Educate me - Jon boats & hunting canoes!

Amazing advice everyone - thank you so much for your suggestions. I think for the time being, adding a trailer hitch + oil cooler to my little 4-banger Civic is not an option. Also the sage advice regarding car-topper jon boats and rough water has made me think twice about going that route.

In my hunting and fishing forum reading, along with chats with other hunters, another option has presented itself: a hunting canoe. Boats like the Scott Duck Boat 14' and the Sportspal 14' are getting very positive feedback as hunting platform, are much more stable than jon boats in chop, and can still take a 2hp gas outboard on the back.

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Any feedback?
 
I've seen guys running a surface drive into places my 15 would not fit into.

As for canoes, i used to use a coleman square stern with 3hp. It was ok and can be paddled into places the motor cant go. Manageable with a few doz dekes and 1 guy. 2 guy would cut into storage room.
 
subneural said:
Amazing advice everyone - thank you so much for your suggestions. I think for the time being, adding a trailer hitch + oil cooler to my little 4-banger Civic is not an option. Also the sage advice regarding car-topper jon boats and rough water has made me think twice about going that route.

In my hunting and fishing forum reading, along with chats with other hunters, another option has presented itself: a hunting canoe. Boats like the Scott Duck Boat 14' and the Sportspal 14' are getting very positive feedback as hunting platform, are much more stable than jon boats in chop, and can still take a 2hp gas outboard on the back.

PCL97qp.jpg


Any feedback?
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Stay away from Sportspal. They are junk. They used to be built between North Bay and Powassan at one time. The owner was as crooked as the day is long. The factory is still on the side of hwy 11 though it's just a junk warehouse these days. Don't know if Scott is still built in New Liskeard or not but they always were a good quality build.
 
WeakKnee said:
Sorry to say that Scott Canoes (mid-Canada Fiberglass) went out of business about 3 years ago.
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They are somewhat back under the Abitibi Co. out of Quebec. Apparently they have some quality issues, according to a local dealer I spoke with.

Currently I'm looking at the Old Town Discovery Sport, and Wenonah Backwater. Both are square-stern 15'ers.
 
I had an Old Town Pack of my own and the club I'm involved with had two Old Town Trippers that stood up to a lot of abuse for many years. I got rid of the Trippers this year and added an Old Town Discovery 158 and a Next. I have no complaints about the build quality of any of these Old Towns for their price point.

I also bought us a Wenonah (Aurora) for not much more and I think it's a bit better.
 
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I have no issues with my 12' (wide transom model) SportsPal. Put a few ducks, geese and walleye in the freezer for me. Light weight, flat bottom and easy for one guy to lift.

Bought mine about 5 years ago....

RB
 
subneural said:
Amazing advice everyone - thank you so much for your suggestions. I think for the time being, adding a trailer hitch + oil cooler to my little 4-banger Civic is not an option. Also the sage advice regarding car-topper jon boats and rough water has made me think twice about going that route.

In my hunting and fishing forum reading, along with chats with other hunters, another option has presented itself: a hunting canoe. Boats like the Scott Duck Boat 14' and the Sportspal 14' are getting very positive feedback as hunting platform, are much more stable than jon boats in chop, and can still take a 2hp gas outboard on the back.

PCL97qp.jpg


Any feedback?
Click to expand...

I've been duck hunting for as long as I can remember and I personally wouldnt invest time and money in a hunting canoe unless your sole purpose for it is to retrieve a downed bird. In the type of hunting situations I'm usually in, there wouldnt be enough space to comfortably and safely fit two people and all the gear into a canoe. Im also not convinced a canoe would be more stable then a jon boat either. While I've never hunted with a canoe, I have certainly been in one and can say it would be my last option as mode of duck hunting transportation. Unless of course its only purpose is to retrieve birds. If you think you'll need a vessel that could safely carry 400lbs, do yourself a favour and get into something that will carry double that amount. You'll be shocked at how much added weight motor, gear, decoys, waders, shells, guns, blinds and whatever else you'll figure you'll need add up to. Just the mere thought of packing a canoe with the standard gear I use on an average duck hunt terrifies me. I just wouldnt do it...plain and simple. The only positive I can think of is that if the canoe ever tipped over, I'd have a few bags of couple dozen goose and duck decoys to hold onto to keep me afloat while I wait for someone to come pull me out. Scary thought!
 
I used to have a 10' jon boat, and it was great for getting into the little places...

I now have a 1440M jon boat, so 14' long, 40" wide, with a 9.9 Honda on it. Again, a great boat with more room for two guys & a dog. Problem is, you need to trailer this boat...

Either way, jon boats are tons of fun for getting out after ducks!

Cheers
Jay
P.S. Here is the old jon boat... And yes, I used to transport it on my Tracker, stop laughing! It was my student vehicle... Chuckle

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Here's the new jon boat... You can see it is has much more room!

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I rescued a 16 X 6 Jon boat from the garbage dump at our cottage over 15 years ago. Had the holes & tears in the hull welded and then purchased a used 20hp 2-stroke short shaft Johnson.

Initially painted it yellow (I blame my kids for that decision - LOL) and we called it the "Banana". We use it for fishing around our lake. It can get into real shallow areas thx to the short shaft and the oars I purchased.

The bonus is that the benches are long and wide enough that I can lie down and have a snooze when I want to.
 
1963beretta said:
I've been duck hunting for as long as I can remember and I personally wouldnt invest time and money in a hunting canoe unless your sole purpose for it is to retrieve a downed bird. In the type of hunting situations I'm usually in, there wouldnt be enough space to comfortably and safely fit two people and all the gear into a canoe. Im also not convinced a canoe would be more stable then a jon boat either. While I've never hunted with a canoe, I have certainly been in one and can say it would be my last option as mode of duck hunting transportation. Unless of course its only purpose is to retrieve birds. If you think you'll need a vessel that could safely carry 400lbs, do yourself a favour and get into something that will carry double that amount. You'll be shocked at how much added weight motor, gear, decoys, waders, shells, guns, blinds and whatever else you'll figure you'll need add up to. Just the mere thought of packing a canoe with the standard gear I use on an average duck hunt terrifies me. I just wouldnt do it...plain and simple. The only positive I can think of is that if the canoe ever tipped over, I'd have a few bags of couple dozen goose and duck decoys to hold onto to keep me afloat while I wait for someone to come pull me out. Scary thought!
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There is much variation in characteristics of canoes, including stability and carrying capacity. I have a 14.5 foot canoe rated to carry 850 pounds and the same design at 16 feet is rated at 1100.
 
subneural said:
They are somewhat back under the Abitibi Co. out of Quebec. Apparently they have some quality issues, according to a local dealer I spoke with.

Currently I'm looking at the Old Town Discovery Sport, and Wenonah Backwater. Both are square-stern 15'ers.
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could tell me more about those quality issues with Abitibi co.?
 
medvedqc said:
could tell me more about those quality issues with Abitibi co.?
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I don't have much more to add. The dealer I spoke with indicated they sold a number of Abitibi "Scott" boats at the beginning of the 2015 season, and many have come back. The issues mentioned to me were the boats being heavier than spec, and some qaulity/fit and finish issue. As a result, the dealer is spoke with isn't stocking Abitibi boats anymore.
 
subneural said:
I don't have much more to add. The dealer I spoke with indicated they sold a number of Abitibi "Scott" boats at the beginning of the 2015 season, and many have come back. The issues mentioned to me were the boats being heavier than spec, and some qaulity/fit and finish issue. As a result, the dealer is spoke with isn't stocking Abitibi boats anymore.
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that is a lot to say. thank you very much. i was thinking getting an hudson bay ...
 
A Clipper canoe isn't to bad...
I bought a 16-6 Kevlar sportsman square stern and dropped a 3.5 Merc on it. Cruises at 8+ knots, burns squat for fuel and they say it still has 7" of freeboard with 1450 pounds in it...Did I mention it weighs 64 pounds?
I can't vouch for their claims on what it can carry but Me, my gear and half a moose was ok...
It's very stable but it is still a canoe- not a fan of it in the wind or waves but it's good in current.
All that said I'm looking into a 14' to 16' skiff with at least a 25 on it (40/30 jet?) as they are so much more versatile (safer too).
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the spank said:
Stay away from Sportspal. They are junk. They used to be built between North Bay and Powassan at one time. The owner was as crooked as the day is long. The factory is still on the side of hwy 11 though it's just a junk warehouse these days. Don't know if Scott is still built in New Liskeard or not but they always were a good quality build.
Click to expand...

WeakKnee said:
Sorry to say that Scott Canoes (mid-Canada Fiberglass) went out of business about 3 years ago.
Click to expand...

the spank said:
That is too bad. They had a good product. We ran a 16' square stern for duck hunting small creeks and rivers. It worked great.
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I had a hand in designing the Scott 16' Deep Duck Boat... I can't take any credit for the design concept, which is excellent, as Scott previously released the 14' Deep Duck Boat. I owned the 14' and absolutely loved the platform, it was a fantastic small fishing, ducking, hunting craft. I started thinking about how nice a larger boat would be with the same "reverse chine V-bow concept." I contacted Scott (Mid-Canada) with my ideas and was invited up to the New Liskeard factory to talk about them... I spent a day at the factory, and our ideas of that day became the 16' Deep Duck Boat... the factory gave me the first production boat, which I still use to this day. I ran the 14' with an 8 H.P and the 16' with a 15 H.P... which moves them along eben under load. Here are a couple pics of the 14' and 16' Deep Ducker's;

14' Deep Duck;

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16' Deep Duck;

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