Utility boat recomendations

Old Ironmaker

Captain
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
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3,050
I was looking at the princecraft ungava 12 and the yukon 14L i cant see a price but didnt consider the exchange rate. I think there's a us dealer near me. One of the auto dealers also sells princecraft but fancy themselves as a pontoon shop. I might givem a call. Maybe buy a hull and trailer then find a craigslist kijiji outboard. My wheeling and dealing days are supposed to be begind me (or so i promised the wife :lol:)

You are getting a 25% discount as soon as you pull out US money. I still try to wheel and deal and usually end up on the bad side of my deals lately.
 

Sprig

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 2, 2016
Messages
571
I won’t recommend a Brand of boat but just provide some general info. I’ve been a waterfowl hunter for over 50 years and a pleasure boater. I have mega experience both waterfowl hunting from boats and from land. The best duck hunting is during nasty stormy weather. A 12 or 14’ boat in stormy conditions with 3’ or so waves is too small. Yes I know people who hunt in them but they are risking it all especially on big body water like lakes. I know of many stories of duck hunters drowning in small boats. Wind is the duck hunters friend and it is the boaters enemy. I personally won’t hunt big water in less than a 16’ boat. My last boat was a 19 footer with a 7’ beam deep V. I’ve come back on windy days in it and had more than one occasion where I feared I wasn’t going to make it. So for safety sake get at least a 15’ boat or preferably longer with a wide beam. Look for a V hull. (I personally know of a father, his son and his sons friend whose duck hunt ended tragically. It was dark and windy. Less than a quarter mile from the launch ramp the waves washed over the boat, swamped it. The boat was too small for the conditions. Only the father survived)

Second invest in a new or newer motor with low hours. Dependability is the key. You don’t want a used motor that you don’t know the number of hours on it and you don’t know it’s mechanical history. I had a main motor and a 6hp kicker that would get me home if the main failed.

I will leave it at just those 2 suggestions but will add a couple safety suggestions. Don’t hunt from a boat alone, hunt with a buddy. You never know what may happen and having a buddy along can make all the difference. I know this from personal experience. Finally wear orange pfd to and from your hunting spot. If you have an emergency you want to be spotted and orange will help with that. While stationary and hunting I also wear a pfd but that one is camo. Lastly leave written instructions of exactly where you’ll be hunting, your route and your expected return time. (I was a hunter safety instructor and safety is always on my mind). Good luck, good hunting.
 

tramsdell

Banned
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
155
its all up there^^^

You make some great points and most i have thought of, i didn't realise the 12/14fters would be unsafe in 3 foot waves. Honestly, in an ideal world id build a removable blind for the 18ft fishing boat. I just dont trust the engine after only 1 season. No failures, just runs rough when its cold. Maybe carb kits will take care of that. The old girl needs a paint job anyway. Do you think that an older main, in good repair, plus a reliable kicker(i would also use the kicker as a backtroller so that its never laid up and begging failures) would be a safe option?


safety aside, is taking a fishing boat duck hunting a good idea? My biggest concern other than safety is that you go out and get the floor wet, put the boat away and the air temp is melow 32f and now the wet wood in the floor is freezing, is that going to cause shortened floor and stringer life?




side note: locals ive talked to told me to just use my troller for backup. I think not. Even with 2 batteries, ive been pushed around by the wind way too much to trust that thing in a storm.
 

Sprig

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 2, 2016
Messages
571
You make some great points and most i have thought of, i didn't realise the 12/14fters would be unsafe in 3 foot waves. Honestly, in an ideal world id build a removable blind for the 18ft fishing boat. I just dont trust the engine after only 1 season. No failures, just runs rough when its cold. Maybe carb kits will take care of that. The old girl needs a paint job anyway. Do you think that an older main, in good repair, plus a reliable kicker(i would also use the kicker as a backtroller so that its never laid up and begging failures) would be a safe option?


safety aside, is taking a fishing boat duck hunting a good idea? My biggest concern other than safety is that you go out and get the floor wet, put the boat away and the air temp is melow 32f and now the wet wood in the floor is freezing, is that going to cause shortened floor and stringer life?




side note: locals ive talked to told me to just use my troller for backup. I think not. Even with 2 batteries, ive been pushed around by the wind way too much to trust that thing in a storm.

I had a 19’ Alumaweld that I recently sold. It was mainly my fishing boat but I used it also for waterfowl hunting in Grizzly bay , Honker bay and San Pablo bay which are east of San Francisco Bay in California. It can get quite windy with 4 and 5’ roller waves. I experienced more than one occasion coming back to dock where the waves were coming over the bow and slamming the windshield. Very scary. What I did to camo it up is I had large pieces of burlap camo which I draped all over the boat. Only took me and a friend about 15 minutes to cover it in camo. 5 minutes to uncamo it. I also had a dog ladder for my lab to get back in the boat. It was a great rough water boat.
i had a 90hp merc which pushed it to 40 to 42 mph. I also had a merc kicker fairly new that I used for trolling and as a backup to get me home if necessary. Forget about using an electric trolling motor for backup while duck hunting. They don’t have the power you may need. If it’s windy and/or a strong current it may not have the power to push you forward and keeping it on track in the wind may be a real problem.
If you get a kicker, mount it on a bracket that is adjustable so you can move the motor up and down. In rough water you want to get the prop as deep as your main motor. What otherwise happens is most kickers are not deep enough in the water , for trolling calm water that is no problem. But in waves the rocking boat allows the prop to come out of the water a little so you get a kind of cavitation, the the prop goes back into the water , bites and you have power for a few seconds. It’s like in a car stepping on the gas and then taking your foot off the gas, over and over and over....
The whole boat was draped in camouflage, we were dressed in camouflage including camouflage face masks, even the dog wore a camouflage neoprene vest. We were pretty much invisible to ducks.
A couple other safety things I had in my boat are 2 bilge pumps in case one failed. I had 2 batteries. I always carried my cell phone but also had a mounted VHF radio and GPS. In darkness or fog you’ll really appreciate the GPS. I also carried a couple powerful lights and a strobe light.
If you set it up right using a fishing boat for duck hunting can work quite well. If you have other questions about waterfowl hunting or hunting from a boat feel to ask. Like I said I’ve been duck hunting almost my whole life. (I’m 70 years old)
 

Old Ironmaker

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Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,050
If you didn't think a 12 or 14 footer wasn't safe in 3 footers you have never been caught out there in a 14 footer in 3 foot waves, which are really 6 feet from belly to crest. I'm not a hunter but was invited out with the boys for Geese at our Hunt/Fish camp one dark, windy, raining and very cold late November morning in northern Ontario, there was a skim of ice on the shore of the river. You guys can have at it, I'm going fishing, in Florida. Good luck shopping.
 

tramsdell

Banned
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
155
If you didn't think a 12 or 14 footer wasn't safe in 3 footers you have never been caught out there in a 14 footer in 3 foot waves, which are really 6 feet from belly to crest. I'm not a hunter but was invited out with the boys for Geese at our Hunt/Fish camp one dark, windy, raining and very cold late November morning in northern Ontario, there was a skim of ice on the shore of the river. You guys can have at it, I'm going fishing, in Florida. Good luck shopping.

Well, i remember as a kid the 12 ft utility did just fine in 3 footers. But, that was summer time so i guess getting swamped or capsizing werent real concerns as they are with cold water. Probably one of those deals where you dont think of it being unsafe because the consequences are trivial (a swim into shore and tow the submerged boat in with a bigger one)
 

tramsdell

Banned
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
155
I had a 19’ Alumaweld that I recently sold. It was mainly my fishing boat but I used it also for waterfowl hunting in Grizzly bay , Honker bay and San Pablo bay which are east of San Francisco Bay in California. It can get quite windy with 4 and 5’ roller waves. I experienced more than one occasion coming back to dock where the waves were coming over the bow and slamming the windshield. Very scary. What I did to camo it up is I had large pieces of burlap camo which I draped all over the boat. Only took me and a friend about 15 minutes to cover it in camo. 5 minutes to uncamo it. I also had a dog ladder for my lab to get back in the boat. It was a great rough water boat.
i had a 90hp merc which pushed it to 40 to 42 mph. I also had a merc kicker fairly new that I used for trolling and as a backup to get me home if necessary. Forget about using an electric trolling motor for backup while duck hunting. They don’t have the power you may need. If it’s windy and/or a strong current it may not have the power to push you forward and keeping it on track in the wind may be a real problem.
If you get a kicker, mount it on a bracket that is adjustable so you can move the motor up and down. In rough water you want to get the prop as deep as your main motor. What otherwise happens is most kickers are not deep enough in the water , for trolling calm water that is no problem. But in waves the rocking boat allows the prop to come out of the water a little so you get a kind of cavitation, the the prop goes back into the water , bites and you have power for a few seconds. It’s like in a car stepping on the gas and then taking your foot off the gas, over and over and over....
The whole boat was draped in camouflage, we were dressed in camouflage including camouflage face masks, even the dog wore a camouflage neoprene vest. We were pretty much invisible to ducks.
A couple other safety things I had in my boat are 2 bilge pumps in case one failed. I had 2 batteries. I always carried my cell phone but also had a mounted VHF radio and GPS. In darkness or fog you’ll really appreciate the GPS. I also carried a couple powerful lights and a strobe light.
If you set it up right using a fishing boat for duck hunting can work quite well. If you have other questions about waterfowl hunting or hunting from a boat feel to ask. Like I said I’ve been duck hunting almost my whole life. (I’m 70 years old)

How did the floor hold up to freezing when wet?
 

Old Ironmaker

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Dec 28, 2015
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Well, i remember as a kid the 12 ft utility did just fine in 3 footers. But, that was summer time so i guess getting swamped or capsizing werent real concerns as they are with cold water. Probably one of those deals where you dont think of it being unsafe because the consequences are trivial (a swim into shore and tow the submerged boat in with a bigger one)

Yea OK.
 

Old Ironmaker

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Dec 28, 2015
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I mean 3 foot waves in a 12 foot boat is dangerous. But I remember when I was 20 too, nothing could kill me, only me could kill me.
 

tramsdell

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Messages
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I mean 3 foot waves in a 12 foot boat is dangerous. But I remember when I was 20 too, nothing could kill me, only me could kill me.

I thought i lead with when i was younger, but maybe i neglected that. Its been a long time since i was in that situation. And even then we were in the bay "playing" so i didnt remember any danger because none was perceived. Im not arguing that i think its safe now, i did at the conception of the thread but some have made excellent points about the size of boat i probly want. Now the question has become, can a carpeted floor withstand freezing when wet?
 

Old Ironmaker

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Dec 28, 2015
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I don't think freezing is any worse than getting the floor wet in the 1st place. It's not the Marine carpeting I would be concerned with it's the wood beneath it that doesn't like water, no matter what form it's in. No wood no problem.
 
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