What makes a good canoe for hunting?

Yes full glaring sunlight can damage a canoe over time.  UV protecting wax helps minimize it if your canoe is to be left out for a time, keeping them in the shade helps as well.  The plastic boats suffer the quickest from sun.   There was a young guy near here that shot a number of deer on the Big Sioux River with an aluminum canoe.  I use the one pictured doing the same on the Little Sioux River,  I have taken deer  from the canoe seat, but we usually get out and hunt on land.  We have also used the canoe for archery duck hunting on the river.  Our rivers are at near flood stage right now, and our thing of paddling up stream in the early afternoon and doing the slow quiet drift back to the landing at sunset will be harder to do with the increased current.

[PastorSteveHill]

Myers or Radison Sportspal..  Check it out..  Bet you can't flip it!

I have one with 2 pointed ends...  They make a square stern model but I got the pointed ends for better paddling....

[Gatekeeper]

This isn't a canoe but you may want to consider it. Look at a Bass Hunter pond boat. I've been using one for the last couple years and have really enjoyed it. I have the 10' boat and it has 2.5hp gas motor and a 40lb thrust electric motor. Very stable boat that can get into very shallow water. I think the boat is rated for 500lb, gear and people. I put mine on a jet ski trailer which makes for easy loading and unloading but it will fit in the back of a pickup truck bed. You can also use this boat for bow fishing.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003LBVCB6/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#immersive-view_1474475713005

[Gdpolk]

I've used the bass Hunter boats before as well as small flat bottoms. I really think a canoe will be a better format for my needs. I do however appreciate the suggestion as a heads up to other options

The ability to float comes to mind!      


Sorry Garrett, I don't know diddley about canoes!

Bisch

[Looper]

I bought a Mad River Duck Hunter several years ago, and don't think I'd trade it for anything else. It's basically the 16' Explorer with a dark interior and wood seats and rails. While it doesn't excel at any one thing, it's extremely versatile. I use it on ponds, lakes, and a variety of rivers.

It's also made of Royalex, so it's pretty tough and not too heavy (85# or so).

The OP did have some concerns about weight, too heavy is different for everyone.  When loading a canoe off of a vehicle by yourself, the difference between an 85 pound boat versus a 50 pound or less kevlar becomes very apparent.   Even though I have owned and used Wenonah Minnesota II and my Seliga for many canoe trips, I was surprised how user friendly my Kevlar Explorer was with 650 pounds on board.  Safe in the waves, easily manageable in current and wind, and still has a nice enough cruising speed, not like the Minnesota II, but good enough.

[olddogrib]

The other advantage of Royalex that I forgot to mention is ease of repairs.  My first canoe was  a Royalex Old Town Tripper that I bought dirt cheap from a white water junkie.  The botttom on that thing had been repaired so many times it was pathetic, but marine epoxy and fiberglass cloth will fix anything.  I bought the high dollar repair adhesive Old Town sold when I had a polypropylene Discovery and it wasn't worth squat.  In all fairness they have like three plastic laminations and are pretty much bomb-proof and weigh like it too!  I miss my Iliad paddle too...it came with the boat.  They don't make them anymore and I didn't realize it cost a Benjamin or so back then.  I'm too cheap to spring for carbon...Santa, I've been very good!

No kidding, the Explorer in my pic, had a hit a dock post or something and had a gouge that was through the first layer of Kevlar.  A 1" by 4" piece if fiberglass made it like new, but that gouge was the only reason that it was only $500.

[J-dog]

Originally posted by olddogrib:
The other advantage of Royalex that I forgot to mention is ease of repairs.  My first canoe was  a Royalex Old Town Tripper that I bought dirt cheap from a white water junkie.  The botttom on that thing had been repaired so many times it was pathetic, but marine epoxy and fiberglass cloth will fix anything.  I bought the high dollar repair adhesive Old Town sold when I had a polypropylene Discovery and it wasn't worth squat.  In all fairness they have like three plastic laminations and are pretty much bomb-proof and weigh like it too!  I miss my Iliad paddle too...it came with the boat.  They don't make them anymore and I didn't realize it cost a Benjamin or so back then.  I'm too cheap to spring for carbon...Santa, I've been very good!

I sprang for a Werner camano Caron bent shaft. I had to skimp and save but got it and it is worth every penny, if your traveling distances.
I kept n eye on like three different kayak shops online that regularly offered deals, like 10/20% off. Austin kayak usually does coming up on holiday season.

Just a thought

With my Explorer, when I use it solo, I use a longer Aqua Bound kayak paddle, sitting in the front seat going backwards.  I stow packs up front to balance the canoe.  If I have no packs, I use a rubber canoe pack about half full of water for ballast balance.  Do not use rocks they can sink your canoe if you fill up with water.   A tandem canoe can really get going with a kayak paddle since there is so little canoe in the water.

[mangonboat]

I gave up on the one-boat fantasy 30 years ago. I had to build a special boat shed, but having a 18' lake/marsh sweet paddling boat, a 16' indestructible / unsinkable  river boat and 2 SOT kayaks covers all the options. Made a motor mount for the canoes for a 2.5 HP short shaft outboard.

[mlsthmpsn]

I can't for the life of me remember the manufacturer...but think they got bought up or morphed into Golden Hawk Canoes.

I've had this one for 15 years or so. My dad gave it to me for Christmas one year. He got it off a older client of his that won it at a raffle. $50 was what the guy spent on tickets and dinner/drinks, so that was what he wanted for it.

 

   

 


It's 12'9", has a square stern for motor (up to 9.9hp), but has a full keel so it rides well when paddling. Rated for more weight than you'd need for a long while, with room for a deer or two.

When I lived in Arkie, I used it a bunch out in Bayou Meto, and took it down the Buffalo River a couple times.

[Orion]

As has been pointed out, it's difficult to cover everything with one canoe. If you want two seats and plan to take one or more people in it at times, that pretty much rules out a solo canoe, which is my favorite.

Regardless, shorter and wider are more difficult to paddle fast or even reasonably fast or in a straight line than narrower, longer canoes. Ease of paddling should be a large consideration. It's just no fun paddling a tub that one can't control, particularly in windy conditions and/or choppy water.  

Weight is important. It's not just getting the canoe on and off the vehicle.  It's also portaging it and dragging it over beaver dams, etc.
For that reason I like Kevlar.  Light and strong.

If I'm float hunting out of the boat rather than using it just to get somewhere, I prefer wood and canvas.  Extremely quiet, look nice, not terribly heavy ( about the weight of aluminum) and in the right design, very easy to paddle.  In fact, it's my favorite canoe construction/material. I build and restore them so have one for just about any situation. They're a lot more durable than most people think.

I always wanted a Seliga, I offered to portage one for Joe's granddaughter if we could paddle in on Lake Agnes, Quetico,  that is a big lake and a long portage.   She and her friend paddled my MinnII.  Joe offered to make me one,  but his health was fading and he never got to it.  I now paddle the first Kevlar from Bell that was made using one of Joe's canoes as a form.   I would guess the one that his granddaughter had was about 75 pounds.

[Orion]

Joe made a very nice canoe, several models, actually.  His canvas paint job was absolutely the best. A kevlar version of his 16 footer would handle everything the OP is looking for, and Bell (now Northstar) offers an excellent layup.