5 Reasons to Use a Boat to Access Deer Hunting Spots

By Sam Soholt

I love water access. Using a boat to haul myself and all my gear to a spot is one of my favorite ways to hunt. Does it make me more successful? Not always. But I still like the concept of it, and as I learn new spots and deer movement through certain areas, water access can be the factor that helps push it over the top when it comes to notching a tag or just sitting in a tree watching the sun rise.

Using a boat to access deer hunting locations certainly isn’t new. Hunters have been doing it for as long as we have had watercraft, but here are a few good reasons to hop on board with the tactic.

1. Stealth

Whether you are hunting near a small back channel or a ridge running up off of big water, a boat can help you get in quietly. Most of the spots I hunt in the mornings are either bedding areas or funnels and pinch points. So if I can use the water to get within short hiking distance to my stand, blind, or hide, I can avoid laying down ground scent on travel routes deer are taking back to their bedding area. It gives the hunter an advantage simply by beating the deer back to the area it is heading. 

2. New Country

In some areas, literally the only way to access some chunks of public land is by boat. Some stretches of big rivers and reservoirs have public land surrounding it, but in many places, you can’t get to it unless you have permission through private land. Using a boat to get there opens up a lot of acres of previously inaccessible hunting ground.

It is also a faster way to scout all of those pieces of property. You can pull up, do a quick boots on the ground look for fresh sign, hang a trail cam if you want and then cruise to the next spot to repeat the process

3. Less Pressure

When it comes to hunting pressure, there is only a certain percentage of people that will go through the effort when it comes to adding a boat to the equation. After all, it means trailering a boat, or having one in the back of the truck, and it’s not always convenient.

That little barrier to entry is enough for most people to just do it the way they have always done it, and hike in. 

4. Getting in the Bedroom

Deer need three things. Food, water, cover. It’s no secret that there is typically good cover along lakes, streams, and rivers. Deer use that thick cover as bedding areas. So in the evenings, they leave bedding and work their way out to where they feed whether that is fields, acorn ridges, or areas that have Forbes for them to eat. Then, in the mornings, they work their way back to to the thicker cover and bed down.

By using a boat for access rather than hiking in, you can get in tighter into bedding areas by using a boat for access rather than hiking in, you can get in tighter into bedding areas with less worry about bumping deer on your hike in.

5. The Drag

I’m more of a quarter out and make a couple of trips kind of person when it comes to getting deer out of the woods, but for whitetail deer, dragging or using a game cart is still the standard. But with boat in access, you may still need to drag a bit, but loading that deer into your vessel and paddling or motoring out is a whole lot easier on the legs and lungs!