DIY Publicland swamp

[bowjunky39]

Looking for a little help. I hunt a piece of public that is made up of hardwoods then drains off into a swamp. Deep in the swamp is a creek that crosses a road about 2.5 Miles up. I am looking to purchase some kind of boat or kayak to access this land my water. All the pressure enters the land from the hardwoods so naturally all the deer move to the swamp. I hunt in the swamp now but if I could find a way to access from the backside via water it would increase of my odds considerably in harvesting a mature buck. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.


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[ghoasthunter]

Looking for a little help. I hunt a piece of public that is made up of hardwoods then drains off into a swamp. Deep in the swamp is a creek that crosses a road about 2.5 Miles up. I am looking to purchase some kind of boat or kayak to access this land my water. All the pressure enters the land from the hardwoods so naturally all the deer move to the swamp. I hunt in the swamp now but if I could find a way to access from the backside via water it would increase of my odds considerably in harvesting a mature buck. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.


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a kayak is probably the best option or a small one man canoe is even better but expensive. don't worry about if you shoot a deer they will float and you can just toe it behind you or figure out some other way the hard parts killing a deer the easy part is the drag. I would recommend the lightest vessel you can afford or you wont be using it as much as you should.

[Rob loper]

Definately a kayack

[Babshaft]

I would look through your local Craigslist or any other buy/sell/trade for a used canoe or kayak. I have sit on top angling kayak (old town predator) and find it nice to have all the storage options for all my gear. I also have a canoe. Haven’t had to get a deer out with a small boat yet, but I’d be more comfortable in the canoe. Best of luck!

Cheers

[Rob loper]

What would be about the minimun length or how big should i look for in a canoe or a kayak that would hold weapon stand sticks back pack. And hopefully hauling a deer out? There are alot of islands here i wanna get to.
And cant without a boat. And what size motor would you need?

[Jonny]

honestly you will want as big as you can handle. Bigger is typically more stable.

[Jonny]

How big is the creek? Could just wade it as well

This or as stated above small kayak

I changed my response when I saw he wanted a canoe or kayak. But yeah wading would work good if it’s smaller water. Especially early season when the water is warmer.

I do lots of wading in the summer fishing for walleyes. If you go that route, a good pair of jungle boots is the way to go. Depth doesn’t matter, and the traction and ankle support is great. Even on large boulders it works good

[jbone23]

Look on louisiana sportsman or mississippi sportsman. 2 man pirogue works pretty good but can be unstable getting in or out if its a steep bank. Best thing Ive used is by bobcat boats its advertised as a layout boat, but it is basically a pirogue kayak hybrid. Water mocasin makes a boat like that too only problem is they are hard to find used and expensive new.

[Twenty Up]

Wading is really spotty... we duck hunt creeks a lot in kayaks. Water level fluctuates, there's always those random holes that could swallow you up. Stumps to trip over etc....

You also have to worry about trees blocking the creek, sand bars, shoals etc.... daytime it's no problem, becomes a chore in the dark though. Especially if you're paddling a fair piece in when it's dark. I put a light bar on my kayak for this reason and those 3k lumens made those 1+ mile journies so much more bearable now compared to moon light or an old headlamp

I use a 10' 29" wide perception kayak with no issues. Granted I've never taken it deer hunting only fishing/ducks.... I'd shoot for a 12-14' kayak and as wide as possible for stability. Sit on top preferably as well with a good light source if you're going somewhere narrow and thick.

[Babshaft]

Wading is really spotty... we duck hunt creeks a lot in kayaks. Water level fluctuates, there's always those random holes that could swallow you up. Stumps to trip over etc....

You also have to worry about trees blocking the creek, sand bars, shoals etc.... daytime it's no problem, becomes a chore in the dark though. Especially if you're paddling a fair piece in when it's dark. I put a light bar on my kayak for this reason and those 3k lumens made those 1+ mile journies so much more bearable now compared to moon light or an old headlamp

I use a 10' 29" wide perception kayak with no issues. Granted I've never taken it deer hunting only fishing/ducks.... I'd shoot for a 12-14' kayak and as wide as possible for stability. Sit on top preferably as well with a good light source if you're going somewhere narrow and thick.

Bang on. Wading was another great idea. I never thought to mention wading because I made the assumption of it being deep water. I personally don’t enjoy wading but do it when I must.

I personally prefer the kayak for getting in and out. It’s quicker and more maneuverable. My old town would have the weight rating exceeded if I put a buck in it so I’d definitely have to go back and get the canoe if I didn’t want to float it. Or I’d find a route across land if I could. Twenty up is bang in with the size and type of kayak in my opinion.

Cheers

[hunter_mike]

A boat can be a lot of work, even more so than wading in certain situations. Could do a test wade in the off season before ruling out the possibility? Unless you know for sure it'd be too impractical. I'd recommend a boat but I can't say I am much of a boat access guy. I did get an inflatable kayak this yr that is pretty cool and packable but never used it to hunt, (only scouting).

Some of those creeks can really make access tough. I have a few spots on my scouting list every year that I just never get around to because access is so difficult. Really those spots should be towards the top of my list instead of the bottom

[Rob loper]

I think a canoe would be better in the long run.
Now g2outdoors guy uses a hobie boat i forget whats its realy called it fits in his truck and uses foot peddles for propelling its really nice. But expensive
I gotta watch tides too cause hunting marshes that the atlantic feeds. The tides could strand you for twelve horurs. Has anyone else ran into this problem? Spots i wanna go to are islands but not sure how much water i need a canoe draws to fet in and out without waiting for next tide. That would be a long long cold sit lol

[Tsom]

I use a 17 ft canoe with a 30 lb thrust Minn Kota trolling motor. Can't go wrong with canoe if you don't have to carry or drag it far from truck to water. Plenty of room to haul gear and stand or step ladder if there's no trees to hang a stand.
In my experience I can get where I need to, a mile in the swamp a lot quicker and quieter with the trolling motor than with a paddle. I really do enjoy the canoe hunts.

[Jonny]

A boat can be a lot of work, even more so than wading in certain situations. Could do a test wade in the off season before ruling out the possibility? Unless you know for sure it'd be too impractical. I'd recommend a boat but I can't say I am much of a boat access guy. I did get an inflatable kayak this yr that is pretty cool and packable but never used it to hunt, (only scouting).

Some of those creeks can really make access tough. I have a few spots on my scouting list every year that I just never get around to because access is so difficult. Really those spots should be towards the top of my list instead of the bottom

Test wading in the summer is pretty productive Did this a mile or two from my gun stand





Learned that hip boots suck in warm weather, jungle boots are the way to go for this. To me, unless you have a long distance, wading is very effective and versatile. The only problem is if it isn't a larger creek/ small river where the spring runoff gets rid of all the debris. Even then, wading is a lot better than a kayak or canoe since you can maneuver better. Also, deep water typically sticks out pretty well, and the fall isn't a high flow time. What you see in july/august is pretty close to what you will see during the season, barring a rainstorm. Even that, I can tell you if its safe or not on my river with a quick google search and some historical data knowing what flows look like on the river.

Even if you have patches of deeper water, take an otter sled, put your gear in it, and swim over the deep spots. Wear wool or pack a dry set of clothes for your sit.

Kayaks and canoes have their place, but for stretches of shallow water, hard to beat a pair of jungle boots.

[bowjunky39]

So a sit on top is more stable than a sit inside. Only gear I will have is stand and sticks with bow and pack

Wading is really spotty... we duck hunt creeks a lot in kayaks. Water level fluctuates, there's always those random holes that could swallow you up. Stumps to trip over etc....

You also have to worry about trees blocking the creek, sand bars, shoals etc.... daytime it's no problem, becomes a chore in the dark though. Especially if you're paddling a fair piece in when it's dark. I put a light bar on my kayak for this reason and those 3k lumens made those 1+ mile journies so much more bearable now compared to moon light or an old headlamp

I use a 10' 29" wide perception kayak with no issues. Granted I've never taken it deer hunting only fishing/ducks.... I'd shoot for a 12-14' kayak and as wide as possible for stability. Sit on top preferably as well with a good light source if you're going somewhere narrow and thick.