Hunting has become more challenging over the past few years. The number of new hunters hitting the fields has exploded, pressuring your target game further away from the “beaten path” than ever before. How do you find them? How do you get to where they are? One of the best options you’ll find is to kayak into your hunting zone. Many of today’s public hunting zones have sides generally considered inaccessible by the common hunter because it requires a boat. AJ and I are here to tell you, that’s not necessarily the case.
We have been hunting for several years now. AJ and I have hunted, exclusively, on public land this entire time. There is an almost sickeningly high pressure level on game staging in public lands. If you don’t become creative and aren’t willing to venture further and in different directions from the common hunter, you’ll be left empty handed more often than not. A solution AJ and I have discovered and made frequent use of is our kayaks.
Deer hunting, Duck hunting, Boar or squirrel hunting…The choice of game doesn’t really matter. Every wild animal in existence needs water. Man, thanks to human nature, is commonly a land lover.
While accessing hunting zones by water has become a bit more common place, it is still significantly less utilized than walking in from allocated parking areas. The common hunter on foot is pressuring the game away from those easily accessed areas. By using your kayak to access a hunting zone, you are entering the animal’s territory from a side it will not be expecting to see you and, ideally, you’re entering in a quieter manner. The less likely they are to anticipate your presence, the less they’ll be on guard and the more likely you will be to get that chance for a perfect shot.
Hunting by kayak is significantly different from fishing from a kayak. The same kayak can serve both purposes and, in many cases, has served both for AJ and myself. What you pack with you and how you utilize your kayak, however, will vary drastically. Remember that, even if you’re just crossing a body of water to your hunting zone then hiking in a few yards, you’re still going to need your safety gear and PFD. Duck hunting typically requires you to be set up and ready for your first shot long before first light. Traveling by water in the dark requires a 360 degree anchor light, sound making device, and an understanding of the underwater hazards along the course you’re going to be taking. Deer hunting often starts before sunup and frequently ends long after sunset. But what do you need beyond the basic USCG required safety precautions?
These 4 mods can get your hunting experience off to a solid start…
1. Hunting Blinds
Duck hunting regulations are different depending on the state, county, and/or city you’re in. Some places will allow you to float down stream fishing from your kayak and simply pull your shotgun out of the hull and fire when a duck passes overhead. Here in Texas, however, we must be anchored and not in motion.
Hunting is permitted in the open or from a blind or other type of concealment or from floating craft or motor boat provided that all motion resulting from sail or motor has ceased. Sails must be furled and motor turned off before shooting starts.
What prevents you from standing out like a giant fluorescent flag to those birds as they sail by? Disguising your kayak can help limit the likelihood of ducks altering course to avoid a boat. Large groups of guys drinking and carrying on with shotguns in their laps is a common sight along the banks of lakes frequented by migratory waterfowl. If you look like them, the ducks already know to avoid you. If you look like a fallen log along the bank or a collection of reeds linking the river’s edge, the birds have less reason to avoid you.
Disguising your kayak can be as easy as camouflaging it with a vinyl wrap or spray painting it to match the color pallet surrounding you. Both processes are relatively easy to accomplish and don’t require a tremendous amount of time or money.
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could put a laydown blind over your kayak. A laydown blind can be altered to fit inside the hull or along the gunnel. For the full fledged DIYers, PVC or conduit tubing could be used to frame out a blind allowing you to lay down or sit in your kayak seat.
Deer are a completely different concept. Remember to always check you local regulations for wherever you’ll be hunting. Texas does not allow us to hunt deer from a watercraft of any kind. Even if we were to anchor along the bank and secure the boat so it is not moving, we are still not allowed to take that shot. It is, however, an important means of accessing the hunting grounds we intend to hunt in. The mods we use for deer hunting are more pertinent to storage and transportation.
2. Dry storage for weapons, ammo, etc.
Let’s face it, weapons and water just don’t play well together. Archery is probably the most common hunting we have out here in Texas. There’s more available hunting land, the hunting season is longer, and it’s significantly more affordable and accessible to a wider range of hunters. Bow strings can become frayed and weakened from moisture. Gears and cams become rusted and jammed from the debris often mixed with the river and lake waters around her. And no matter if it’s rainwater or lake water, many of the fletchings in use these days just don’t handle getting wet. If you hunt with a shotgun or rifle, your barrel can easily become rusted. Your ammo can misfire when the primer becomes wet. Many of the cheaper scopes are not watertight…So how do you protect your gear from the water every kayak endures?
Many of today’s kayaks have a way to mount dryboxes. There are about as many dry box options on the market as there are kayak hunters so your options are definitely not limited. A kayak with a trolling motor won’t require you to do much if any paddling, so you may be able to mount a dry box to the utility track on the side of your gunnel. Kayaks with large fore or aft wells may allow for a dry box of proper dimensions to be secured by bolts or straps. If you have a waterproof gun bag you could set up a paddle holder that will secure your gun bag to your kayak.
3. Stands, Climbers, and packs need to be secured
People who fish from a kayak are commonly converting milk crates to hold their tackle and fishing rods. The same concept can be applied to hunting. Most gear can be folded down into a relatively compact setup. Plastic boxes from Amazon, Harbor Freight, or even your local thrift store can be modified to accommodate secure storage for your gear. By securing it into one (or ideally 2) spot(s), you can centralize your weight, preventing your kayak from swamping. Balancing the weight in your kayak along the central line of your hull with relatively even distribution fore, center, and aft you keep the kayak level and balanced in the water. The safer your travel, the calmer and more relaxed you’ll be upon arrival. More importantly, the less you have to work to get to your hunting spot, the less likely you’ll be too tired to watch for that target harvest.
Another plus is that storing your gear in a box like this prevents individual parts from falling overboard as easily. Having it all together and ready for each hunting trip prevents you from forgetting something when packing last minute the night before your hunt. And you can easily pack a spare camo tarp to drape over your kayak once banked. The fewer passersby that see your kayak, the fewer opportunities you’ll have following in your footsteps as you track that ideal game trail.
4. Stashing your kayak once you reach your hunting zone
When you’re at the boat ramp, it’s relatively easy to move your kayak around. After all, that’s what the ramp is designed for. When you’re in the middle of the forest with sand, mud and debris lining the bank of your waterway, moving that kayak isn’t going to be as easy.
A great solution to this problem is wheels. Often referred to as a kayak dolly, there are a variety of gadgets on the market that will help you move your kayak to and from the water. Some simply slide under your kayak, secure with straps, then roll where you take them. Others slide into place latching into scupper holes or securing onto gear tracks. The DIY process can involve wheels that are attached when needed or can be permanently attached and merely require flipping down when wanted, up when not needed.
This is the beauty of kayaking.
Almost anything you may need or want for your kayak is available out there as long as you’re willing to look for it. And almost everything that has been designed can be built with just a bit of ingenuity and patience.
Hunting is a challenge. Learning to hunt can be an excruciating trial of your determination. Make your life easier and give yourself room to breathe as you learn the hunting skills you need in the field by simplifying your process of accessing that field. Kayaking in allows you to avoid many of the other hunters and allows you to conserve your energy for the more pressing battle ahead (dragging your harvest out of the woods)!