Wes Littlefield 12.11.24
Kayaks have been used for leisure and transportation functions for hundreds of years, however few folks understand their crucial function in looking. If that’s you, don’t fear; you’ll quickly learn to deer hunt out of your kayak to carry house extra backstrap this season! I’ve been kayak deer trying to find a number of years now and kicked myself for not starting sooner. Nevertheless, I didn’t begin earlier in life as a result of I didn’t have a kayak that met all my looking wants. So, let’s start by studying how to decide on the right yak.
Buying a Searching Kayak
Most individuals hate kayaks as a result of they select the most affordable one they’ll discover. This can be a mistake, particularly for hunters. You don’t should go loopy, however a superb looking kayak will value you $800+ since you want a number of options that low cost kayaks don’t have, comparable to:
- Stability
- Portability
- Open Design
- Customizability
Understanding the soundness of a kayak is barely attainable when you take a look at 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 search out out what others say concerning the kayak’s stability wherein you’re .
It doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive, portability is a matter. I favor to trailer my looking kayak as a result of it’s heavy and a bit lengthy for a truck mattress. However should you determine on a lighter, shorter yak, you possibly can automobile high it in your SUV or toss it at the back of your truck.
A number of years in the past, most kayaks had been sit-inside kayaks, however at present, the sit-on-top kayaks have taken over, and that’s the design you want for just a few causes. Sit-on-top yaks are sometimes extra steady, which suggests they are typically safer and extra accessible to enter and exit, and hauling a deer throughout the lake is way easier 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 a substitute of attempting to make issues work and ending up pissed off as a result of the kayak wasn’t designed with hunters in thoughts.
Kayak Deer Searching Rigged Proper
One technique to make your kayak deer looking extra gratifying is to rig your little plastic boat appropriately.
The beauty of that is you determine what’s right! Rigging your kayak is a private expertise, however listed here are just a few ideas I’ve picked up through the years.
- Preserve It Easy
- Much less Is Extra
- All the time Preserve Security In Thoughts
- Take a look at It Out
- Don’t Be Afraid To Alter
My deer looking 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 through the years 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 looking from a kayak, there’s actually just one method to make use of a kayak for deer looking: getting from level A to level B. I really like this as a result of it’s easy.
On my common kayak deer looking 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 should you’re not, be happy to pull it into the woods and canopy it with some brush earlier than strolling to your favourite spot. It’s actually that straightforward to deer hunt from a kayak, however why would you undergo this additional work?
Advantages of Utilizing a Kayak for Deer Searching
There are a lot of advantages to kayak deer looking, and I’ve listed just a few of them beneath:
- Opens Up Extra Choices
- Shortens Your Stroll
- Extra Covert
- Simpler Transporting Your Harvested Deer
Whereas kayak deer looking, 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 should you’re looking hilly terrain, as you’ll expend much less vitality to achieve your spot.
Kayaking can also be extra covert. You’re spreading much less of your scent by the woods. Paddling or utilizing a trolling motor is way 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 car utilizing a kayak than dragging it again. I’ve drug my justifiable share of deer, and I’d a lot moderately load a lifeless deer on my kayak and paddle it to my car than drag it again. Save your self a big backache and use a kayak when you possibly can.
Kayak Deer Searching Security Issues
For many of this text, I’ve made kayak deer looking sound prefer it’s all rainbows and unicorns as a result of it’s unbelievable, and a kayak is a helpful instrument for hunters. Nevertheless, kayaking throughout looking season entails some threat, and additional precautions have to be taken to make sure you return house to your loved ones and pals.
- ALWAYS Put on Your PFD Whereas Kayaking
- Don’t Kayak When The Climate Is Harmful (Windy, Excessive Chilly, and so forth.)
- Waterproof Gear Is Most well-liked
I can’t stress sufficient how essential 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 might be; it’s exponentially harder in chilly water when your looking garments weigh you down.
If the climate isn’t cooperating, don’t threat it. Stroll to your spot as a substitute, or hunt at a unique location. 15+ MPH winds are when issues get harmful for kayaks on massive reservoirs (you will get away with windy situations when paddling in small creeks or rivers) and excessive chilly (you’ll should determine what excessive chilly is for you).
Lastly, sporting waterproof gear is right. Getting moist within the chilly makes for a depressing and presumably harmful hunt. I additionally favor to make use of a water-resistant backpack to maintain most of my gear in, as every 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 looking, it opens up many extra looking alternatives and benefits. I strongly advocate utilizing a kayak for looking on public or non-public land that borders creeks, rivers, or lakes! Is kayak deer looking value it to you? Let me know within the feedback!
