Well, let's see, I own 3 of them, 4 if you count a poke boat.
<br>
<br>I take one with me every year to Saskatchewan and find them to be very helpful. Plus, I just like hunting out of your own boat, doing your own decoy set, calling your own ducks, etc. in the reeds which is a pretty foreign theory to most guides in the area of Canada that I hunt. With no disrespect to their methods, they make a living on goose or duck pits dug in wheat or other grain fields, and a mallard pit can be spectacular, but it is not the same as doing it yourself.
<br>
<br>There are a couple of good points about using a pirogue, they are fairly light, easily fit in the back of a truck if you have the non-troll motor type, and are not too expensive. However, a true pirogue is quite unstable,and I own one of those, but I am now using a curved top model, sort of like a modified, more open, less streamlined kayak made out of fiberglass that is very popular in N La for duck hunting, made by, I think, Water Moccassin(sp) boats in Stonewall, La. 12 foot model, plain jane version, is about $450 last time I checked. I think to hunt with a dog out of a pirogue, you would have to have a fairly small dog that was perfectly trained or the hunter had better know how to swim, or some combination of both. One reason, I am considering other boats.
<br>
<br>All that said, I, like many small boat nuts, am not totally satisfied with mine for several reasons and am considering buying one of several more specialized designs like the Otter for duck hunting which is what I use them for mostly. For fishing, I prefer the ease of paddling of a canoe, since most of my fishing where I use that type of boat is on a stream or small pond. If I was going to fish bigger water, and had to use one of the smaller boats, which I would prefer not to do, I would probably choose a troll motor pirogue.
<br>
<br>I know that a lot of people rave about the poke boat, but I thought that getting in and out of it was such a hassle, particularly with a gun, that I don't use mine much at all. I am a large, read that as fat, guy and getting my butt in a hole in a boat is not all that easy. Now, for fooling around, fishing, etc, it is fine. Or might have some application if you had to paddle a long ways to your hunting site. While they are not complete pigs, pirogues are not nearly as easily paddled as other more hydrodynamically shaped hulls, such as a canoe. Plus, their width makes it almost a requirement to have a double bladed paddle.
<br>
<br>I have saved a bunch of links to other duck boat sites if you are interested email me and I will send them to you, some of them, are reasonably priced, but usually a little more expensive than a pirogue, and some of them must have gold under the seats. If you haven't used one, it is easy to find a used pirogue for a couple of hundred bucks or so and I would recommend this route as an introduction. If you are going to trailer them, be sure to get a long tongued trailer, they are very difficult to back up without one.
