Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Canoe advice

Wasn't sure where to post this. Anyway, I'm going to purchase a canoe.

Ultimately I'd like to drift a river or paddle across a remote lake and camp/hunt. For starters just get it out and get some exercise and do some fishing...Looking for a solid canoe that ultimately won't break the bank.

Thanks for any advice on brand makes and models..

I am going to just scratch the surface here because I am a long way from an expert. I have had a canoe forever 30 years, and it has been the source of a lot of enjoyment from exploring and fishing.
The canoe I have used all this time has been an Old Town fiberglass 16 foot. Any canoe is going to be a compromise between maneuverability (river use) and stability and cruising ability (open water), but a good canoe will do both pretty well.
First, you need to decide on material- aluminum is an old standby, fiberglass is quieter and probably easier to repair, Kevlar if you can find it is light and strong.
I went with a flat bottom for stability,and it has a keel for better tracking in open water. That canoe has been down the Missouri, Madison Rivers, on lots of lakes in Maine, New Hampshire Vermont, Montana, Canada Alaska, and, well, you get the idea. It has served me well.
My canoe is an Old Town. The seem to make good solid canoes at a decent price. Mad River canoes seem to be popular but I have never owned one.
Couple things: Spend a little time searching on the computer looking at reviews of different canoes- Learn what a few of the terms mean, like tumblehome, secondary stability, and how they apply to your use. Also, some canoe manufacturers have recommendations for general use like your intended use. If you find a couple that you think might work for you, do a search for reviews by users- That will narrow it down,
Hope this helps.

Fred

Shag:

I own a Raft/Canoe rental service so this is in my area of expertise.

Take a look at Madd River and Old Town canoes. Solid and worth the investment.

Check out this link..

http://www.paddling.net/buyersguide/

Walt

If money's a big consideration, I'd lean towards an Old Town Penobscot 17. If you can spend more $$, I'd look at a Mad River Explorer. If you can find one used, you'll save a lot of money but any way you go, you'll be happy once you hit the water! Good luck with your search....

This old thread is a pretty decent primer.

Canoe thread

I had an Old Town square stern for several years. It was made out of pllastic and had some handy storage under the center seat. It.was rated for 5 hp, I think. Sold it because it was almost too much for one guy to load. I think it was well under $500 new. It handled rough water fairly well. It would really scoot with a bigger trolling motor on it.

No intention on hijacking, but I too am looking for a canoe to travel on lakes in northern Canada and portage from lake to lake. Looking for a square-sterned canoe to run a small motor on.

Would use this for portaging in and between lakes carrying a fair amount of weight.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I don't see portages and square stern/motorized canoes as a workable option.

I have made a fair number of ten day trips with a lot of portages. Canoe, pack and all gear in one carry is generally the way to go, for me.

Lots of good advice in that old thread. The biggest determining factor is what your main use will be. Unless you are going to use a motor most of the time, stay away from square sterns. They paddle like you are dragging an anchor.

If you are going to use it mostly solo, you might want to look at kayaks. Canoes generally work best for two people.

Choose the size/shape first and then look at material options.

Jerry

I bought an Old Town for the same reasons (fishing and exercise) a few years ago.
Couldn't be happier.
I don't haul gear for camping or hunting so I bought the 119Discovery but from what I read their 147Guide is the most popular canoe on the market..
Good value too. I paid $610 for my 12' solo and there was a 14'7" Guide setting right next to it for $460. Course it weighed twice as much which was big factor for me but I'd take a look at em if I were you.
Mad River's supposed to be good too but I have no experience with them.

Good luck and have fun whatever you end up with.

Swift Kippewa

Wenonah Spirit II

I used to recommend Bell canoes as well, but they've changed hands a couple of times, I believe. Don't know much about their current stuff...

A short canoe will be slower and will squat more than a long canoe. Even if you are going to do a lot of solo paddling, get one at least 16 feet long. The old standard when I was spending a lot of time in a canoe was a 17 foot Grumman.

Some people do not like the aluminum canoes because they tend to make more noise and also tend to grab rocks in rapids instead of gliding over them. These things have never bothered me

If you want to paddle solo, all you have to do is move a little farther forward so the canoe is fairly level in the water. A good stroke will allow you to paddle a straight course without much switching paddle sides.

I also have a Blue Hole plastic canoe that does a fine job. I have ripped the skin a few times but have easily patched it with Shoo Goo. I would take my Grumman if I had to choose between them.

Get several good paddles. I like fairly long ones. Short paddles wear me out quickly.

That's good advise. ^^^^^^^

Portage and motorized are seldom used in the same sentence.

Mad River Explorer hands down. Great all around canoe. Have owned several mad rivers and old towns in various model, tried lots of other brands/ models, only have the explorer around now.

Wenonah kevlar Fusion

I've still got the canoe I bought as my first purchase fresh out of college...

quality stuff, it is strictly Old Towne or Mad River...

Old Townes are made in Maine, and Mad River are out of Vermont....

Rule of thumb ( at least it use to be) Old Townes Were the best option if you were going to be doing a lot of time on lakes.. more stable...

Mad Rivers were more for fast moving water like on a River, etc, as they seem to be more stable in that environment, than an Old Towne.....

I've spent a lot of time around Grumman Canoes, but in college, I got turned against them...on the Connecticut River, someone in a Grumman dumped it in fast moving but shallow water.... when they found him, he was "standing" in waste high water, against a rock.... but the Grumman Canoe had pinned him there, and the current wrapped it around the rock like a donut...the guy drowned by the water running over the top of the canoe.. he couldn't break free...

in those days, a lot of the canoes being made were fiberglass... it was said a fiberglass canoe would have broke by the current's strength.. the aluminum was just bent...that is why I purchased a fiberglass canoe in 1975.. and it is still serving me well in 2015.

Wenonah Spirit or Aurora are good all around boats.

I prefer Royalex boats for river tripping, Kevlar if you are going to carry it much.

have owned mad river explorer for over 20 years
great canoe. Have a 2 horse I use on it in bigger lakes

old towne Penobscott good too

Or if more money kevlar

I'll second an Old Town Penobscot. It's a good balance between a river and lake canoe. I've seen some on CL for about $900 used.

There's a fair amount of difference between a good lake canoe and a good river canoe. A lake canoe will typically have little to no rocker (curve of the bottom) and some sort of keel or chines to help with straight tracking and minimize wind drift on open water.

A river canoe will have varying degrees of rocker (depends on the whitewater class) to facilitate pivoting and sliding over obstacles.

My favorite as of these recent years is a souris river brand, model name is QT17 (Quetico 17').

That is the one I would want for general use. For family tripping I would maybe look at QT18.5.


They aren't cheap.