Duck Hunting Boats for Small Ponds or Big Lakes
I have an addiction. But in my defense, it’s hereditary. This addiction came from my father. And I would imagine that through osmosis, it just kind of became something that I was also addicted to.
I’m talking about boat collection. And not all boats. I’m talking specifically about the collection of duck hunting boats that range in size and shape from 10-foot twin tipped sneak boats, to full on 18-foot jon boat that’ll hunt big water when all of the smaller ponds freeze up.
I believe that a lot of this addiction comes from years of consuming waterfowling content in written form as well as old VHS tapes, DVD’s, and eventually streaming services. But a lot of the old media focused on hunting on the water. Authors like Jimmy Robinson recounting hunts on the delta marsh out of a small boat chasing canvasbacks, the Duck Commander paddling through the flooded timber in a pirogue, and images and articles in Wildfowl Magazine about “The Duck Boat” Company all instilled the fire inside to hunt ducks over water out of a boat.
(at time of writing, my dad and I have accumulated roughly a baker’s dozen worth of watercraft for the pursuit of waterfowl)
Regardless of the addiction, it begs the question, “What is the best duck boat?” to which I will respond with a question in turn, “What type of water are you planning to hunt?”
For ease of these examples, I’m going to limit my choices on duck boats to the types of sloughs, ponds, streams, and lakes that dimple and flow through my region of the country. The Prairie Pothole Region
Prairie Sloughs:
There are millions upon millions of small depressions in the PPR that depending on snowfall and rain accumulation will hold water on any given year. A lot of these can be hunted from shore, but some cover enough of the landscape to warrant the use of a boat. For these small cattail sloughs, a sneak boat can be incredibly effective. We have an old Alumacraft Ducker from the 50’s that got a lot of use from our family when I was younger. These small twin tip style boats can be easily concealed and a lot of what we used it for was to wade the boat across the slough or paddle it full of decoys to another location on the ponds and then stash the boat elsewhere. But the small footprint of a sneak boat and ease of hiding it make for some very memorable days in the marsh.
Obviously a canoe is also an option that gets used a lot on small bodies of water, I have just always like the stability of something a little wider and flatter to the water.
Small Lakes or Large Ponds:
To be honest, this is the size body of water I am most excited about hunting in the immediate and near future. I just picked up a Crestliner 1436 Jon and have plans for a fishing/duck boat build that will allow me to hunt and fish these types of water where I know the waves/weather won’t catch me sleeping. Especially when it comes to duck hunting, knowing your watercraft can get you back off the water safely is a big factor. A lot of times we are dealing with cold temps, heavy winds, ice, snow, and other potentially dangerous factors. Good gear can keep you dry, but a good boat and motor combo can keep you alive.
For these types of water, I would lean into something 12-14 feet in length. And either choose a v-hull or a jon boat. V-hull will take on the waves better. Jon boats are more stable to shoot out of and can be pushed into shallow water cattail cover a lot easier.
Big Water:
Big water hunting can be pretty spectacular in the late season. If you get the right weather conditions, the small water will all freeze up early and push the waterfowl to raft up on the open water. And if there isn’t a lot of snow to cover up food sources, that big water can keep birds in the area for a while.
But when it comes to choosing a big water boat, I personally like to keep it simple. I want a boat that is big enough to handle waves and wind, with a motor powerful enough to push me through it. And I want a simple blind on the boat that can be additionally brushed in when I get it pushed up near shore, or in a cattail island, or wherever I need to be for the ducks.
Again, a V-hull or a Jon boat are both good options. For a lot of years, we hunted big water out of a 1969 Lund S-16. We had a 30hp Johnson motor on it and a very simple Cabela’s flip up waterfowl blind on it.
I kind of kept with that simplistic theme with the boat I am running now. The Crestliner Retriever 1860 Tiller. It has a ton of open space for gear and decoys but can still haul a few guys for the hunt. I put a simple flip over Bearvertail Boat Blind on it so I can either run the hunt out of the blind, or just run the boat to the location, unload the decoys, and then go find a place to stash the boat.
Side note: I also used the 1860 for a lot of deer hunting access this fall and it was a great platform to fish out of all summer with a Lowrance trolling motor up front.
So, to sum it all up, I think that it’s ok to justify needing 4-6 different boats to fit your needs depending on where you’d like to hunt throughout the year.