What makes a good canoe for hunting?

[Gdpolk]

Obviously it'll need to hold me plus gear plus an animal. It'll be used to access difficult locations on public lands by creek, lake, and river. I'm thinking short and wide will be better. I may even look for a flat stern to hook up a trolling motor on. What do you guys that use canoes for hunting find feature wise that you appreciate and what features do you wish you had but don't?

[RC]

Stability, low mass weight, easy to paddle. I have an old town guide 119 that is all this. RC

A 17" Alumacraft Quetico is a real workhorse for the money and 64 pounds.  It is slightly shallow arched so you don't want to play heavy see-saw games on rocks and logs, but they are the work horse of the North country.   For hunting boggy stuff you do want something that you can mud skid and be able to get in the canoe from the end on a mud landing.  For payload with a single paddler a 16 foot canoe is plenty.  I think short extra wide flat bottom canoes are a pain, the stable feeling is deceptive, they may feel like a dock and then dump you out faster than you can believe.  Canoes like the 16 foot Souris River make excellent solo hunting canoes and you can even paddle them tandem with less than 700 pounds on board.   The 16 foot Old Twon Penobscot was an excellent canoe in Royalex, but the Old Town plastic jobs are too heavy.  I would suggest to find a good looking aluminum canoe that not one of the heavy weights,less than 70 pounds, and the bottom is not oil canned.   They are every where a couple hundred bucks should get a nice one if the owners don't use it much.  There are old aluminum canoes stashed everywhere.  One local person here couldn't find one, so he ran a want ad.  He then a had a bunch to choose from.  Some folks wanted almost a new price for beat ones and some looked almost new with no dents for cheap.

I have been paddling canoes since a kid, I paddle the Bill Mason way, Path of The Paddle.  I have also been on 40 plus Canadian canoe trips, besides using canoes for everything locally.  The one thing that I see most often is that people don't think that there is anything to learn concerning canoeing.  Those are the people that I have learned, need to be left behind. I have given paddling lessons to Scout troops that could not paddle, yet they all had their paddling merit badges.  They needed that to get up north on the trip.  But this is what you can possibly run into with a canoe,    

[olddogrib]

Paddlers everywhere (myself included), are still mourning the passing of Royalex. As far as durability vs. lightweight it couldn't, and as far as I know still can't be beat without seriously "slapping leather".  You can go to paddling websites and get up to speed on rocker, tumblehome and other design features, but if you're wrestling that beast by yourself mass would be a deal breaker for me.  I was lucky enough to find a like-new Wenonah two years ago. If you watch craigslist you can still find them infrequently...family canoes where the kids have left the nest, they don't use them anymore and they don't know that the value has appreciated over time. Verify with serial #'s if you have to, some won't know what they've got. When the Royalex supply started running out makers offered the same models in polypropylene (plastic), but the weight is a dead giveaway. Royalex preferably shouldn't have been stored in direct sunlight for extended periods of time.  Old Town, Mad River, Wenonah, Souris River...maybe even a babied Blue Hole!

RC, I didn't know you were a paddler, too...now I know how you're finding "hog heaven"!

This is my rig ready to go. the rivers are a bit high around here this year.  I paid $500 for this used, it is the highest price version of this model ever built, 41 pounds, and has hauled 650 pounds of us and gear many times.

[Kip]

I have an Old town camper royalex 16' does everthing I need for Louisiana waters which are kinda quite.Have put many miles in that boat.Kip

[huronhunter]

Check out New Canoe and Old Town Next Canoe . Wilderness also makes a hybrid canoe . This are light weight units that can carry extra weight .

[goobersan]

what about a pirogue ?

[hunt it]

For hauling gear and game go big and long. Check out tripping and expedition models. If handling any kind of moving water you want the weight spread out and low to allow you to still control the canoe with ease. Overloaded and short the canoe will not handle well. If flat water is all you will ever see not as big a deal. Mad River make one of the best canoes in North America. I've had both the 16' Expedition Kevlar and the 18' Lamoille Kevlar - I could control the Lamoille with a quartered bull moose in it by myself no problem.

[Gdpolk]

All options are open.  I'm planning to move slow on this purchase and hopefully only make it once.  I've done a pile of canoeing and floating in college, but never really got too interested in the design/materials of canoes.  I've certainly never used them as a hunting tool.  That said, as I get one for hunting I'd like a pretty nice one new or used that's pretty well built for that purpose.  I don't get out and recreationally float a lot anymore but I hunt a lot.  I would like a nice, purpose built boat for hunting and then when I go out with family once or twice a summer just bring it along for the ride.

[Possum Head]

I love my 119. It's one of the best purchases I've ever made. Stand, Deer and ole Possum. It aint no family vessel though.

[J-dog]

I use a nativewatercraft ultimate 14.5, like hybrid canoe/yak -- hauls little daypack climber and animal, either deer or black lab! Lol --- got to have hunting partner --- then deer goes out butchered!

[Stumpkiller]

Originally posted by GDPolk:
Obviously it'll need to hold me plus gear plus an animal. It'll be used to access difficult locations on public lands by creek, lake, and river. I'm thinking short and wide will be better. I may even look for a flat stern to hook up a trolling motor on. What do you guys that use canoes for hunting find feature wise that you appreciate and what features do you wish you had but don't?

tell us something about the water and animal your are hunting.  A deer across a small lake is a different solution than a moose across a large river.

I had a 15-1/2 ft bateau that would hold two guys, hunting and camping gear and whatever we brought back.  Made out of 6mm Luan it weighed about 50 pounds.

   

     

But that was for calm  Adirondack lakes.

[KodaChuck]

Look at the Sportspal canoe....12' ...carries 500 lbs....weighs 37 lbs...the aluminum is lightweight so it is easy to load solo but it is not well suited for rubbing on rocks. the square stern doesn't paddle extremely well, mine is actually configured with oars but it is easy to move fast with a little electric or gas motor. The 14' model carries 800 lbs and they are very stable. Good luck with your search

[Gdpolk]

Waterways:  

• Lakes with varied winds. Occasionally open water but mostly I'll be closer to the shorelines and keep the paddling under a mile or so.
• Rivers/streams: these will be mostly mild stuff. I may see occasional rocky areas but it doesn't really need to be made for whitewater floats. I'm just trying to access deeper areas of public lands.

 
I need it to hold at a minimum:  

• Me (165lbs)
• A deer or large pig - say 200lbs
• Gear and food for up to a weekend - should be well under 100lbs TOPS even if I wind up with a heavy canvas tent one day

 
If at all possible it would be nice For it to be capable of:  

• Seating two in case I want to float with a friend or family when not hunting
• Taking a trolling motor for when I'm out fishing

 
I need something that will be pretty durable and low maintenance. While I love the cedar strip and bark canoes, I need something a little more utilitarian for this kit. I don't have a preference for brands but would rather discuss specifics on what design specifications will be best suited for this endeavor as well as possible specific models that others use similarly and enjoy.

Right now, my Mind is thinking 16-18', flat stern, two seat, wide semi-rounded bottom, and with a little rock to it in either aluminum or fiberglass. I don't think a plastic hull will hold up well enough over time.

As far as tandem canoes go, some canoes are symmetrical, meaning they are the same front to back and they can be paddled backwards sitting in the front seat going backwards when paddling solo.  Some canoes can be healed over very easily so when going solo you can slide over a little to make the water easier to reach.  These do NOT have the thwart behind the front seat.  Watch this and you will see what a canoe can and cannot handle in the wind.  What you want in a canoe in the waves is one that has good secondary stability, one that can float on its corners.  When bigger waves or boat wakes cross you the water will be at an angle, a flat bottom canoe with sharp corners will trying to match the angle of the water, while a canoe with moderate chines and a softer round bottom will stay up straighter and not dump you out as easily.  Although such a canoe will feel tender to a certain degree of tilt, but then it will find its stability and hold.  

[kbetts]

I wouldn't go with the flat stern.  They don't paddle as well and you can easily make a motor bracket.

I don't have a canoe, but a gheenoe, which is is a wider style designed for a motor.  It is a little heavier.  I can paddle it fine, stand and walk around, and run a 8hp. Nissan two stroke.

[Chain2]

Raddison Sportspal. Stable and light weight. Pretty quiet unless you really screw up in a rock or log. It us foam lined. I love mine. I can stand and shoot it in while drifting pretty good down the river.

[hunt it]

Aluminum is noisy, I'd never hunt from one. The sportspals have foam so quieter but in the world of real canoes- sportspal is not a canoe it is a utility watercraft - nothing paddles worse other than a square stern backwards. Square sterns are hard to paddle if you have distance to go. Actually the plastic boats will hold up better and longer than fiberglass but they are on the heavy side. If you cannot store your canoe inside or under cover from UV rays expect shorter lifespan for fiberglass or kevlar - the sun is their enemy.A small electric motor bracket can be purchased and mounted on any canoe. Stay away from canoes with keels, you want a round bottom canoe for ease of handling by yourself. Any good canoe store will have demo days on local water where you can try out canoes. This is a good time of year to buy as many of the high end store sell off their rental canoes and demos this time of year. Find yourself a few issues of Canoe Magazine and read up on what is out there.