Gearing Up: A Guide to Waterfowling Equipment
Gadgets and Do-Dads No Hunter Should be Without

By Jerry Thoms

Waterfowl populations may go up and down and hunting success can vary from season to season, but the equipment waterfowlers use just keeps getting better.

From boats and motors to ammunition and dog gear, there are dozens of new products on the market designed to make waterfowling more productive, efficient, comfortable and rewarding for hunters.

Boats for waterfowlers have become much more specialized and sophisticated with nearly every major watercraft manufacturer now producing a duck boat.  Flat-bottom and semi-vee hulls with super-tough construction and a load of options are easy to find for navigating every kind of habitat from cattail sloughs and flooded timber to major lakes and big rivers.

Motors for duck boats, likewise, have undergone some major developments with mud motors evolving from the air-cooled, long-tailed, surface prop style to a new surface-drive model.  Either type of mud motor will move small or large boats across mud, sand, logs, grass and other water-related obstacles that would stop and maybe destroy conventional water-cooled outboard engines.

Ammunition for waterfowl hunting has seen some major improvements from the early days of mandatory non-toxic shot.  Higher-velocity loads for standard steel pellets and new types of non-toxic materials for shotgun ammunition have made modern shotshells as good as—some say better than—lead shot ever was.  All the major manufacturers and some smaller shotshell makers now offer a wide range of choices for better killing ducks and geese up close over decoys or further out in pass-shooting situations.

Blinds for field and boats have undergone a total transformation with all new designs, construction, and materials used to produce products that offer great concealment, convenience, and comfort at a cost affordable to nearly everyone.  There are many models of laydown-type and stand-up blinds that are lightweight, compact, portable, low-profile and extremely efficient at hiding hunters in any kind of field habitat from all the provinces of Canada to any state of the USA.

Blinds for boats have been improved to provide hunters with factory-made, easy-to-attach, and quick-to-set-and-take-down blinds made with sturdy lightweight metal frames covered with tough nylon fabric in many choices of camouflage.

Though boating waterfowlers can still construct homemade blinds, the backyard blinds seldom are as time-, labor-, and cost-effective as the many commercially made versions.

As with other facets of modern waterfowling equipment, the gear for training and maintaining gun dogs has made major advancements in quality.  Modern electric training collars, in particular, have undergone major technological improvements to make these products much more user-friendly and effective for both dogs and their owners.

With power levels now precisely set on easy-to-operate-and-understand compact transmitters, anyone can use a little electric stimulation to humanely and gently reinforce any dogs learned behavior and basic obedience as first taught by conventional training methods.  Likewise, a dog’s compulsive behavior, such as chasing deer or other wild animals or messing with rattlesnakes, raccoons, or porcupines, can be controlled with higher levels of electrical impulses as a way to discourage and avoid life-threatening experiences.

Equipment for maintaining the health and well-being of dogs on a hunt or at home have also been made better with a variety of new products for keeping a dog safe in any sort of ordinary or emergency situation.

Boats

Lowe Boats

Since 1972 Lowe Boats has manufactured aluminum jon boats for waterfowlers using a riveted or welded design and construction to produce boats from 14 to 20 feet in length.  Featuring extra-wide beams and gunnels along with higher gunnels, the Lowe Roughneck series of jon boats has a .100-gauge hull, all metal (no wood) transoms, and aluminum floors for more strength and an always-dry walkway.  All models of Lowe jon boats come in a choice of Mossy Oak Shadow Grass or Breakup.

Osage Canoe

Though Osage Canoe is the company’s name, the Vantage PT line of duck boats is the company’s product of most relevance to waterfowlers.  This flat-bottom aluminum boat, 14 feet in length, 5 feet in width and 15.5 inches in depth, has a 15-horsepower motor rating, weighs 230 pounds, and easily can carry three hunters and their gear.  Three packages are available with a trailer for each.  Two packages include a pop-up type blind in five choices of camouflage patterns.

Sea Ark Boats

Sea Ark jon boats for waterfowlers are advertised as among the strongest of watercraft in this class because they are constructed of .100 or .125-gauge marine-grade aluminum with one-piece extruded ribs for strength.  Choose a jon boat from a dozen models in length from 14 to 24 feet, then add custom accessories including grab rails, built-in fuel tanks, ice chests, bow deck storage, bench seats, side or center console steering, bilge pumps, lights, gun-storage boxes and five choices of camouflage paint.  The Duck Hawk Series is a line of boats made specifically for duck hunters.

War Eagle Boats

Flat bottom and semi-vee-hull boats built a little narrower and a little longer than common jon boats give War Eagle products more maneuverability in shallow water.  Standard model War Eagles come in 14 to 23 foot lengths and are available as a package fully equipped from the factory inventory or as custom boats set up with the customer’s choice of accessories.  Call the company, describe your waterfowl hunting requirements, and the War Eagle staff will recommend a boat package already in stock or a custom package to suit customer needs.  Options include choices of seating, storage, consoles, and seven camouflage patterns.

Duck Water Boats

Formerly made from fiberglass, Duck Water Boats are now manufactured from aluminum in order to create the strength necessary to navigate these waterfowling craft into all the treacherous places that duck hunters need to go to get good hunting.

Duck Water boats are 100 percent welded with a fiberglass floor screwed and glued into place for a lifetime of stability.  The fireproof, corrosion-resistant aluminum material allows for more freedom in customizing a craft versus the one-size-fits-all of a molded fiberglass boat.  The Stealth line of Duck Water Boats is available in the Fighter 17, Panzer 18, and Bomber 19 models.  All have a double row of shelves for stashing all kinds of gear from decoys to shotguns and lockable dry storage, running and interior lights, bilge pumps, and console steering.

Carstens Boats

Hand-made fiberglass duck boats for any waterfowl hunting application are Carstens’ specialty with six models ranging from the 10 foot long, 70 pound Puddler for small waters to the Chesapeake, a 17 foot long, 200 pound boat with an extra-stable resin-infused dry hull for big water.  Other choices include the 100 pound, 13 foot, 12 inche deep Pintail with a 500 pound capacity, the 13 foot Mallard, the Bluebill at a 13 foot length, and the Canvasback with a heavy duty rear transform for either outboard or mud motors.  Accessories for all Carstens boats include hard cockpit covers, extra seats, shell holders, gun racks, and for some models custom made soft and hard blinds.

Gator Trax Boats

Made from .125 (one-eighth inch thick) gauge seamless aluminum (much heavier than industry standards) and with longitudinal bracing that runs from bow to transom (instead of the traditional cross bracing from side-to-side), Gator Trax boats are advertised as tougher and less likely to dent and more likely to run better in shallow water compared to other flat bottom boats. 

Add to this feature the Gator Trax boat body is made from one sheet shaped in a jig so that all corners are rounded for more efficient movement in muddy water.  These boats also have a rounded transom which makes backing out of mud or sand much easier as well as a long sloping rake or bow for more effective planning when the boat is propelled by a mud motor.  Several models of boats are offered including the Guide Edition, Mud Buddy Edition, Tapered Chine Hull, the Gator Hide, Duck Skiffs and the Gator’s Camp or floating blind.

Four Rivers Layout Boats

Manufactured from rot-proof fiberglass, Four Rivers Layout Boats are available in three sizes:  9-foot, 6-inch, 11-foot and 13-6.  The 9-6 boat weighs 80 pounds and has weight capacity of 320 pounds.  The 11-foot Layout Boat has a weight of 90 pounds and capacity weight of 350 pounds.  The 13-6 boat weighs 110 pounds with a capacity weight of 500 pounds. 

All Four Rivers Layout Boats are extremely stable, have a built-in dog deck behind the cockpit, come with a transom for a two-horsepower outboard motor, or electric trolling motor, and are available with a molded in camouflage pattern (Fall Flight or Advantage Wetlands) as well as a flip-open blind kit, a camouflage boat cover kit, or a blind box made for attaching vegetation.

Fisher Beavertail Boats

Fisher Beavertail custom builds duck boats made from all-welded .100 gauge aluminum in lengths from 14 to 20  Standard features include gun boxes, a drop floor for batteries and fuel tanks, 24-inch sidewalls, tread-place floors and decks, interior tie- downs, interior tubing for lights, and foam filled floors, front decks, and pods for greater and more secure buoyancy.  Two models of trailers are available along with a variety of options such as navigation lights, bilge pumps, and boat covers.  Boat blinds for all Beavertail boats feature a flip over design for instant set up and take down.  Beavertail mud motors, available with Kohler and Vanguard motors from 6 to 24 horsepower, will fit all Beavertail boats.

Mighty Layout Boys Boats

The Classic Edition of the Mighty Layout Boat follows the long-time tradition of layout boats as developed for many years to hunt wide spans of open water with sometimes treacherous wind, waves and current.  The dimensions are 10 foot long by 50 inches wide, a weight of 80 pounds and a cockpit that’s 78 inches long and 26 inches wide.  Flotation foam in the boat’s interior guarantees safety.  There are 10 models of the Mighty Layout boat including the Tellahatchie Express, a one-man boat designed for hunting small, calm, shallow water inland areas, and the Mighty Layout Boat II, a two person craft for big water.

G 3 Duck Boats

G 3 Jon Boats are made in riveted or welded aluminum.  Available in the Outfitter, Gator Tough, Deluxe and Tunnel series, the welded jons come with built-in gas tanks; elevated decks with storage; skid-resistant surfaces; powdered, coated diamond- tread floors, and one-piece, heat-treated extruded ribs with foam insulation for strength and buoyancy.  Boat lengths are from 13 to 19 feet with several optional camouflage designs.  Yamaha motors and galvanized trailers by Bear are available as part of a package deal.  Tiller and console steering is an option on several models of G 3 jon boats in both welded or riveted models.

Continue to Page Two: Motors, Blinds, Shotshells, E-Collars and Training Tools