• Help Support Hardline Crawlers :

Duck hunting boats

Toddy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
685
Location
Knoxville, Tn
Went duck hunting this winter and liked the **** out of it. Been looking to get a boat. I live about a mile from the lake so it won't be just a duck boat but would like something me and a couple buddy's could hunt of of and ride around and fish and such out of during summer.

What should I be looking for? Kinda like the idea of the outboard jet drive but know 0 about them or really hoatzin general. Had a couple over the years but never long enough to learn a lot about them.

From what we did last year about anything could prob get to where we hunted but if I get into it I'm sure we will venture out to some better places.
 
Are you going to put a blind on the boat? or just use the boat to access a blind/area?

Basically any aluminum boat with an open floor plan 17-20' should suit you.

I prefer a tiller handle motor for maneuverability in the woods/swamp/around decoys/etc.



For open water hunting (traveling to blinds, or hunting in brush blinds on the bank) Dad had a 17-60 F&F with a 40hp Yamaha tiller handle with power trim. It was a "commercial" boat with a completely open/flat floor, only a rear seat w/ storage. We built a decent size crappie deck on the front with seat post bases and a trolling motor mount.

We also had a 16-48 with a Mud Buddy motor for hunting in the swamp and low water mud flats.

We mainly hunt Reelfoot lake
 
Mud motor/surface drive on a 1654 maybe 1754 is what I'd prefer for where I hunt, but for a multi-purpose boat they're not practical IMO. 1654 is an ideal size for 2 men and gear that's not too big to hide or drag across a muddy bottom if necessary. 1654 with a tiller steer is probably the best bang for your buck to run around and catch a couple fish in the spring and go chase some ducks in winter. A console boat is nice but takes up a lot of storage room and cost a good bit more. And dealin with a bigger motor while you're hiding the boat in a marsh or backside of an island is a little bit of a pain. But if you went 18ft or bigger I'd go console just cause that's a lot of boat to handle with a tiller handle.
 

Latest posts

Top