# Duck Boat?



## Jay Dangers (Feb 19, 2008)

Whats everyones opinion on what brand of duck boat to get. How long and wide, motors.... long tail mud motor or surface drive.
I have a 14' but it's narrow and why my chessy leans to the side, we almost take on water. I looked at a beavertail and really liked it until I seen the price tag.


----------



## Happy Gilmore (Feb 29, 2008)

13' Boston Whaler and a gallon of green duck boat paint. Outfit with a 40hp and you can haul as much as you can fit into the boat. Three guys lean to one side and won't tip it over. Draws about 4" of water if you get out of the boat. Will take a beating and is easily repairable. I've run mine in Rivers for years and just now am due to fix the holes but, it still floats so they aren't really a priority.


----------



## gdgnyc (May 4, 2009)

South Bay duckboat. It's low profile and stable. Get the grassboards and spray dodger with it. I have seen them run with 2hp up to 15 hp.but I don't remember the motor it's rated for.


----------



## DJS (Feb 1, 2011)

I'm fairly new to duck boats/mud motors etc.....but I'm Building up a duck boat too. Here in Utah I need a shallow water boat that's somewhat light, not huge, and able to carry myself, dog and gear. I'll be running an Alumacraft 1650 all-weld jon boat with a go devil 23 hp longtail on it. The Mud buddy factory is 40 minutes from my house, but it looks like they are getting away from longtails (they don't have as many longtail models as they use too) and is going mainly to surface drives. Surface drives are nice, but are out of my budget and most of the marshes here are too shallow for all outboards. I'm going with go devil since they have plenty of longtail motor options and there is dealer here in Utah.


----------



## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

These aren't for everybody, but if you like building things yourself and have a little room in your garage for a months long project, Devlin Designs (Sam Devlin) has about a dozen different duck boat plans from a small one man boat up to an 18 footer. I have built two, the one shown below is at the larger end of the scale, 15'-4" LOA by 6'-0" beam , it draws 5 1/2" fully loaded, maybe 4" if we get out of the boat to pull it through shallow areas. . I love it, it is rock steady at high speed, very roomy, hides well and is easy to shoot out of.




















This is my buddy's Devlin "Snow Goose", a little bigger than my boat. I showed it so you can see how we hide the boat in the cattails.









My boat up against some old tree stumps...


----------



## PMG 131 (Jun 14, 2012)

I love the Lowe Roughneck, 16ft but I am looking for bigger.


----------



## Buck Mann (Apr 16, 2003)

I have a 1744 Gator Trax with a 35hp MudBuddy surface drive with aftermarket carburetor and exhaust. The boat is a tank, extremely well built and stable. We hunt 2 people and 2 dogs out of it with no problem. With two people, dog, decoys and other assorted gear it runs 27 mph.


----------



## Lpgar (Mar 31, 2005)

Ron Bankes Dominator is the king of the 15ft Class Duck boat.


----------



## Pupknuckle (Aug 15, 2008)

View attachment 9805

I have a 2072 Sea Ark. we hunt the Delaware River area. Have been caught in 50 MPH winds in this boat. It is very stable.


----------



## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

PMG 131 said:


> I love the Lowe Roughneck, 16ft but I am looking for bigger.


I have the 1860, love the boat


----------



## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

John Robinson said:


> These aren't for everybody, but if you like building things yourself and have a little room in your garage for a months long project, Devlin Designs (Sam Devlin) has about a dozen different duck boat plans from a small one man boat up to an 18 footer. I have built two, the one shown below is at the larger end of the scale, 15'-4" LOA by 6'-0" beam , it draws 5 1/2" fully loaded, maybe 4" if we get out of the boat to pull it through shallow areas. . I love it, it is rock steady at high speed, very roomy, hides well and is easy to shoot out of.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Those are nicely done, I built the mallard but scaled it down a bit


----------



## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

Erik Nilsson said:


> Those are nicely done, I built the mallard but scaled it down a bit


I'm thinking about building a super-light Mallard, take a little V out of the bottom and a little less rocker, add two feet to hunt two guys and a dog in really shallow water. I would tow it to some killer areas with my Cackler.


----------



## Andy Symons (Oct 2, 2003)

War Eagle. Anywhere from a 17' to 20'. I have a 17' with a 40HP Merc. Handles most anything I run into. It's for sale (after duck season) PMG if your interested.


----------



## Rich Martin (Jun 10, 2011)

I have a Beavertail 1754 with a 35hp surface drive (stock). I like how well the boat is built, I bought a package that came with boat, motor, blind, seats, front lights, interior lights, bilage pump and trailer. I like how fast and easy the set up of the blind is but you need to stubble it. while hunting in Oct. I had 2 people, 1 small lab at 90 some pounds  . 100 + decoys and all the other gear and blind we reached a blazing 17 mph. 2 weeks ago just me with blind still on boat, no decoys was getting 22 mph. I looked at many boats before I bought one and liked the fact there were hardly any sharp edges. this is a all welded boat and it is heavy. You can order the boat any way you would like from beavertail. now for the trouble I have had. 1 broken power trim mount but this was after I was trimming down the motor on top of a 8 ft log I could not see and lifted the rear of the boat up (did not see any of this) once the prop hit the log it flip the log out of the water and I had a busted mount, it was replace at no cost. Good luck in your search for a duck boat.


----------



## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

John Robinson said:


> I'm thinking about building a super-light Mallard, take a little V out of the bottom and a little less rocker, add two feet to hunt two guys and a dog in really shallow water. I would tow it to some killer areas with my Cackler.


I took it down to 10' x 50" and made a sneak boat out of it where I could use a kayak paddle and move around to the shallow spots and also run a rig of divers and hunted it traditional layout boat boat style anchored at both ends. I set it up to store 8 decoys on each side and would take another doz in a 12 slot bag that rode on the back all on long lines. I will see if I can did out the photos of it, I have sold it since but it was a killer of a dual purpose boat on the ducks. Might have to make another one


----------



## badbullgator (Dec 20, 2004)

Beavertail or war eagle if they are in your range. Lowe makes a good hull and is far cheaper in price. As fas as motors go, it depends on where you hunt. Open water or lakes without a lot of debris you can use an outboard. Rivers, marshes, or lakes with shallow muddy area require a mud motor. Long tails are, IMHO, best for areas with lots do really shallow areas and really muddy areas. The hyperdrives are better if you have lots of submerged logs although they will get most places a long tail will. 
Remember Craigslist can be your friend. You don't have to go with a custom built duck boat. You can find a Jon boat hull on CL and with a little work you can turn it into a fine duck boat. I have done this and get great satisfaction out of doing so. I look for a flat bottom wide hull no less than 16 foot. You can find a hull that has as much or as little as you want to pay for. Some are fully wired and have live bait wells and others have nothing but a hull. As long as you find a good, stable hull that does not leak you can build what you want and then put the real money in the motor.


----------



## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

I hunted yesterday with a friend who found a great deal on a fully equiped 17' or so Lowe. His boat has a modern 4-stroke 50hp Evinrude, boat blind (though we hunted from shore), it was camo with a big light mounted on the bow, built in seats and storage. It was roomier than my boat with room to walk around. That motor was so smooth and quiet, it was like running an electric motor. I was quite impressed.

Erik, please post a pic or two of that Mallard you built. My boat is great, but there are some very good "honey holes" that have a very tight shallow entrance, then it deepens to two-three feet in the pond area. You could walk in, but the dog would be standing in ice water in the cattails. I'm basically looking for a towable, floating shooting platform for two guys and a dog. We would tow it up river to our spot empty, or maybe with some decoys to give it some weight and stability, then transfer guns, shells, lunch and dog to walk it across the shallows into the pond, set up and shoot from a hide in the cattails.

John

One more thing for the OP, there is a wonderful forum dedicated to duck boats of all kinds called _duckboats.net _. It is very much like our forum with strong opinions on all subjects, but it was a wealth of great information for me as I went through the same process as you some years ago.


----------



## DarrinGreene (Feb 8, 2007)

Depends entirely on where and how you hunt. I have a South Bay and it's nice in the backwater but I wouldn't take it in the open river on a bet. Just too flat and low profile. It's rated for 9.9 BTW George. 

Pupknuckle with the 2072 hunts just down from me but in an entirely different manner/area. His boat wouldn't work for me and mine wouldn't work for him.

Tell us more about the area, number of people and so forth and we might be able to get you better advice.


----------



## gdgnyc (May 4, 2009)

DarrinGreene said:


> Depends entirely on where and how you hunt. I have a South Bay and it's nice in the backwater but I wouldn't take it in the open river on a bet. Just too flat and low profile. It's rated for 9.9 BTW George.
> 
> Pupknuckle with the 2072 hunts just down from me but in an entirely different manner/area. His boat wouldn't work for me and mine wouldn't work for him.
> 
> Tell us more about the area, number of people and so forth and we might be able to get you better advice.


Every boat is a compromise. In my collection I have: 1) a Pokeboat 2) a Lowe Johnboat 16' 3) a homemade sneakbox 12' 4) a meadowbox/coffinbox. The most versatile rig is the Johnboat. I can carry 18 22" black duck stool as well as 6-12 brant or goose stool, dog, 2 hunters. Backrest and tarp on the meadow or a tuft of grass as a natural blind. I cross Great South Bay in that boat AND I can get it over some pretty shoal water if I have to. I can also push the boat into a drain in the marsh and gun out of the boat. I do like the South Bay Boat. It hides well and can carry a lot of decoys. Not for the biggest water but we did cross Oyster Bay with it. We used to shoot geese in sight of Teddy Roosevelt's house.


----------



## Buck Mann (Apr 16, 2003)

Here is a neat video of some surface drives in mud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESrXjgiKNTs&feature=related

Buck


----------



## gock5 (Jan 10, 2010)

I have a Tracker Grizzly 1860 with a Gooseview DuckBlind 2 blind (no longer in business?). Works great, stable, safe in bad weather. Fits 3 comfortable for hunting, 4-5 while fishing. Lower cost than the War Eagle.


----------



## Jay Dangers (Feb 19, 2008)

I will be hunting the Horicon marsh, and the mississippi river and going to devils lake N.D. it will be me and two friends in the boat and my 100 lb Chessie.


----------



## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

John here is the pic of the boat I built


----------



## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

Erik Nilsson said:


> John here is the pic of the boat I built
> 
> View attachment 9827


Very nice. I don't see oar locks, do you use a little motor? How big? Do you hunt it with a dog?How shallow can you go? I want one.


----------



## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

Jay Dangers said:


> I will be hunting the Horicon marsh, and the mississippi river and going to devils lake N.D. it will be me and two friends in the boat and my 100 lb Chessie.


Do you have a budget?


----------



## 7pntail (Jan 20, 2010)

Here is a picture of my 15 foot valco with a 30 hp Evinrude. It has been a fantastic boat and motor for 15 years. I sold it this summer, and I am not sure it was the right move for Ca Delta hunting. It was replaced with an 18 foot mud boat (Legend Craft) and a Mud Buddy motor---so far the rig has yet to be hunted. Could change next week with the Colusa weir predicted to spill. Kinda like a camper vs a trailer--tough to get the best of both worlds. Gotta make some choices.


----------



## gdgnyc (May 4, 2009)

John Robinson said:


> Very nice. I don't see oar locks, do you use a little motor? How big? Do you hunt it with a dog?How shallow can you go? I want one.


My sneakbox is very similar. I use either a paddle or type of pushpole locally called a "shovin' oar".


----------



## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

John Robinson said:


> Very nice. I don't see oar locks, do you use a little motor? How big? Do you hunt it with a dog?How shallow can you go? I want one.


Kayak paddle, I did set it up for a sm 5hp ob but it wasnt worth the hassle. It would draft at 3-4" easy. storage in rear and front for additional decoys and I had a backrest for it. I also made a hard cover for towing and storage. I think it weighed about 150#ish +-. Inside and out had a coat of resin with cloth and the seams were doubled up with a final coat of resin all over, sanded then painted. The custom gray I did for it made it disappear in the open water. I also had camo grass mats fitted for hunting in cattails or marsh grass. I did not hunt with a dog from it, didnt have one at the time....Fun times though!!!!


----------



## Jay Dangers (Feb 19, 2008)

5,000 to 7,000 I really like the beavertail boats but out of my price range.


----------



## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

gdgnyc said:


> South Bay duckboat. It's low profile and stable. Get the grassboards and spray dodger with it. I have seen them run with 2hp up to 15 hp.but I don't remember the motor it's rated for.


Those are nice boats, when I hunted Long Island I talked to a guy who had one there, I think he had a 10 hp or a 15 on the back. I was impressed with it


----------



## RJW (Jan 8, 2012)

Jay Dangers said:


> Whats everyones opinion on what brand of duck boat to get. How long and wide, motors.... long tail mud motor or surface drive.
> I have a 14' but it's narrow and why my chessy leans to the side, we almost take on water. I looked at a beavertail and really liked it until I seen the price tag.



Since your in Wisconsin give these guys a call. If nothing else, they can and will answer any questions you may have..... http://www.larrysillowamarine.com/

But be prepared, when you get to talking mud motors and mud motor boats, its not cheap but it can also be a one time purchase, so to say.


----------



## Meleagris1 (Dec 10, 2010)

My buddy has a center console Tracker Grizzly 20 foot aluminum with a 115 Merc 4 stroke, love that boat.


----------

