Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Boats for backwater hunting

I may be fortunate enough to purchase some land with running water sloughs on it.
Still holds water even in the driest of fall weather and steady running/flowing in winter. I’ve seen water 2’ deep outside of the sloughs in heavy rains. I’m struggling with what boat to leave down there and how?
We’ll fish a little bit but mainly I’d like to leave a boat down there to cross for hunting. It’s over your head in winter.
I’m thinking about hanging a sit ON kayak up in a couple of trees, but I’ve never tried to get a deer out on one. I have a sit IN kayak and a 10’ aluminum boat I could use also. I’d have to chain it up and I’m sure it would be full of water in a big flood.
I’d be paranoid to get in the sit IN kayak with the snakes that are down there.
Opinions?
Is NOT road accessible (for now), I’ll cut a path through the woods eventually.
If it goes through.

A cheap flat bottom or canoe

I’d mount a winch on a tree and figure out a way to run the line over something and get whatever you put down there up off the ground if there’s flood potential.

A pirogue and a push pole is absolutely ideal for shallow water. Carried a pile of deer in one when I hunted public. A short paddle to cross deeper waters and you are set. They are not meant for 2 people and like a kayak there is a learning curve.

that riverhawk in the Classifieds is what you're looking for.....15', similar to a greenhoe but wider. comes with a trailer for $2000. Slap a small outboard or surface drive on it and you'll go anywhere.

Its gotta be able to be manhandled. No trailer, no motor, drag in and out of the water and around blowdowns.
And yeah, needs to be kept elevated at least in the winter months.
Can’t wait to haul a deer out.
I’m thinking small canoe or pirogue too.
We use to cut big cane and use it for push polling when we bow fished. The patch is still on the side of the road on Hwy 82.

I’ve used a pirogue for several years hunting ducks, turkeys, and deer. Mine is a 2 man pirogue. I’ve never used a push pole. I never saw the need in just having a push pole. I always use a paddle. It’s more versatile.

Although I am comfortable with getting a buck out with mine, I would hate to have to fish out of it.

I’ve floated the Sipsey River with mine hunting ducks, but it excels in the still backwaters.

pirogue or canoe --- remember, no shoulders just love to hide under them!!!

Maybe a Gheenoe

Anything with a true flat bottom will be better than something with an angled hull. You got tradeoffs, but a 16' true flat bottom boat with an outboard is gonna draft like 6-8" water.

Give me my pee-row and a cypress push pole and I can maneuver over the morning dew.

This.

Pack Raft, pretty tough and widely used up in AK. Take it to you spot and inflate. Take a small pump when going in to top it off if need be.

https://alpackaraft.com/collections/hunting

Consider safety first. Falling out of a boat with a lot of clothes and boots on is not the same as in a canoe during the summer with very little on. I would want a 10 or 12 foot flat bottom at minimum, wider is better for the cooler winter times.

What he said. I wouldn’t get cute with it. Getting wet in the cold in woods is a no go, especially if your gear/phone may get dumped with it. I would get a small flat bottom aluminum boat and just push pole across. A small12’ or 14’ flat bottom ought to be light enough to manhandle for the purpose

Check out Nucanoe. It’s kind of a cross between a canoe and a sit on kayak. I know a guy who hauls one all over the country for deer and turkey hunting. His is rigged with a trolling motor. I’ve not been in one personally, but they sure look good.

https://youtu.be/0dpIkISg_6s?si=ajMqAh3eSd_cfmH-

They’s one in the classified that be perfect, Almodux has it posted

I've got a Bobcat Mag marsh boat that is 40" wide and stable. Downside is that it is fiberglass and about 75lbs, so not so easy to portage over distance (dead fall and beaver dams are no big deal). It is "supposed" to be able to go in 3" of water, but depends on how much you have loaded in the boat. At the time I was around 300lbs, so I wasn't traversing 3" waters...and doubt I could now at 225lbs and nothing else in the boat. I don't even know if they are in business, any more. When I bought mine, they were the 3rd (small) owner of the proprietary molds/business and that was long before Covid changed the manufacturing landscape. They were out of Louisiana, but haven't seen anything about them lately, though.

Not sure how many of these links still work, but it has a pretty good sample of info on skiffs and marsh boats: https://www.duckboats.net/specs/marsh.html

That Nucanoe looks awesome! I’ve got a 10’ aluminum boat I think I’ll start off with this summer and look for a wide canoe or a nucanoe to hang.
Been down a rabbit hole since yesterday looking at layout boats and beaver tail boats. 🤣
I don’t duck hunt but I may have to with this spot.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/205175415613

That link is awesome Donia, full of info.