Duck boat questions

[chrispbrown27]

My grandpa has a 16' river jon with a 30 hp evinrude on it. (the motor was bought 5 years ago and since has only been run 6 times, the last being by me a few weekends ago and it ran great!) The boat has strictly been a fishing boat since he bought it sometime in the late 60's. the other day he told me I should use it for duck hunting, so of course he had to twist my arm pretty hard to get me to agree! the problem is, like I said it is a fishing boat. There is bright blue carpet in it and bright blue folding seats to match! I don't want to put a full blind on it (I've hunted with guys that say the blinds really aren't needed, just run it up in the brush and keep still), but I have got to get the carpet and seats changed out. The seats aren't a big deal, but the indoor/outdoor carpet is a different matter. Camo seems to be non-existent, but what about dark brown? Anyone seen it? Any other suggestions? What about spray painting it?
This will be my first year open water hunting, so does anyone have any tips? What about dealing with slick boat ramps? Anything?
Thanks again guys.
Chris

[Chris Jones]

Chris,
Hi! and welcome to the message boards! I like seeing you young folks getting involved in our sport!!
It sounds like you have the start of a fine duck hunting boat. I recently over the summer, re-did my duck boat. The only thing that is the old boat is the hull.
I used brown and black all weather carpeting. I believe it was about 4 dollars a foot at Home Depot. The carpet is 6 foot wide so all I needed was to figure was the length of the area, I need carpeted. I spread a layer of liquid nails to adhear the carpet to the floor. It worked really good and looks great.
As for paint, I wire brushed the boat to get it clean and knock off all the loose paint. For the colors I used the camo series Krylon spray paint from WalMart. Its easy to do and allows you to put your own creative camo on your boat.
As far as a boat goes if you have access and can hunt the surronding land, then a blind shouldn't a nessecity. Although, an Avery Quick Set blind would help to keep you boat versitile. If, you needed a blind for your situation, it would be there, but, nicely tucked away if you didn't.
As far as any tips I can give you. The biggest and most impotant is ALWAYS wear a PFD (Personal Floatation Device) when on the water. It's cheap life insurance.
You asked about boat ramps. It doesn't hurt to carry a bucket of sand in the back of your truck, just in case. I know I have been stuck or pulled out on more then one occasion, because, of an iced up ramp. It doesn't take up much space to have in the back of your truck. Trust me, It will be a lifesaver, when, you are stuck with no one around.
More then anything spend the off season making all the preperations as far as motor reliability, safety, and, boat versitility. It will all make for a safer and more enjoyable time on the water.

I have attached a couple pictures to show you my boat is set up. Hopefully, you can see a few things that I did that you might find useful. GOOD LUCK!

http://www.conservationcafe.com/album/00002974/WATS1.JPG

http://www.conservationcafe.com/album/00002974/WATSdoors.JPG

[Mark Brendemuehl]

Chris- As was stated in the previous post, you can remove that carpet and reapply new carpet with some liquid nails. If its not quite the color you want, you can spray paint it. It is liable to get worn off, but not a huge deal.
As far as painting the boat, make sure you sand the netire surface that you are painting. Scuff it up GOOD. This will help the paint to stick. Do a base color in a few coats. Remember its going to be rubbing on trees, rocks, sand bars etc. The camo patterns can be done with home made stencil kits. Krylon actually makes a camolauge paint that is very flat and durable. You can pick them up at Walmart.
As for slick boat ramps, a tube of sand is a good idea, as is keeping a small shovel or entrenching tool in your truck. Never know when you will have to do some digging to get some sand on that concrete. 4x4 is obviously helpful too.
Always wear your life jacket when the boat is moving. Don't make exceptions. You will also want to pick up an Avery floating gun case, in case your gun gets dropped overboard. The money spent on that case (inexpensive anyway) is well worth its weight in gold if your dog, or buddy or whatever knocks your gun overboard!
Good luck- sounds like you are well on your way to a great set up.
Mark

[Cryfowl]

OK, my first few years hunting, my buddy and I hunted out of a brite blue wooden row boat that was hot pink on the inside. NO KIDDING!!! We killed lots of birds out of that boat and never thought we needed to do anything with it til everyone else told us we were doing it wrong. I would suggest putting in the brown indoor/outdoor carpeting. I had it in my last boat and it was great for us and my dogs. The seats can easily be swapped out, so no biggie. If none of the above works for you, invest in a 30' camo net and hang it infront of the boat.

[Tony Vandemore]

Chris, what type of water are you going to be hunting? You mmight be able to get away with using the boat as transportation only. If you have sandbars or islands in the water you hunt, you can throw your decoys and finisher in the boat and then just hunt out of your finisher and walk your boat down the sandbar or around the backside of the island. We do this alot on the big river when we hunt sandbars.

[Brett Beinke]

Great ideas from everyone. I would like to add this. I used to hunt out of a modified hull 16 foot John on a fairly large lake. We used to cut the snot out of rushes and pile them into the boats to help blend in with the other rushes. It worked well or so I thought. We used to get good diver shooting and fair puddler shooting in low light. No geese ever committed to the spread. We hunted in light bull rushed mostly as that is where the birds are. 4 years ago my brother put a Quick Set on his 16 footer and my and my buddy watched him and his partner hammer the green head in little cover. That was the year I bought my own Quick Set. We still shoot the snot out of the divers but now we decoy mallards and honkers all the time. It is also great to have a little wind protection when the temp drops and the wind kicks up. Now I agree that in a lot of situations you do not need it but it takes 5 mintues or less to totally remove it from your boat for fishing and it fold nice and flat for picking up decoys and motoring across the lake. I have done what you are looking at doing and I really beleive do it right the first time and you'll never regret it.

[Jay Longhauser]

im with tony, use it to get somewhere if its possible to hunt without it, park it 100 yds away out of sight and you only have to hide yourself. It works well for me. You can haul all the crap you want that way.

Jay

[featheredfriend]

As has been said, make the boat as drab as possible. If you don't want to take the carpet out or paint the boat itself then you can always get a camo net to put over the boat or get something else to put over it. I've seen the grey and black tarps truckers use on boats that look really good. Burlap can also work but does not last a long time in normal duck hunting conditions, maybe a couple of seasons if you take care of it. You can also get the underlay used in construction, it's a material they lay on soft or wet ground before putting dirt and gravel over the top to build a light road or trail, it helps reduce erosion and sinking.

If you can, best to beach the boat a hundred yards or more away from your blind, and not in the direct line where you expect the birds to come from. If hunting from the boat, movement is the most important part, if the birds that are working see you blink they will be that much harder to bring in. I know, hunted black ducks from mine on open water for years w/out a blind. :rolleyes:

As for slick ramps, sand will work. I would recommend mixing some rock salt into the sand if you are hunting cold conditions, any moisture in the sand and it freezes to a solid lump in the bucket when it gets cold. W/ some salt in it then it won't freeze solid. If you have a wood stove at camp or anywhere the soot from the stove is really good for traction too.

Best to check the ramp before you back down in cold weather, if there's ice and you plan to break it make sure you clear the hole good enough or you'll end up busting out taillights on the trailer or something else. I always unplug my tailights on the trailer when backing them below h2o, saves on blown lights.

For the boat, make sure you have at least one good anchor, if hunting from the boat you want at least two good anchors, one for the bow and for the stern. Movement from a poorly anchored boat can ruin a hunt, although this may not be an issue if you are hunting from brush. Make sure you have a spare set of spark plugs for the engine as well, it can be a long row back to the ramp. ;)

Other than that get out and enjoy your new tub!

[chrispbrown27]

The cold weather isn't too much of an issue, but we do get a bit of ice during season.
I don't want to paint the boat, but I might have to throw a little paint on it. It is an old boat and the original drab olive color has faded in spots. The carpet is coming out in favor of a less obvious color and the same goes for the seats.

[Nate Tegtmeier]

Im only 17 but my pops got a boat and when he purchased it he redid it all. He put a floor in it and then took rhino liner for like back of truck and spread that over the bottom of it he took it all the way up the side walls. Its a little cleaner then carpet but maybe a little more $$$$ upfront but if ur gonna get into hunting its a great investment. I mean u can take a hose and just wash it out drys quick and looks great. I belive he might of mixed paint with it but id check with the dealer where u get the product. I highly suggest doing this if you are going to have a serious duck boat.