I see a lot of kayak vendors using terms like “hunting/fishing kayak”. However, I am unable to find any sites online regaring whitewater hunting from kayaks.
Does anyone have any experience with this sort of hunting? How would you transport and use a shotgun while in your kayak, and what tricks are there in maintaining stability while firing your arm?
Deliverance?
I don’t hunt, but I assumed the ads were referring to waterfowl hunting in calm shallows.
But hey, I’ve lived in the Bronx and LA, guns and fast moving vehicles aren’t unheard of…
Most Kayaks aren’t well suited…
For drive-by shooting, especially if there is a powerboat to chase you down.
I’ve thought about using my yak
to deer hunt out of, however, I shoot a compound bow, therefore, my bottom cam would likely be in the water during the shot.
I suspect what you need to look @ is a yak that is wide (24" min) & probably on the short side (appx 10’).
You’d likely be floating during the shot, & hopefully floating rather slowly. So you should’nt have to worry too much about aim as it relates to stability of the boat.
My question to you would be; do you have an idea how you would get your “harvest” out and back to your vehicle? I have a perception swifty that is in the size range I mention and I believe its only rated for appx 300lbs. That only leaves 100 # for harvest. Dont know how you’d latch it down and paddle away with it either, could be a pain in the arse.
good luck.
kurt
hunting from the water?
– Last Updated: Oct-01-06 11:25 PM EST –
Well, only recently, the US Navy has overcome the difficulties of hitting a land target from a moving (pitching-yawing-etc..) vessel by using hi-technology
Beyond that, killing stuff on land while floating usually comes from maintianing a sustained "rate-of-fire", & lottsa luck.
Before recent tech advances, naval combat operations were notorious for having some serious ranging problems - just ask any combat Marine.
By the way, with all the supermarkets out there, why/& what would you want to hunt (with a gun) from a kayak???
Shotgun? Get yourself a harpoon dude
If you want to hunt from a kayak do it the way it was meant to be…
http://www.rom.on.ca/exhibits/ivory/graphics/archival-throw-harpoon.jpg
think canoe
– Last Updated: Oct-01-06 11:57 PM EST –
I think you would have a much easier time hunting from a canoe. You can kneel or stand for a better POV and get clearance of that lower cam. You can more easily carry your game. I think if I had to, I could stuff three deer, or twenty four raccoons, or thirty five opossums, or one moose, or two hundred squirrel, or most combinations of the aforementioned animals in my Wenonah. And most importantly when you accidentally and critically wound yourself, your chances of remaining upright are much better in a canoe.
Mathias
I think we’ve all been had
The original post seems like an obvious troll to me. While there is a long history of hunting with guns from canoes, I’ve never heard of anyone using a kayak for hunting. If you are deer hunting then there is no place for the deer. If you are duck hunting then there is no place for all the decoys.
You may be right
Could be a troll. It was the part about “whitewater” that threw me. Seems like the last place you’d want to shoot from would be a boat in whitewater, and an uncontrolled boat at that. It’s bad enough to put down the paddle and try to shoot when the wind is blowing or differential current is wanting to twist you the wrong way.
About those decoys, though: Cuising small creeks and jump-shooting wood ducks can be done from a canoe, and decoys have no place in that style of hunting. In fact, I myself missed four chances at wood ducks today while canoeing - two that I missed (I haven’t actually practiced shooting a shotgun since I was a kid), and two more that caught me too much off guard to even think about getting a off a shot. I work with a guy who once saw someone getting ready to jump-shoot wood ducks from a kayak. The guy had his gun laying on a makeshift rack on the deck, ready to pick up in an instant when needed.
I’m thinking…
…you should get one of those Enlightened yak’s with the outriggers for stability and camo yourself 
what is harvest?
wheat?
the shot deer?
not so fast
check out EJ’s new video Roll, Brace and Shoot
First off…
…kayaks were invented as a hunting platform.
A boat like an Old Town Loon could be used for
float hunting river ducks. You can get quite
close to them, but even with a Loon I’d want to
make sure I was shooting along the long axis of
the boat.
Jump shooting river ducks doesn’t require decoys.
Let me know when you are going
I’ll warn the guys with the throw bags at the base of the class III to clear the area!
Cheers,
JackL
hell, that’s nothing
there’s a post right now on the yahoo surfski group site about “making babies” on a surfski. pull that trick off, and blasting bambi from a squirt boat will seem like child’s play.
af
“Shoot on long axis of boat”?
When sitting, the directions you can shoot are rather limited to start with, but for a right-handed person it ranges from a little ways right of center to something in excess of 90 degrees left of center. Shooting well toward the left of center is actually a lot easier than shooting straight ahead, along the axis of the boat.
Are you thinking about recoil being a problem? If you are, rest assured that that kind of recoil only happens in really bad action movies.
Just in case
its not a troll: Where ever heldigper lives (no profile makes it difficult to help) don’t even think of shooting at big game from the water in Colorado. It’s illegal and dangerous to shoot “across” the water and I would bet that is how the game warden would look at it. Waterfowl would be a different situation. It might be safe to presume deer and shotgun (with slug) somewhere in the East. It’s not done much out west. Here’s hoping that “whitewater” was a typo or misunderstanding.
No so much recoil as sudden moves…
…but yeah, you’re probably correct.
Done archery deer
I’ve done archery hunting for deer out of a canoe, but we never had much luck. Generally deer know water is a dangerous place because it draws predators for the same reasons it draws them. That and drawing a bow, while kneeling in a canoe takes some serious practice and advance planning. Wheres the paddle going, wheres the bow coming from, and the arrow, where do you need to be to draw and release without hitting anything, remember to balance carefully. Saw a few deer, didnt get a shot, I spooked them to easily with a thump on the boat either from the paddle, or the bow.
I’ve considered it out of my kayak, but there would be no way to carry a deer or any sizable game out wihtout being in major danger of flipping from having the load too high.
Now I havent tried potting squirrels from it, maybe I’ll take a float trip next september (small game season opens on the 15th of september here, much later than that and you want a drysuit to kayak) and bring the air pistol for that reason.
SOT no problem
I wouldn’t try shooting big game with my bow from a yak. Too many variables to make me feel confident in a humane shot. Its only 37 1/2" axle to axle length, but I still would wonder about bottom limb contact. A recurve OTOH canted 45 degrees might be OK. Still it would be a shot across the water. As for packing out, a deer would certainly be easier than elk. If you boned the “harvest” you would only be packing the weight of the meat. It could easily be stowed and balanced even in a SINK. You could make two or more trips and still have an easier job than packing quarters out on your back.
So, paddle to the hunting spot, walk to your stand or stalk, make the kill hopefully close to the water, cut it up, pack and paddle back out. Sounds like a plan to me.