend. My experience is that sit-ons spend a lot of time just sitting-on a garage floor, sawhorses, or a trailer because they are a PITA to load.
- A lighter boat, everything else being equal, is faster on the water. In addition, a narrower boat is easier to paddle and faster. Imagine sitting in the middle of a typical 14ft, flat-bottom jon and trying to paddle it like a kayak. You would need an incredibly long paddle, and would get tired very quickly and generate very little power due to the mechanical disadvantage. A sit-on is obviously not as bad, but I will say I have never lost a race to a sit-on kayak. I can cover in a half day routes that my sit-on buddies need an overnighted to traverse. This means I can hunt places that most are not willing/able to access in their boats. I see this frequently out duck hunting. There will be lots of kayaks within a mile of the boat ramp, and hardly any 2 miles out.
As far as the supposed 3 big disadvantages of a sit-in; stability, capacity, and safety...they're all a non-issue for the typical saddle hunter.
On the water a sit-in is more stable due to the low center of gravity. Most people flip getting in and out. I promise you, if you can sit on a bed and swing your feet up onto it, you can get in a sit-in and never worry about flipping it. Load your butt first!
Capacity is also a non-issue. My gear consists of a backpack and a weapon. Both if these fit in a well thought out sit-in with room to spare for a cut-up deer. If you can't cut them up, buy a canoe. It will be lighter, narrower, and more spacious than a sit-on, and be faster to boot.
And finally, safety. I have heard it repeated ad nauseam that sit-ons are safer due to their air tight design and scupper holes. I would point out that in the event of a man-overboard situation, a polyethelyne boat is naturally buoyant, and contains additional flotation to keep it from sinking. Re-entry is usually as simple as flipping the boat and crawling in over the bow so as not to flip the boat again on it's short axis. If you flip it carefully, you shouldn't fill the cockpit with water. If you do, it is true you'll have to bail it out. However, this is a fair tradeoff given the difficulty of flipping a 100lb sit-on boat while treading water!
I know a lot of guys like their sit-ons, and kill deer out of them. My dad likes his summits, and kills deer out of those too! But if you like to hunt lighter, faster, and deeper, a sit-in makes sense like a saddle does!
For the visually inclined, here's a video of me going over my very simple (and dirty, shame on me) kayak, as well as loading, unloading, and shouldering it. I hope this helps anyone looking at adding a kayak to their list of hunting tools.
