doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT, Small water duck boats. OPINIONS??

I duck hunted a fair amount from a canoe over the years. My opinion is that is should be used for transportation only. I've known of number of times that they've been tipped. Losing equipment, getting soaked in cold, cold water. Slow going back. Small waters they're O.K.
12' Jon boats are a better option, although I recall a number of incidents when they to have been overloaded with hunters, dogs decoys,etc. and then trying to cross rough, big water.

Jon boats are okay for very confined waters or marshes, but unstable and dangerous anywhere with waves. I used an AlumaCraft Lifetime Ducker for almost 40 years in all waters and all weathers, and for versatility it's pretty hard to beat. Some of the hand-made sneak boats are prettier and maybe a bit slicker in the water, but they tend to be too heavy for one-man cartopping and overland hauling for pothole hunting.

Incidentally, I bought my Ducker second hand in 1964 for $135, and sold it 42 years later for $1,800. Not many duck boats hold up that well! [img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df28b3127cceb326a8b03c5800000025100EaNm7RsycMT[/img]

I've been looking for an AlumaCraft Ducker for a long time myself. Have passed on several double enders because I want the square stern model that you can run a small motor on. They're a really cool boat. I just got to see the one that belonged to Nash Buckingham when I was down in Memphis recently.

I've got a Barnegat and it works well though I don't use it much. I bought it from that guy in Virginia who has run the ad in Wildfowl for years. Well built boat, but too heavy for cartopping. I need a trailer for it, I'd probably use it more if I had one.

As far as my experience in the duck tub / sinkbox, it was really fun and interesting. Very wet, I had on all my best rain gear and was still pretty damp by the end of the morning.

It was a little choppy and the bigger waves come right straight into the box with you. You have a bailing can between your feet and have to keep the water from getting over the seat. I had to bail it out a couple times over the course of the shoot.

A friend and I actually built a test model for use across the border in Canada. It needs some modifications but I think we'll have her ready for next season. We did some test runs in the early fall but just didn't have it exactly right so we never used it during the shooting season.

Here is a small boat I built for picking up on prairie sloughs.

Below are pics of two boats I designed and built with a couple friends for layout shooting for black brant,snow geese, and ducks.
The bigger boat is 16 ft. and will hold two hunters and up to 70
goose decoys while the smaller is 14 ft and for one shooter.All fibreglass. Very seaworthy, however, the last time my shooting
partner and I got caught in a big blow on our local bay, his comment upon reaching shore was," do you think maybe we're getting a little too old for this sh*t ". Maybe he's right!! Terry
[img][/img] [img][/img] [img][/img] [img][/img]

There were only 205 square-stern Duckers built - all in 1958 - but it was not a success and the DO model was quickly dropped. IMHO the double-enders are structurally stronger, and much more versatile in heavy cover. And yes, you can put a small motor on them with a fairly simple mount. Mine actually came with a motor mount, but I scrapped it because the Ducker is so easy to row and pole, a motor is just an unnecessary complication. For an ultra-light, ultra-stable go-anywhere duck boat, the AlumaCraft Ducker has no equal.

Yeti, someone gave me the same kayak and I have thought about trying some ducking, how's it work in small water? Room for a dog?


Thanks, Rob

I'll agree with Jack that a Ducker needs no motor. It is at its best when poled. A truly pleasant way to get around the marsh. I love pulling up to the ramp at Elliotts Island at low water and the huge aluminum outboard guys are just staring at the mud. I pull the Ducker out of the pickup, slide it across the mud to the trickle in the middle of the ditch and I'm on my way. Cork decoys and fullXfull Ithaca in the boat with me.

Nash Buckingham, one of America's most famous hunting writers, had the money and leisure time to hunt most of the nation's finest waterfowl areas with the very best guides, and shot out of every kind of duck boat imaginable. His personal choice of duck boats: the AlumaCraft Ducker.

I have wondered about lashing 2 17' Grumman canoes together for safety and stability, with a pair of aluminum brackets.
I've seen a pair lashed together, with a small mast and sail once when canoeing in the Boundary waters of Nothe Minnesota. Sort of poor mans catamaran, looked very stable, though,
Mike