Tips, experiences, discussions about hunting from a canoe

[Gdpolk]

I've done a fair bit of river riding, floating, and camping from canoes.  Although I'm no expert by any means, I am familiar with basic canoe design and navigation.  That said, I'd like to start incorporating canoes into my hunting a bit more to help me gain access to more remote locations, see different places, and enjoy the adventure to/from the hunting destination a bit more.

What tips, thoughts, experiences, etc do you have related to the use of canoes for hunting?  It could be as simple as gear you are glad you bought, design preferences in boats, DIY projects that make it easier on you, or just a good story or two from the memory vault.

I love canoeing, we have used them often for hunting Iowa rivers.  My hunting canoe is a formerly top of the line Mad River Explorer, kevlar with the stem and stern carbon insets.   For paddling upstream, we try to stay on the eddy sides that circulate upstream.   Water swatting ducks with a bow while drifting down stream is a blast.  The ducks will settle to those neutral flow areas around points and deadfalls.  I shoot longbows out of canoes, canted enough to not hit the water.  I had a 48" Bear super Mag for shooting out of canoes.  The aluminum rail and the bow had a disagreement one day.  The canoe ate the bottom tip.  I was shooting to the left with the right handed bow, I turned and was on my knees to shoot to the left at a pheasant on the bank and hit the tip on the canoe.   We shot a deer from the canoe once by paddling up to a sang and tied onto it.  The front seat paddler had to stand to clear the deadfall to the deer that was on the sand bar.  It is stable if the back seat paddler, me, has a good flat brace stroke to stabilize the canoe.   I suppose to be somewhere on the Canadian border the last week of August, we are staying on the US side this next trip, I need to get off of telescope time.  To bed at 4 A.M. and up at 12 noon is not conducive to canoe tripping, at least not the first day.

[woodchucker]

Just don't tip it over!!! Bows don't float very well.....

[Karl Kortemeier]

Check out Larry Bartlett's book on float hunting in Alaska.  Its called Float Draggin' Alaska.  Its not archery specific or canoe specific, but it has a lot of great info on floating and hunting.  I've done a few float hunt trips in AK, and his book was basically my bible.  Here is his website:

 https://pristineventures.com/

[Snow Crow]

Pay particular attention to waterproofing your bow (strong finish, freshly waxed string, grip and shelf/side plate material and adhesion) and fletching (spray/powder, fletching covering quiver or cover).

Learn to shoot with the bow horizontal from seated and kneeling positions, then practice relentlessly from the canoe in the water.

Soundproof your craft as much as possible: foam or neoprene padded cradles for bow and paddle are imperative.  If you're quiet, land critters are ridiculously easy to sneak up on from the aquatic side.

Hope that helps...

[Boognish]

Buy a used 13 ft gheenoe. You're not going to tip one over and you can stand up and float down the river or creek

[Roadkill]

Kneel with a short paddle-the best sneaking position.  Learn to shoot kneeling-keep you bow tip out of water.  You have to learn to glance at your lower limb-to keep it clear of the gunnels- as you set up to draw. Keep your  knees wide.
Would not hurt to look at soft things on which to lay your bow-noise in the canoe is broadcast to anything on the water.
Practice on dry land.
White paddles shine line a diamond in a goats butt-dull them
A guy in the front has a completely different set of drawing problems with the prowl sticking up.
Can you J-stoke?  Best way to keep your movement down.
Pad where your knees go.  Use longer paddles when stroking for distance.
Some manner of a long pole can help stabilize the canoe when you sneak out on land may prove helpful and keep things quieter.  Things you carry but do not need quickly should be lashed-nothing like chasing down stuff when you dump it.
50 years ago I lived in my canoe. I own one still, in Nevada, and we do not have an abundance of streams to use it.  Squirrels and frogs learned to hate that canoe in those days.  Good luck and wipe that grin off your face!  Canoes just feel like freedom.

[YosemiteSam]

X2 on the J-stroke.  It's slow but keeps your movement down.  I never hunted from a canoe but used to sneak up on deer in a canoe while guiding to give people a good time.  I'd ask them to just sit still, though, since the sound of a paddle hitting the gunwales is pretty loud & newbies are always knocking the gunwales.  With the right cover, you can drift to within just a few yards of them.  Once or twice, I looked eye-to-eye with them only a few yards away as they watched us pass.  They were alert but not enough to bolt.  

Mind the birds while you're paddling.  We have lots of herons around here and they'd give away my presence to every creature around if they spotted or heard me coming.  Herons spooked ducks, flushing ducks spooked everything.

Solo and tandem would have very different strategies, I'd think.