Wes Littlefield 12.11.24
Kayaks have been used for leisure and transportation functions for hundreds of years, however few individuals notice their important position in searching. If that’s you, don’t fear; you’ll quickly discover ways to deer hunt out of your kayak to carry house extra backstrap this season! I’ve been kayak deer attempting to find a number of years now and kicked myself for not starting sooner. Nonetheless, I didn’t begin earlier in life as a result of I didn’t have a kayak that met all my searching wants. So, let’s start by studying how to decide on the proper yak.
Buying a Searching Kayak
Most individuals hate kayaks as a result of they select the most cost effective one they’ll discover. It is a mistake, particularly for hunters. You don’t must go loopy, however an excellent searching kayak will value you $800+ since you want a number of options that low-cost kayaks don’t have, similar to:
- Stability
- Portability
- Open Design
- Customizability
Understanding the soundness of a kayak is simply potential when you check it on the water, so you are able to do a few various things to determine this out. The primary is to go to your native kayak store and ask in the event that they do demo days and check it out at that occasion. The opposite is to conduct thorough analysis to seek out out what others say concerning the kayak’s stability by which you’re .
It doesn’t matter what sort of auto you drive, portability is a matter. I desire to trailer my searching kayak as a result of it’s heavy and a bit lengthy for a truck mattress. However in the event you resolve on a lighter, shorter yak, you possibly can automotive high it in your SUV or toss it behind your truck.
A number of years in the past, most kayaks have been sit-inside kayaks, however at the moment, the sit-on-top kayaks have taken over, and that’s the design you want for a number of causes. Sit-on-top yaks are sometimes extra secure, which suggests they are usually safer and extra accessible to enter and exit, and hauling a deer throughout the lake is far less complicated with an open deck design.
Lastly, buying a really customizable kayak, like my Nucanoe Frontier 12, is nice as a result of you possibly can change it to suit your wants as an alternative of making an attempt to make issues work and ending up annoyed as a result of the kayak wasn’t designed with hunters in thoughts.
Kayak Deer Searching Rigged Proper
One approach to make your kayak deer searching extra pleasant is to rig your little plastic boat accurately.
The beauty of that is you resolve what’s appropriate! Rigging your kayak is a private expertise, however listed here are a number of ideas I’ve picked up over time.
- Hold It Easy
- Much less Is Extra
- All the time Hold Security In Thoughts
- Check It Out
- Don’t Be Afraid To Alter
My deer searching kayak setup is fairly easy. I’ve a few gun/bow mounts to safe my firearm or bow whereas touring throughout the water, a snug seat, paddle, PFD, and typically, I like to make use of a kayak trolling motor.
I’ve additionally rigged LED lights on my kayak to see the place I’m going in the dead of night and alert different boaters to my presence and route. My setup has modified over time as I’ve found what I like and don’t like and adjusted it accordingly.
How To Deer Hunt from a Kayak
In contrast to duck searching from a kayak, there’s actually just one means to make use of a kayak for deer searching: getting from level A to level B. I like this as a result of it’s easy.
On my common kayak deer searching journey, I load my gear onto my Frontier 12, leaving loads of room for a deer to be positioned in entrance of me. Then, I paddle to the place I need to hunt. More often than not, I’m comfy leaving my kayak on the shore, however in the event you’re not, be at liberty to pull it into the woods and canopy it with some brush earlier than strolling to your favourite spot. It’s actually that easy to deer hunt from a kayak, however why would you undergo this further work?
Advantages of Utilizing a Kayak for Deer Searching
There are a lot of advantages to kayak deer searching, and I’ve listed a number of of them under:
- Opens Up Extra Choices
- Shortens Your Stroll
- Extra Covert
- Simpler Transporting Your Harvested Deer
Whereas kayak deer searching, you possibly can entry extra distant spots that others can’t or are unwilling to achieve. This implies you hunt much less pressured deer and encounter fewer hunters. Kayaking additionally shortens your stroll. That is extraordinarily useful in the event you’re searching hilly terrain, as you’ll expend much less power to achieve your spot.
Kayaking can be extra covert. You’re spreading much less of your scent by way of the woods. Paddling or utilizing a trolling motor is far quieter than crunching leaves whereas strolling or utilizing an outboard motor on a ship.
Lastly, it’s a lot simpler to haul your deer again to your automobile utilizing a kayak than dragging it again. I’ve drug my justifiable share of deer, and I might a lot fairly load a useless deer on my kayak and paddle it to my automobile than drag it again. Save your self a big backache and use a kayak when you possibly can.
Kayak Deer Searching Security Concerns
For many of this text, I’ve made kayak deer searching sound prefer it’s all rainbows and unicorns as a result of it’s unimaginable, and a kayak is a helpful instrument for hunters. Nonetheless, kayaking throughout searching season entails some threat, and additional precautions should be taken to make sure you return house to your loved ones and associates.
- ALWAYS Put on Your PFD Whereas Kayaking
- Don’t Kayak When The Climate Is Harmful (Windy, Excessive Chilly, and so on.)
- Waterproof Gear Is Most well-liked
I can’t stress sufficient how necessary it’s to all the time put on your life jacket whereas kayaking. It’s such a easy factor to throw on and use, however many hunters fail to take action, and it prices them dearly. It doesn’t matter how good of a swimmer you’re; it’s exponentially harder in chilly water when your searching garments weigh you down.
If the climate isn’t cooperating, don’t threat it. Stroll to your spot as an alternative, or hunt at a distinct location. 15+ MPH winds are when issues get harmful for kayaks on giant reservoirs (you will get away with windy situations when paddling in small creeks or rivers) and excessive chilly (you’ll must resolve what excessive chilly is for you).
Lastly, carrying waterproof gear is right. Getting moist within the chilly makes for a depressing and presumably harmful hunt. I additionally desire to make use of a water-proof backpack to maintain most of my gear in, as every little thing will get moist in a kayak as a result of they’re so near the water.
Parting Photographs
Regardless of the dangers concerned with kayak deer searching, it opens up many extra searching alternatives and benefits. I strongly advocate utilizing a kayak for searching on public or personal land that borders creeks, rivers, or lakes! Is kayak deer searching price it to you? Let me know within the feedback!
