You can do better than the boat in the photo. 85 pounds is no fun to portage. I have used a wood and canvas canoe for decades that weighs even more when wet. I almost never portage it but line it sometimes around rapids. For a portage I use 2 people, mostly just to get on and off the water.
Find a common boat like an Old Town or Wenonah. Find one that has not been stored outside and has life left in the hull. . Even a 70 pound canoe would be much better., A flat bottom is not so good.
The good news is that you are in an excellent area for used canoe shopping. You will find what you want.
When I looked at Facebook marketplace Cleveland the boat I liked best for you is the Old Town 119 solo but they are asking $500. Maybe they’d take $300. People like that boat.
I don’t know enough about the Discovery 158 or 147 to know whether you should wait for something else.
The boat that really caught my eye is the Sawyer Safari for $250. That is a rare boat that would be a dream with a trolling motor or 2 hp outboard. That’s the problem with looking for desirable used canoes…you always find them.
Truth. 
If you don’t mind making a few hours drive, there tend to be a lot of used solo canoes that come up for sale in central NY, between Buffalo and Utica. I’m in Pittsburgh and had wanted a Curtis Ladybug solo canoe 5 years ago. I missed getting 2 that popped up on Craiglist and Facebook (they go fast when they are offered for under $1000) but finally found one listed just southwest of Rochester, NY, near the Finger Lakes, which is the area where Curtis canoes were made. It was a 4 hour drive (which I could have done in one day but instead I decided to keep going another 5 hours and visit my brother in Saratoga Springs for a while. But I still would have made the one day trip to get it because it was a good deal). If you are nearer to Erie in would that far or less to that part of NY.
I just did a random check on Facebook Marketplace for canoes for sale within a 60 mile radius of Rochester and there were more than 30 non-aluminum canoes under $600 up there including at least half a dozen $400 or less. Like this clean 14’ one:
There are a lot of canoes that will work for your purpose. These are but two companies with suitable canoes that should show up on the used market.
If I remember right the Mohawk 14 even came in camo. The Mohawk Odessey would also be good for what you want. They would be made of Royalex.
The old town guide 147 was mentioned. Also mentioned, the Old Town 119 Discovery solo made of three-layer polyethylene, and especially the Old Town Sportsman Discovery 119 Solo Canoe as it has the seat with a lower center of gravity and profile for shooting waterfowl. It also can be found in camo.
There was also the 13’ OT NEXT.
I agree that the Old Town you found is too heavy. Also the seats are too high for stability. For hunting and fishing, you are active in the boat instead of just paddling, so stability is important. That Old Town does have a flat bottom, which is a plus for stability.
A lot of the light boats people are recommending would be easy to portage but fall short on the stability you need for hunting and fishing.
Been paddling canoes for more than 60 years. 200 bucks and 17 feet Old Town. Take it ! 85 pounds is heavy, by modern standards. 85 pounds is what a Grumman aluminum weighs. and I have seen 19 yo girls at the livery put them up on their shoulders to load the racks. It IS technique, not pure strength. 85 pounds is still 85 pounds, most people will only be able to easily portage that a few hundred yards. 85 pounds will wear you down on a long trail. I own 5 canoes, only one is less than 85 pounds, a Wenonah 18’ Sundowner, about 60 pounds. My two big boats are both 20’ and 110 pounds each. I’m 72, I shoulder them and walk to the truck and load the ladder rack on top routinely. So, 200 bucks for a good canoe to fish, hunt, learn to paddle, wide enough and stable enough you can stand up and dance in it? Buy it!
Seats on Old Towns can be lowered, I recommend it. Though bolts to the top rail of the gunnels. Buy longer bolts, use a 2.5 inch piece of tube, plus or minus a half inch. Lower is more stable, higher is more comfortable.
If you are using it solo, sit the front seat facing the stern. Or kneel near the center yoke, or ballast the ‘bow’, the boat needs to sit even, or slightly down by the bow into the wind, slightly down to the ‘stern running with the wind.
Learn to paddle kneeling, Indian style. They knew what they were doing. and the slight down by the bow, or down by the stern, just move your kneeling position fore or aft.
Getting a canoe onto your shoulders. Yoke must be in the center or a scotia to the stern. With the canoe sitting on the ground upright. Grasp the yoke at the gunnel on your side and pick up so that the up or open side is away from you and the nice big round bottom of the boat is tucked tight into your belly and the weight is resting on your thighs. reach across with one hand and give a heave and don’t really lift it, just kinda roll it up over your head. Settle it onto your shoulders and walk. Takes some practice, but imagine me, 72, putting a 20’ Old Town Tripper over my head to walk from the backyard to the truck in the drive and loading it onto ladder racks on an F150.
If my old fart fat butt can do it, you can. Make sure you have a beer and a friend handy when you are learning. He or she can lift the canoe off of you and laugh at you as you laugh at yourself. And you will KNOW why everyone here is telling you to spend the next 500 bucks, or 3,000 bucks to buy a better, lighter, less stable boat.
Learn the gooney and the J-stroke I use both all the time. Both work just fine.
Oh !! And remember to smile, when the boat falls on you, when the boat rolls you over, etc. forget to smile and laugh when it does not go perfectly to plan, or we will make you do it all over again. AND, only, only tie the things in the canoe to the canoe, that you want to keep. There are two pair of glasses, and a beautiful stainless steel water bottle at the bottom of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. I know exactly where they are, right down at the bottom.
There is a facebook group North American Canoe Traders that lists several used canoes a day. I found one there. It’s a good resource for anyone looking for a used canoe.
There is a facebook group North American Canoe Traders. I found a canoe in Pennsylvania from the group. It is a good resource for anyone looking for a used canoe.
If you do opt for the heavy boat you’re considering, pick up a folding roller boat dolly you can strap under the stern for portaging it.
I appreciate the advice everyone. I think I am going to pass on this boat and keep my eye out for some of the models mentioned above for a good price. Thanks again!
I have a 16 foot Old Town Camper. It has a flat bottom and is very stable. The material is Royalex and it is listed as weighing 58 pounds. Royalex is not available anymore but I got mine used for $200. I replaced the seats, thwarts, and yoke. I paddle sitting on the bow seat facing backwards and us an extra dry bag filled with water as ballast far forward.
Good luck with your search.
Hands Down, look for a Wenonah Fisherman. Stable enough for your waterfowel hunting and light enough to carry. I have 5 canoes and the fisherman is my go to canoe. I have the older models made of royalex at about 68 lbs. The newer ones are much lighter and I ‘m sure just as stable. 14’ tandem but well balanced for solo paddling from the front seat in reverse. Also well balanced for portaging on your shoulders. A 17’ would ride too high on the water and you would get blown all over in the slightest breeze.
Be careful Wenonah has made two canoes with the name Fisherman. The early version is now called the Adirondack. I had one. It was a good canoe, but with its asymmetrical design and tractor seats, it was less than ideal to paddle backwards from the bow seat as a solo. The newer version is a stable fishing platform.
A two-person canoe isn’t great for one. The seats are in the wrong places and the beam will be too wide for comfortable paddling.
Hi, I’m about the same size as you weight wise. I think 85 pounds is too heavy. Although the price seems good, you are not going to be happy lugging 85 pounds around. Plus, 17ft is very long for solo. It is not really manoeuvrable for duck hunting or photography. You need to go down…mine is a 1974 15 foot fibre canoe that weighs only 50 pounds. For one person (or two) this is easy to manoeuvre and pleasant to portage. You can find something!
Yes if the portage that you’re talking about is from the vehicle to the body of water and it’s less than a 1/4 mile, no big deal but if you’re looking to go a great distance, 85 lbs is a lot more that an average backpack. Add you gear and several there and backs and you’d be wiped out.
I’ve got a 16’ Penobscot and I consider that too heavy for lots of carrying. Having more than one canoe is NOT a bad thing. : )
I have become a big fan of more than one canoe. 5 I own right now. For different reasons. One is at the house in Newfoundland a 45 hour trip with a boat on the roof. One in Arizona, again so I dont have to push it through 2300 miles of wind. (cost of extra fuel, the boats in those two extremes were the same price as the extra fuel.)
Weight. Yeah, they can get very heavy. My two 20’ expedition canoes are 100 and 110 pounds each.
Again, you said it, 1/4 mile, you can carry just about anything 1/4 mile, on the flat. Up or down, gets real tricky.
Portaging a canoe is almost always from the parking lot to the water, 99% of the time. Where you NEED a light weight canoe are places like Boundary Waters, Algonquin PP, French River PP, Alagash, Strictly specialized canoes required there. And when you do one of those, you are wearing the backpack or food barrel , as well as, the canoe. The best part of those wilderness portages, bears get the heck gone. Granted they are grumbling at the time, "Damn, There goes the neighborhood. " Don’t be afraid of a heavy boat, especially at 200 bucks. Great first boat.
This 2018 Old Town Saranac 146 just popped up on Facebook Marketplace north of Pittsburgh (just off I-79, so a little over an hour if you are near Meadville) for $425. Model is 79 pounds. It seems to be very popular for fishing per the reviews on here. The newer Old Towns (since they no longer use Royalex) do have a tendency to oilcan if not carefully stored. Not enough photos in the ad to judge overall condition.
