Dual Purpose Duck Boats

As I sit here in my living room on this COLD winter day, I must confess of dreaming for warmer weather. The wind chill in my little corner of Ohio is a disturbing -13 degrees. There is no hope that the local duck spots are going to open up enough for me to launch my boat. The bigger rivers are open, but I can't send my dog in the water with subzero temperatures. What I can do is wait a day or two and the let go of its grip enough for both of us to hunt on the ice again. An adventure which usually proves to be most profitable from a bird bagging stand point.

Meanwhile, I sit in my favorite chair looking on the Internet at boats. What caused the resurfacing of the boat search is the 25 HP 2 stroke motor on my Grizzly Tracker. I have caught quite a few bass and scatter gunned a healthy number of birds from my boat, but this year was frustrating. The older that 2 stroke gets the harder it is to start when it is cold. Not only that, but when I do get it started, it takes forever to get it warmed up! Several times this year it literally took five minutes to start the motor and it ran horribly all the way to my duck hunting hole. While hunting, if we have a distant bird to retrieve, it takes several minutes to start it again. That is not all. We can approach the bird with incredible stealth because the motor smokes like a fog machine and there is no way any bird could see us coming! When the hunt is over and we have all of our decoys picked, which may be 30 minutes, the ol' 2 stroke proudly pushes us with ease. Well, I have had enough!

So, the search began for a new 4 stroke outboard motor. Upon looking at prospective outboards, I asked myself, "Do I want to put a new motor on this boat?" Don't get me wrong I like my 16' Tracker. I can get into places that you wouldn't expect! It is reasonably stable both for casting and shooting. The issues that I have with my old aluminum friend are that I am sick of kicking the permanent live well that some genius decided should stick up in the middle of the boat and the lack of bow seating for bass fishing. I created a removable wooden subdeck complete with pedestal seat which has served this purpose. I painted it duck boat green so it didn't look too out of place. These two problems have been areas of grumbling for some time, and now seems like the time to solve them.

In order to "fit the bill", I want a boat that has enough bow decking to allow me to sit up front and operate a bow mount electric trolling motor, however, I did not want to lose the open area in the middle of the boat due to considerable aft and bow decking. Large amounts of decking are common on bass boats but not really helpful on duck boats.

I have surfed the web for days looking for the ideal boat at a reasonable price. I decided to look at the 18' foot boats, commonly referred to as 1860. The reason I chose the 1860 is that I big water places that I like to fish for small mouth. The two favorites are inside the break wall off shore from Cleveland and my annual pilgrimage to Lake Chautauqua, New York. A larger boat would also make some of our big water duck hunts much more comfortable! At the same time, these boats draw surprisingly little water. The tiller version of these "utility boats" seemed at first to be the best option for me. They offered some bow decking and a good sized open area to move around in. I decided to discuss this search with my friends. They suggested that I definitetly will want a power trim motor which is an option on a tiller motor. Good advice! I know pulling up on a 40 or 50 HP motor is no simple task. Another friend suggested that I may be unhappy with a tiller motor in the not too distant future (retirement years), and that I should consider a side or center console. I assured him that all of the SC and CC boat manufacturers gobble up the open floor with decking. Although, he is probably right about the console. The answer might be a 20' boat, but that is just too big for my taste.

There are many excellent boat manufacturers. Some of them do not have dealers anywhere close to me, which is a problem. Some of them have dealers who are about as interested in selling boats as I am in selling Girl Scout cookies, which is another problem! Some dealers believe that their boats are lined with gold. I am not interested in a gold lined boat! The two manufacturers that I liked the best are Tracker and Crestliner. I carefully studied the design of their various boats, thinking, "why can't I have what I want?" I want the open area, bow deck, and console. Even when I went to the BUILD YOUR BOAT link, I was unable to choose all three options. Then it hit me, what if I just email them and ask them if I could get a side console installed on a Jon boat meant for tiller operation. By doing this I get less decking, the console, but enough bow deck to operate the trolling motor! Crestliner jumped all over it! I can get what I want at an affordable price. I presented the proposal to the financial committee, my wife, and it is approved! I am sitting in the living room in the frozen tundra and happy as a lark!

Before I actually pull the trigger and buy this boat, I want to reach out to any readers of this blog. Is there something that I have not considered? Is there a better boat? Do you have any suggestions? Please do not hesitate to comment!

Oops! Wrong Dog!

One of the truly fun things about waterfowl hunting is that you get all kinds of ammunition to make fun of your hunting buddies. Unfortunately, I find myself providing fuel for their fires upon occasion, so I rarely miss an opportunity to share the wealth!

On this particular occasion, my only regret is that I was unable to be in attendance. I had to get the story second hand. That does not make it any less hilarious though! A little background for the story will be helpful. You see, my buddy Randy was the owner of both of my dog's (Gunner's) parents. Lacey was a beautiful black Lab. She was of the "American" variety, characterized by having a more narrow head and long legs. The father is a majestic looking chocolate Lab, Hunter. He is more of the "British" version with the big block head and stocky build.

Father (Chocolate) and son (yellow)

 Unfortunately Lacey was tragically killed. Randy.s daughter, having grown up around labs, decided  she wanted a dog at college. She got a black female Lab. Strangely her father is taking care of the dog. I am not sure this was coincidence! Anyway, Randy has two dogs again!

One morning Randy got up ridiculously early to get a "good spot" on Buckeye Lake.  Randy got up and let the dogs out while he got dressed for the bitter cold December wind chills. He grabbed his Benelli SBE and headed out the door. He called load up Hunter, and the two of them were off to the lake! Our fellow waterfowler, Matt, met Randy at the dock. Randy put the boat in and Matt tied it up. It was a race to the duck spots. It happens every Saturday. There were already three boats on the water, one guy launching on the other ramp and two more waiting in line. Randy drove to the closest parking spot while Matt started the 25 HP 4 stroke motor. Randy made a brisk walk to the dock with the dog when he looked down and said the words, "oops wrong dog". Instead of his trusty companion, Hunter, somehow Anna made her way out of the house and into the truck.

Oh well, Anna is here and the boys are hunting, so, Anna is hunting. The guys got their camo Polar Kraft headed for their favorite spot. They got their 80 fakes out in the water plus 5 Mojo stands. The next step is always to pop up the Avery Quick Set Blind and have a brownie with a chocolate milk chaser! All is right with Randy's world when he is sitting in his duck boat with his chocolate milk freezing at it runs down his beard. The three of them sat quietly as the boat gently rocked with the waves. The dog looked surprised when the two hunters pulled up their face masks and loaded their guns. I am not sure what she expected. Did she think Randy was really a bank robber? Suddenly three fat drake mallards appeared cupped over the decoys. Six times the guns roared and ducks lay in the water, but the dog made a mad dash to try and hide under one of the pedestal seats! Before the "Men in Green" could untie and retrieve their game (since obviously no canine in the boat would help) more ducks appeared. I can imagine the dog thinking, "These two men are quacking like ducks! What else could go wrong?" The immediate bark of the 12 gauge shotguns was it! It was more than she could take! She jumped over the blind and hit the ground running. Randy looked for her and called out for 10 minutes! He finally found her and walked her back to the boat. If that wasn't bad enough they did it all again 10 minutes later! One of them was a slow learner!

Matt and Randy finally had enough. They took her back to the truck and everyone was happy. I could just hear that poor traumatized dog on the back seat saying, "Bet your butt, 'wrong dog'!"

A Visit to North Carolina

On a recent visit to North Carolina to see our son, I decided to tow my Grizzly Tracker and a few decoys. I read about duck hunting in North Carolina when he decided to go to school there several years ago. As I anticipated, the hunting reports were quite favorable. I did some research and found a few places that were recommended in the southern coast and the outer banks. I did some advanced scouting last July while in state. I decided to check out Sutton Lake and the Holly Shelter Game Land area further south. Sutton Lake looked promising and more easily accessible.

I was unsure about species of decoys to pack, so I corresponded with a fellow blogger of "The Problems with North Carolina Duck Hunting". He was quite helpful. I will not mention his name here but thank you C.L. One of the things that I inquired about was what the Carolinians called "black heads". As it turns out this is a local name for scaup, which we shoot in Ohio, but we call them "blue bills". Since black heads are a species of note, I was sure to put some "black head" dekes in the bag with pintails, blacks and gadwall.

My wife, our yellow lab Gunner, and I arrived on our winter trip on a Monday. Like a true duck hunter I was up early with my yellow companion, and out the door well before dawn. I arrived at Sutton Lake, launched the boat, but decided to wait until shooting time to embark. Not knowing the lake, I did not want to hit any stumps, rocks, sandbars or any other surprises! I headed out into a mild west wind on a cloudy 40 degree morning, which seemed warm compared to the frigid temperatures I had been forced to endure at home. (Which by the way, has much to do with why I am interested in hunting North Carolina.) Gunner and I crossed the lake, and found a place on the shoreline that offered adequate cover. I quickly tossed our fakes in a hook to our left, and made a line with the black heads on our starboard side parallel to shore. I put the two floating Mojo stands closest to the boat and set up the Avery Quick Set blind. I just loaded my gun in time to look up to see a big flock of black heads, cupped, and cruising down my line of scaup dekes! Wow! I saw several big flocks of ducks that morning including a flock of red heads that landed out of range. What a morning! I was so pumped! I just steered my boat into the wind on a lake that I have never been on, threw out some dekes and the ducks are playing my song! Awesome! I bagged my two black heads that morning (my limit) and Gunner and I were both ecstatic.

Gunner is not particular about what kind of duck he retrieves. The truth is we didn't shoot any puddle ducks that week. We bagged scaup, buffle head, and ruddy ducks.

I say "we" because I made the acquaintance of a couple of young guys, Peyton and Daniel, hunting out of a canoe. I invited them to hunt with me the next day. My 25 horse Johnson is nothing special, but it sure beats rowing! Daniel had to work so Peyton brought his cousin Chris. These guys were great young men. They were very respectful, polite, and grateful. We need good young men and women in the sport of waterfowl hunting.

Chis and Peyton

The adults that I met at the boat ramp were also polite and helpful. They gave me more tips on where to hunt than I could possibly explore. I do have the spots narrowed down to a few that I want to try in the future. Overall this was a great experience. The non-resident license is $40 for 6 days and $60 for the season (for Ohioans). There is a $10 NC duck license and  a $15 game land tag if you plan to use it. Be advised that there are plenty of alligators, but with the temperatures just above freezing we were spared that experience. I did not see the good numbers of ducks again after that first day, but Gunner and I enjoyed every minute of it!