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Layout boat for waterfowl: it's happening!
After standing on the banks for years, flustered by diving ducks that sit in the dead center of big lakes, refusing to get shot, me and a buddy are finally pulling the trigger on a pair of Pumpkinseed 1-man layout boats from Bankes Boats in Ontario, Canada.
http://bankesboats.com/onemanlayout.htm
If you aren't familiar with this style of boat, it's little more than an extremely low profile, unpowered, broad-bottom boat that makes you "one with the wake." The overall height above the water is *12 inches*, making you appear as little more than a ripple on the surface to low-flying divers. These birds are already pretty dumb because they see almost no pressure. Chuck out a rope rig or net rig full of decoys and it's on!
http://bankesboats.com/onemanlayout.htm
If you aren't familiar with this style of boat, it's little more than an extremely low profile, unpowered, broad-bottom boat that makes you "one with the wake." The overall height above the water is *12 inches*, making you appear as little more than a ripple on the surface to low-flying divers. These birds are already pretty dumb because they see almost no pressure. Chuck out a rope rig or net rig full of decoys and it's on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2apJlkWg70Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
:uhm:
Jerry
Eh, maybe. This is one of the more comfortable boats for a guy my height (5'7"), but once you get near 6' or have much over a size 10 boot, they all have some level of discomfort as a result of the low profile. There are boats that have a profile as low as *6 inches* above the water, but the foot space is brutal and you have to lay with you feet slayed out completely sideways to fit in them. I would have a hard time getting comfortable to sleep in something like that.
Then again, never underestimate what a 3 AM wake up and subsequent 1.5-hour decoy setup can do to the ol' eyelids...
If you look at the bow, you'll see there's already a cutout for a punt gun pre-fabbed into the fiberglass!
(well, ok, it's really a shotgun rest...)
Wow! Sort of a wide Kayak!
I don't think that boat is necessarily limited to diver hunting. Pintails raft up out in our bays. You could set that thing up out in our bays with about 500 dekes and kill ducks all day. Bay duck hunting success down here translates to large number of decoys and if u can get situated close to the spread you will have countless shots all day>
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
That's what happens with comfortable deer blinds.
Can you use that boat for anything else, or is it strictly a waterbird ambush vessel?
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
That's a good analogy, though these really wide, flat boats are notoriously terrible paddlers because they lack a true keel. As a result, they don't track well and aren't much fun to deploy beyond a few hundred yards. In fact *most* people do not even paddle these out. They have an extra hunter drive them in on the bow on what's known as a "tender boat." That hunter handled setting the boats out, deploying the anchors on them, setting decoys, fetching downed birds, and then rotates in to hunt as is feasible with one of the guys in the layout boats. Radios or signal flags are used to communicate with the tender boat driver. A reflective or bright-colored signal flag, along with a signal light are also a good idea, since inbound boats are likely to not see you in the dark, or even a slight surface swell during daylight. Best case, that result in a bow wave coming into the boat. Worst case, it could end in tragedy.
You could definitely hammer puddle ducks like pintails out of one of these, but setup would be everything. The challenge with puddle ducks is that unlike diving ducks (which fly in low to the decoys early in their approach and can streak in with their wingtips almost touching the water), puddlers like mallards and pintails tend to make a high inbound approach, giving them a better view of the spread - and, consequently, your layout boat - before they commit. It can be done, but you may be better off either rigging up a brushed up blind cover for this type of layout to look like an island, or simply go to a different habitat with a marsh-style layout boat designed to hammer those birds.
The ones we bought are all but strictly open water ambush vessels specialized for diving ducks: ringnecks, redheads, canvasback, scaup, ruddy ducks, goldeneyes, buffleheads, etc. Some of them have doors that close over the main opening and can double as a layout blind in a field, but they are specialized to hide in big water lakes.
Others layout boats sit slightly higher to allow for better speed an maneuverability, doubling as a kayak and can even be lightly powered with a low-horsepower gas or electric motor. Those boats sacrifice open water stealth because they cast a shadow on the water and are generally more visible, but they make up for this by accepting brushable boat blinds and being easily hidden amongst marsh grass in the shallows. Those boats are excellent for hunting puddle ducks. Here's one of the major manufactures for marsh-style layout boats:
http://www.momarsh.com/
Here's what their boats look like when you brush them up. The birds don't stand a chance:
http://www.momarsh.com/layout-boats-and-accessorie/fat-boy-dp/
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Of course, options become very limited in the middle of a 40-foot deep lake, and that's where the layout boat comes in. They're an expensive option to the problem. Almost without exception, they are made with hand-laid fiberglass or Kevlar by mom and pop outfits, produced to order one at a time by almost 100% touch labor. But, they work...
What you mean Punt? It's only 3rd Down!!!
:rotflmao::roll2::rotflmao::roll2::rotflmao::roll2::rotflmao::roll2:::rotflmao:
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Six, both you and Ned are very experienced duck hunters. I know because from the time I was 14 I chased ducks and geese all over this county in every bay and rice field there is here. Every point you both bring up reminds me of some experience I had. Nothing in the hunting world comes close to the feeling of being at the ready watching them set their wings and gliding in, waiting for them to be in range. No thrill in the world of hunting comes close to that moment in my opinion.
I would love to experience this one more time. I've been thinking of booking a trip with my guide friend, Jake. I need to do this before I get too old. But as for guides there are so many quality guide services here you can't go wrong. I just mentioned Jake because I know him. But this place is eaten up with waterfowl hunting tradition so guide services are every where and are usually very good. That's why I say you can't go wrong. But it ain't cheap!
OK Back on thread subject.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
I agree wholeheartedly agree. Someone who has never hunted ducks at first light over decoys simply can't understand it. I remember being invited for my first duck hunt a while back and thanking that it really didn't sound like fun. Standing in a wet marsh waiting for birds to fly in wasn't exactly a great selling point. Little did I know how awesome it would be. Nothing reminds me how great waterfowl hunting is like having a bird fly in a few minutes before legal daylight, landing a few feet away from me without a clue, safe from my shot and quacking its head off at the decoys. There's no more cool time to just sit and watch.
with a 53" beam paddling that beast would be a exercise in futility. They have built in keels, those two upended V's you see under the seat area, but that isnt the problem. Heck, my kayak has no keel. Its the width. When you paddle a kayak, the farther away from center you stroke, the more you turn. Paddling that would be like steering a snow saucer.
You could however go with the tow-able one and if it is tow-able, mount a trolling motor to the front. You wouldnt steer, just kinda point and drag that thing across the water. But I bet that would work nice in smaller lakes and ponds.
Some of the other models out there (UFO styles, in particular) are just way too wide to paddle effectively and must be tendered out.
This is an educational thread for sure! Kinda a semi-submersible for duck hunting - who knew? I learned something new today!
Only if you're hell bent on getting them cooperate like we are. The truth is, you can just scout a regular morning transit point and pass shoot them, or paddle up to them in a canoe if you so desire. But, for those of us who have experienced it, there's just no comparison having them set their wings and land with the plastic buddies you placed and taking bird that are damned near in your lap when the shot rings out. It's like crack and WAY more exciting than deer hunting 99 times out of 100.
Glad you've enjoyed it!
That's exactly what these boats are: semi-submersible duck boats. They are designed with fairly low weight limits (only 300 lbs. on this particular one we bought) so that they sink down ever so slightly below the water surface when a hunter and his gear are in it. Some folks who are too light for their respective layout boat even resort to putting a few sandbags in with them to increase displacement and enhance the stealth. When it's done right, the only better way to surprise waterfowl is don a wetsuit and a snorkel and snatch them off the bank...or pull a bobcat...
That there is one of the essences of duck hunting. That and being able to talk to the birds in their own language to get them to come in. The whole process of being able to outwit a wary bird by setting decoys in such a way that they match real birds, calling them in and getting them to land while making sure that you dont spook them, to me , is why I do it. I have hunted ducks for over 55 years and am still learning things.
And , success for me is not measured by limit bags, but by doing all the correct things necessary to get the birds so comfortable in what they see and hear, that they want to come in and land.
It gets even better as the season progresses and birds that have become gunshy and even more wary decide to drop in for lunch/dinner.
Always wanted to try a layout boat........but shooting on the harbour with its attendant tides and 'chop' ( which invariably happens) is not conducive to longevity in my circumstances. I just have to settle for a fully camouflaged 13' alli boat.........which, in my view makes it even harder. Lol.
Finally, on the last day of goose season, we had ducks finish in the decoys...the goose decoys...after the duck season was closed. I was still happy that he got to see birds come in with cupped wings and skid into the spread, which was completely new to him. It started with a fully mature wood duck drake and ended with about 60 red heads in a raft by the end of the day. Very cool.
Oh, and yeah - a 13' blind boat can be a tough way to make a living, especially as pressure mounts over the course of the season. Kudos to you for getting it down in that big ol' boat!