Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Canoe Hunt for Deer

I am looking for some recommendations for a float hunt for deer. I envision a stretch of about 30 miles or so with the idea of floating about 5 miles every other day for about 10-14 days. I would like to be able to use a canoe so no class 4-5 rapids�

I am about 5 years from retiring from the military and my son will be graduating high school about the same time so this would be a little father-son celebration. The advantage of planning now is that we have time to do research and start building preference points in necessary.

We�re looking for remote and a decent chance of killing a deer. Not worried about trophy and would likely be happy with doe tags if it came down to that. Some small game hunting along the way would be nice too. We�re mostly interested in rifle or muzzle loader hunts but wouldn�t rule out an early season archery hunt.

Right now I am looking hard at the Missouri River breaks but it seems like that area gets a lot of motor boat traffic and might not be very remote. Also looking at the Buffalo River in Arkansas since there is a lot of public land around each river.

Any comments or recommendations? Feel free to PM me too.

Unless you can find a river running through public land, I don't think you'll find a place where you can do what you want legally, since most states require permission from the landowner to hunt.

Cool idea. You might be able to put together such a trip on the Green River in Wyoming. Lots of private/public land mix along the river so make sure you had a good GPS loaded with land ownership.

Here something to get you thinking about it:

Floating the Upper Green River

salsola - great suggestion, thank you!

You might look at the Greenbrier River in WV. Quite a bit of NF along it. I have always wanted to try this for deer or turkey in the spring with a canoe or small skiff at Stonewall Jackson lake in WV. It is surround by a public hunting and fishing area. I think you could find some nice secluded areas by canoe. Only problem with the PHFA that surround the reservoirs is I do not now the rules about pitching a camp anywhere you like.

Either the Big Manistee or Pere Marquette rivers in Michigan might meet your needs. Minor boat traffic after the salmon run. Some of the locals float it and hunt the islands after the opener with good luck.

The Manistee has a couple of dams on it that would require portaging. The PM is barrier free. You can put in upstream at Baldwin and float all the way to Lake Michigan.

However, you had better like winter camping if you choose to do it during the rifle season that opens November 15.

That sounds like a great venture.
The only thing I would suggest is to choose a route or destination that allows for a somewhat convenient third person logistical support. Buy that I mean some one that could be contacted to rondevous, if need be, at several places along the trip if the need should arise.
Two hunters in a canoe with provisions doesn't leave a lot of room for hauling a deer much less two if you both kill. A car to bring mid trip provisions or haul back a quartered animal on short notice would be a tremendous asset imo.

Be careful of state regulations. Some states forbid taking of deer from a boat. It is a throwback to the days when meat hunters would shine lanterns from a boat and shoot deer from the bank. IRC Phillip Tome was big on this method.

This idea screams the BWCA or the Superior NF in Minnesota. Rivers and lakes are everywhere and it's all public land. Millions of acres worth.

We have done it in Vilas County Wi. Friends have taken some very big deer but the shots are quick. I would look around the Sylvania NF South of Bergland, possibly muzzleloader.

We did a canoe trip in 2009. We canoed 10 river miles and were >6 miles from the closest road or trail as a crow flies. We camped for six days and used the canoes to get to and from hunting spots.

The BWCAW and Superior Nat. Forest isn't meant to float for deer. The numbers are too low. On top of that, tomorrow is opening day and everything is froze up. That was our biggest fear in 09 and came close. That would have been a long walk out through nasty terrain. We also would have to return in the spring for the gear left behind.

I'd stay in PA or the Adirondacks personally.

P.S. We also had $4000 canoes that could haul a load. We had two loads of close to 1000# including hunters. Something to think about. You need a F-350 of a canoe.

We were lighter coming out due to eating the food we brought, but had to pick up a deer we had hanging on the way out.

Other than maybe Alaska, I couldn't think of a better place either.

close to you depending on where you are in PA- consider the Adirondack Mountains in NY - lots of public land and water.

Great ideas guys and thanks for the suggestions. We did consider the BWCA and it is still an option although freeze up is a concern. I never really thought about the Adirondaks,not sure why...

You're on the right track with the Buffalo River. Arkansas has $300 over the counter non-resident licenses that come with tags for all big game, and covers small game as well. If I recall correctly, the zone that the Buffalo River is in has a three week season that usually starts the 2nd weekend of November and has a bag limit of two bucks and one doe. Arkansas also allows you to check in your kill by phone, so you wouldn't have to worry about getting to a check station.

The timing puts you close to the peak of fall foliage, and the weather is usually moderate.

I am ashamed of my fellow Minnesotans. If this is what you want to do, the St Croix river is national park that's open to deer hunting during both the Minnesota and Wisconsin seasons. You do have to stay on the side you have a license for, but there are plenty enough deer. There's a lot of canoe outfitters from Osceola up to Namekagon dam. Wisconsin's season is two weeks after Minnesota (two weeks colder).

NPS has excellent maps and they're free. You will run into more private lands south of Taylors Falls, but there's also some really excellent places to hunt deer on NPS land too.

No rapids too hard to run, but I would make time to look at the rapids under the bridge at Taylors Falls. At high water you could easily die there. The only portage would be around the dam at Taylors Falls.

There's excellent grouse hunting along the St Croix and it's one of the best waters in the US for smallmouth. Walleyes always eat good and there's enough of them too.

Were it me, I'd consider bow hunting since it's six weeks earlier. November can get pretty cold here for someone who isn't from Minnesota.

No suggestions for you but it sounds like a wonderful trip idea.

Check ANY national forest map for rivers. . You can adjust your decision based on season dates, expected weather, non-res license fees, buck/ doe tags etc.

I would not consider BWCA because it is not in an area with a large deer population, and the risk of freeze up is simply too great. I am just an hour north of Grand Rapids, MN, and many small lakes are iced up, and the larger ones have a rim of ice that yesterday was just more than an inch thick. Hard enough to break with a boat - no way with a lightweight canoe. BWCA has some rivers with fast current, but many other rivers would be subject to freezing.

If it were me, I would think about a river through farm country. You would have to check ownership/available public land. Often in ag country, river bottoms are among the better hiding cover available, with enough deer to make it interesting. Also, as someone mentioned previously, hunting islands after the season has started can be productive.

Have you looked at Maine?