Canoe or Kayak?

[Longbow1953]

I recently moved to SE Michigan from Portland, Oregon.  I have read many articles thru the years about hunting for whitetail from canoes and have always thought that would be something interesting to try out.  Could anyone who's done it before tell me how stable it is to hunt from a canoe?  Or would a kayak be better?  Also, I have a pick up with a canopy on it...how do you transport your canoes/kayaks?

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Kip]

There were a couple of threads on this subject this year and in the past.Do a search should get plenty info.To answer your question I say canoe.I have hunted and camped a bunch with my Old Town Camper 16' fits my needs perfect but not for whitewater above class 2.Kip

[straitera]

Had both including some great canoes. My favorite canoe was my 17'(?) Quachita. IMO, the kayak is not suitable to hunt from because it is too easy to flip when shooting. Neither does it offer as much room to transport game & supplies. Sold my 17' Grumman wide body to buy my kayak. Sold the kayak & bought another 17' Grumman. The latest Grumman is way lighter & easier to flip. Should have kept my 1st Grumman.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

canoes You will get more gear in them.. PM Ron Leclair. He does some hunting from canoes and has posted pix of them.

[Russell2]

Welcome to Michigan

[Running Buck]

Canoe hands down. You sit well above the water line in a canoe, you sit at or below the water line in a kayak. While kayaks are not as tippy as some think, do to thier design you can't get much gear in them including animals you take. For a hunter/angler spending most of the time on back waters,you can't beat a good canoe for just about everything. As far as transporting, there are so many different styles of racks,bars and tiedowns out there you would be better off to google "canoe racks" and see what you come up with.

[Night Wing]

I agree with a canoe. You can get more gear in them and it's easier to transport a gutted deer from a remote watery place than you can with a kayak.

[German Dog]

For the best of both worlds try.... Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 or the 16.

 http://www.nativewatercraft.com/ult_14T.cfm

[German Dog]

Couldn't find any pics with just the kayak and hunting but here's a picture of it loaded up for a week trip into the BWCA for my son and I. Very stable and easy to paddle. I pull the front seat out when I use it for hunting.

images no wider than 640, please [/url] [/IMG]

[German Dog]

And for hauling your canoe or kayak I found it's easier to just use a utility trailer. I had a rack for the back of my truck but then I needed to unload everything and lift it up on top and strap it down, I always have a dog box in th bed of the truck so that eliminates sliding it into the bed, plus the beds are too short and it sticks way out the bed. So small utility trailer really is in mu opinion the way to go. This way you can leave most all your gear in it and just slide it in and out of the trailer as needed, get home after dark then simply unhook the trailer.

[olddogrib]

That would depend on what you're using it for.  Hard to beat the extra storage a canoe offers, but if you're just using it to get in/out for a day hunt you could get by with the right kayak (depending on how you plan to get game out).  The "hybrid" Native Ultimate that German Dog mentions is an excellent alternative if you want to do both type trips, but be prepared to "slap leather". (Those babies ain't cheap!)  As for hauling without a trailer, I've got an adjustable rack that fits a standard 2" trailer hitch.  It can be mounted in the vertical or horizontal position.  When horizontal, the front 2/3rds of the boat rides in the bed of your truck w/ tailgate down.  In the vertical, the front would ride on the cab with the foam blocks placed on the gunwhales (or a single cross-bar).  If you've got a camper cover, 4 foam blocks would probably be all you'd need.

[David Mitchell]

Having had both, my vote is for the canoe also.  The Native Craft hybrid looks great, though, I like that and have not seen one in person, but it's heavier than I want to lug at my age.  :rolleyes:  You can get a good canoe pretty reasonable and if you spend a bit more you can go for the kevlar canoes which are waaay lighter.  Just don't do what I heard of one guy doing--since they make bullet proof vests from kevlar, he figured his canoe hull was too....so he put a bullet right through it.    They don't have as many layers as a vest, duh!

[RC]

A caone is more stable and hold more stuff but to just get across the River for a hunt a Kayak would be better. I`ve been really eyeballing some yaks and my buddy Apex has recently bought one and took out in the ocean for sharks. give you an idea of how stable they are. I think his has a 500 pound capacity. Most I look at in the 10-12 range are 350 capacity or better.Lugging a gutted deer is not a problem for me because I skin and quarter everything I kill on the spot.
  I paddled my 14 Canoe up river for about two miles and was wondering if my arms and shoulder would ever work again. A Kayak paddles with ease and gives you more options. If you were only gonna go downstream or on still water the canoe may be best but for these Rivers down south I believe a Yak is the way.I`m already planning some Island hunts and don`t have one yet.RC

[Robertfishes]

I like the looks of that native craft hybrid that "German Dog" has..I went to their web site and there is a dealer 12 miles from my house..

[PaddyMac]

I have an Ascend FS 12' camo kayak inbound from Bass Pro Shops. Just sold my 16' Pelican Bayou square stern canoe, which I would NOT recommend even though it is huge and wide, it's not very well built. Basically, I'm going to use my kayak for fishing and duck hunting (easy to conceal).

The advantage of the kayak is paddling it. I am a pretty good paddler but I am way more efficient solo in a kayak than in a canoe. If you have a partner I still say two kayaks are better than one canoe.

The problem with the kayak is the cargo capacity. Trying to haul a dead deer in a sit in kayak is problematic. But in a big sit on tandem or hybrid like the Native, not so much.

Two guys though in an 18 foot canoe can haul a lot of meat across a lake, just slowly, and slow and heavy can be dangerous on big water.

If you're talking about using it for access on a faster river, like the John Day, Deschutes, Snake or something, then the kayak definitely (but better would be a drift boat or raft w/frame).

[akbowbender]

I have an older 17' Folbot that has an open cockpit, so loading up isn't a problem. Floated out several moose with mine. If I remember right, it was rated for 900 lbs. It has lots of beam and is very stable. You can sit down in it for extra stability in rough water, or sit high. I'm not sure what Folbot sells now, if they are even still in business.

 

 

[PaddyMac]

 

That's so cool. Moose takes up several spots on my bucket list.

I guess it is like the general aviation regulations. After just about every rule it says, "....except in Alaska."

[Mike Gerardi]

www.folbot.com   Greenland 2 looks sweet..

[Rob DiStefano]

i both canoe and kayak, and while a good kayak is more efficient and lots faster, a decent canoe can take far more of a load, has a far larger cargo/people area, and will do it all far more safely.  imho.  ymmv.

[Yeoman Bowman]

Gotta go with a canoe. More room for gear, less tipsy.

German Dog, I love that Ulimate Kayak. I want one!