Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Does anyone use a canoe when they hunt?

Here is some proof positive that a canoe can haul more than half a calf moose....
It was very stupid, and the result of inexperience, but when my buddy David and I shot two bull moose one fine morning we were surprised by the capacity of our Coleman 16' Scanoe to handle the huge loads of meat we were loading into it. We customarily cut moose into 8 pieces, bone in, and place into cotton bags, then lash to a packframe for transport. We packed all 16 pieces to the floating canoe and were amazed when it seemed to handle them without sinking too deep in the water. This was great! it would save us a 10 mile round trip to camp to ferry the meat to where it could be hung. So we just kept packing, and the canoe still had 4" or so of freeboard when we were done, so we pushed off for camp. Unknown to us, the canoe was actually resting on the bottom. When we pushed off into the river, we started sinking until we had only a scant 1" of freeboard remaining - just under the aluminum gunwales. To say we were alarmed is to put it mildly. However, given the nature of the swamp were were in, it seemed like just as big a problem to find a suitable place to unload and cache some meat, so we just proceeded, VERY cautiously, all the way past camp to the main portage across to the Carrot River. Our wake was breaking up and away from the canoe on the gunwales, I'm sure we were actually underwater on the back end as we chugged along on the perfectly calm channel with the little 2HP Evinrude pushing us slowly along at a trolling speed. We made it to the portage without sinking. God looks after fools I guess. This picture is of David with the meat and canoe at the landing at the end of the portage between the Beehive channel and the Carrot River. I gained a whole new respect for the capacity of a canoe to carry freight, and learned to check the canoe for proper loading after that!

NO but as a side note...I had one mounted on top of the trailer I use to go varmint hunting...

Couldn't believe the 10,000 questions I got from everyone asking me "what's the canoe for???"

My response? "too lazy to take it off"

Cool story, thanks for sharing

Yes

Seafire

Are you a relative? That sounds way too familiar. My snowplow came off May 24th. My canoe came off ov 10th about two weeks after the plow went on.

Randy

Duck and goose hunting, moose hunting, incidental bear/deer hunting, and of course fishing. I have a light 14' paddler, and a 16' Frontiersman with a square stern. Paddling is a nice quiet way to get around, and so is an electric motor. A 2 -3 horse outboard will give you plenty of power, and a tank of gas seems to last forever. Not sure of the exact figure, but I know the weight carrying capacity of the Frontiersman is well over a 1000 lbs. Given the appropriate water in moose habitat, a canoe is an ideal hunting rig.

I have a 20 ft grumman that is listed for a 7hp and 1400 pounds. Gear for two weeks in the bush, and a 1000 pound bull moose makes it purr in the water with two paddlers. Without gear you have to hope there is no wind, or you fill it with rocks to keep it down in the water so it does not blow around.

I had an 18 footer that was a good canoe, but a bull and two full size men with gear had me with puckered anus in 12" waves. Ask the_shootist about it and the repairs.

I hunt mostly alone now, and am thinking of buying a smaller one, but they look so tiny now.

Randy

. . . . . . hey! That canoe still holds water good. And the 2HP Spirit motor shoves it along just fine. Teach me to take an axe to it to retrieve the motor.

Half a moose calf???? What the hell do you take out there???

My Grumman 18' has transported an entire! 8 year old (by tooth ring), 56 inch spread Alaska/Yukon bull (a lot bigger than yours- probably around 550 lbs dressed weight)) plus partner, Lab (he was the nervous one), and all our (minimalist) camp.

The heavier you load a canoe, the more stable but ungainly it gets. (It helps to tuck a poly-tarp tight in against the load to shed water coming over the gunnels).

You got something against 8" of freeboard???? If you do, 4 inches of freeboard should be avoided...

Yeah, I'm not a fan of 4 inches of freeboard. Getting the thing properly loaded is the key. I'd rather make the extra trip. Years ago, a close family friend used to take moose out using a canoe. He laid green branches across the gunnels and loaded the carcass across it. Some old family pictures showed that thing riding barely out of the water.

I've been capsized in a canoe when there was a foot of snow on the ground and ice around the edges of the lake. I didn't think I would ever warm up again. Also lost some valuable equipment. Now, I don't go out in a canoe unless it's warm enough to go swimming.

There is no cold like wet cold, that is for sure.

Randy

How about the rollin' in the muskeg type of cold? Does that compare?

I prefer a warm cold. It's a comfortable cold that's appreciated in the summer, unlike the cold heat that's uncomfortable in the winter - except if you're in Accapulco.

I know this is a Canada site but I hope you don't mind if I respond.

We float hunt for deer every year on the Allagash, St. John, and Aroostook Rivers. Tons of fun and as an added bonus, short drags.

JDK,

I have often thought about using that technique up there. How has your success been any stories or pics you can share.

Not to hijack the thread, but it might add some good value.

CLB

We have always done well later in the season (usually the last week of rifle season). The deer tend to yard in the river bottoms and oftentimes it is the best way to get them. We really like it when there is pressure from roads and the deer get down into the thick green growth.

We have had success two ways, just drifting along and getting out and hunting. I don't know what it is but the deer seem far less spooky than if you were hunting them on the ground.

Thanks,

gonna have to talk with my pard and see if we can't get a canoe and give it a go. Seems like a very interesting way to get into places. i'd also say there is an advantage of getting to places you might not be able to get to on foot.

Some of the places we hunt would be a 2+ mile drag mainly uphill to the road. With a canoe it can be as liitle as 50 yards or if you are really lucky 2 feet. .

Well, there are canoes, and there are canoes!

Twenty foot Chestnut freighter my friend owns.






Twenty-two foot Teslin freighter I have used for the past twenty seasons. First trip I took it on, it brought home two moose.



It will haul three moose, along with three guys and their gear, with no problem at all. Draws about ten inches with that load.





Me running Three Mile Rapids on the Stewart River, in my old 22 foot Faber freighter canoe........



....thirty-five years ago! Even had dark hair back then.

If you look closely, you can see the blue tiller extension in my left hand and the 61" moose horns ahead.

The Fabers were the lightest freighters ever built, but tough as nails. Handled like feathers when empty. Two guys could paddle this one easily.

Notice the distinctive bow with no recurve. I owned four of them over the years, two 22s and a 20, and a 17 foot paddling canoe I bought for my wife. The three freighters are still going hunting every Spring and Fall.

If you ever find a Faber in good shape, don't hesitate to buy it.

Ted