a canoe for hunting

[loneeagle15]

I am in Montana and will be useing the canoe mainly for bird hunting on the Yellowstone river so 2 people will be in it with 2 Labs jumping in and out too retrieve downed ducks and geese, the river also has several islands that hold deer so if my son and myself went out empty we could poosible come back with 2 deer but we could ferry the deer back 1 at a time but would prefer to make just 1 trip it might see a lake for fishing a couple of times a summer but who knows maybe more often as I have not had a canoe since my younger days so right now I prefer to fish rivers
Which design would you guys recommend
Thanks Randy

[sedges]

The issues your canoe need to address are
1. cold weather/water at water fowl season
2. Stability. Relates to #1. You don't want to end up in the river.
3. Dogs exiting and especially re-entering the craft. Relates to #2.

I would recommend a big. wide canoe. There are two that I know about, one to buy and one to build. Both are 20 feet long and about 41 inches wide, making them very stable, seaworthy canoes. They would be heavier than yout average tandem however.

To buy. Old Town Tripper XL, 105 pounds. Pretty flat bottomed.
To build. E.M. White 20' Guide. Plans in

Gilpatrick, Gil. Building a Strip Canoe, DeLorme, Publishing Co., 1985

This canoe has a more shallow-arch bottom and a bunch of rocker. A much better paddling hull than the tripper. You could probably keep the weight well under 100 pounds if you are careful about materials and application.

[PAULIE]

:smile My daughters and I built a version of the one in Gilpatriks book last winter. We made the back half of the canoe quite a bit wider by adding an extra center mold and moving each mold back one station. With the hourglass stern it move through the water with bairley a ripple. We have used it on some pretty fast rivers and large lakes for both hunting and flyfishing. I would love to send you some pictures but I don't think I can without a web site. Happy New Year

[strip guy]

Built the 20' E.M. White Guide a few years ago (2000). Stretched it out another 6", and took 1/2" of rocker out of it.Put a center bench seat in it for my 2 kids (4 and 6 at that time). Because it's so big, and heavy, I put 3 yokes in it. Most times I'm portaging it with another guy anyway, so that made sense to me. Used it moose hunting in the BWCAW a few years ago. VERY stable. Got that "big car ride" According to my GPS, heavily loaded (about 1000 pounds of people, stuff, and dead moose) we made about 3.4 MPH most of the time.

[duncan]

How heavy are:

You and your duck hunting buddy together?

You and your son together?

How much, at the top end, might you expect your deer to weigh?

Can you foresee any possibility of paddling this canoe loaded in high winds with waves?

-Duncan

[strip guy]

I've also heard of guys building themselves a pair of stabilizing outriggers for use when they're in the duck blind. Attach it to the thwarts and slide it out when needed. Take it off when you want to move. Use Insulation foam as the float / stabilizing material.

[PAULIE]

:Getting a response to a post almost a year and a half later is kind of like being in a Twilight Zone episode. I have had the opportunity to use my freighter for another whole fishing and hunting season and am looking forward to the upcoming one. The lakes up here are still pretty hard. However the Peace River is on the agenda for the Victoria Day weekend. Back to the subject at hand; Relentless is a 20' freighter with a 48" beam hourglass stern and 3 seets with storage. I normally power this with a 24V electric with 6 12v batteries and a set of oars for backup. The range is about 70km on flat water and 30-40 km on rivers depending on how much current we are fighting . We have easily carried 3 of us, our supplies and on occasion quartered moose without any difficulty. Roughly 2000lbs. When selecting a design for a hunting canoe just keep in mind the most important factor, your safety and comfort. Would I want to portage my freighter NOT ON YOUR LIFE it is heavy but a dream to row or paddle.
As always play safe and wear your PFD.

[strip guy]

I just discovered this forum a couple of days ago.

Aim small. Miss small. When the moose drops, the fun stops!