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Author Topic: Shooting birds while on the water  (Read 9021 times)

mulga bill

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Shooting birds while on the water
« on: December 04, 2006, 02:11:31 am »

I would like to be able to motor around lakes and rivers here in Western Australia at anything between a crawl and flat out run...love the excersise paddling gives but yearn for hands free too so i can concentrate on actually getting the shot!...any ideas?

So far i'm thinking canoe/kayak/electric motor (nice and quiet) with some rudder pedals,or a small aluminium punt with tiny 4 stroke motor...as i need to be able to launch and use it by myself.Any suggestions about that or related items is most welcome:)
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larryg

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2006, 10:08:18 am »

Quote
I would like to be able to motor around lakes and rivers here in Western Australia at anything between a crawl and flat out run...love the excersise paddling gives but yearn for hands free too so i can concentrate on actually getting the shot!...any ideas?

So far i'm thinking canoe/kayak/electric motor (nice and quiet) with some rudder pedals,or a small aluminium punt with tiny 4 stroke motor...as i need to be able to launch and use it by myself.Any suggestions about that or related items is most welcome:)
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Why not do what Franz Lanting did.  Get in the water up to the neck and get birds from their vantage point.   Never mind about the Crocs they are harmless.

Seriously you might try a bass buddy (a small floatable) with a foot controlled trolling motor (electric)  this would be totally hands free but still with control of navigation.  You could do this on a canoe also but would be a little cumbersome with one.

[a href=\"http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=73973&hvarDept=200&hvarClassCode=4&hvarSubCode=1&hvarTarget=browse&cmid=PP_P0_1&cmCat=CROSSSELL]http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.Tex...cmCat=CROSSSELL[/url]

above is a sample of a bass rig for ponds that is built to utilize trolling motors.

for sure a canoe would be more stealthy

Good luck
« Last Edit: December 04, 2006, 11:35:10 am by larryg »
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franta

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2006, 12:32:14 pm »

It looks like you need a pedal canoe: very light, silent, no batteries to charge or petrol to carry around, probably faster than an electric motor and surely the speed is more controllable hands free. (you'll need a hand for steering but then you'd need one to control speed on a motorized boat).
... if there was a suitable body of water near me I'd buy one today.

I have not direct experience but they look really nice:
http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/
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mulga bill

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2006, 05:18:21 am »

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Why not do what Franz Lanting did.  Get in the water up to the neck and get birds from their vantage point.   Never mind about the Crocs they are harmless.

Seriously you might try a bass buddy (a small floatable) with a foot controlled trolling motor (electric)  this would be totally hands free but still with control of navigation.  You could do this on a canoe also but would be a little cumbersome with one.

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.Tex...cmCat=CROSSSELL

above is a sample of a bass rig for ponds that is built to utilize trolling motors.

for sure a canoe would be more stealthy

Good luck
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Thanks for the idea larry and i'm interested but think i may have to make my own or chop someone elses up and modify it.
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Bobtrips

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2006, 02:24:32 pm »

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Thanks for the idea larry and i'm interested but think i may have to make my own or chop someone elses up and modify it.
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The Hobie pedal kayak works well.

And I've seen people attach an electric trolling motor to their canoe.  Just lash a sturdy piece of wood (2x4 would work) across the canoe, possibly over one of the thwarts.  Locate the battery to the opposite side of the canoe to help with balance.

There are trolling motors that can be totally foot controlled, speed and steering, which would leave your hands completely free.

And no reason why you couldn't work out a mount for a kayak.  Especially one of the wider, quite water types.  I can easily see how I could rig a mount on mine by bolting an outrigger through the covered rear with a plywood stiffener beneath.  Battery amid ship and off to the opposite side of the motor.
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mulga bill

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2006, 04:12:06 am »

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The Hobie pedal kayak works well.

And I've seen people attach an electric trolling motor to their canoe.  Just lash a sturdy piece of wood (2x4 would work) across the canoe, possibly over one of the thwarts.  Locate the battery to the opposite side of the canoe to help with balance.

There are trolling motors that can be totally foot controlled, speed and steering, which would leave your hands completely free.

And no reason why you couldn't work out a mount for a kayak.  Especially one of the wider, quite water types.  I can easily see how I could rig a mount on mine by bolting an outrigger through the covered rear with a plywood stiffener beneath.  Battery amid ship and off to the opposite side of the motor.
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Thanks for the tip bob and have been thinking along the same lines also.I need a canoe plus detachable outrigger.Thinking of building some kind of securely mounted and contoured low centre console i can sit around and access easily too, so i can stow all the other bits of equipment i need to carry.Foot control would be fantastic and speed to if possible,is that what you meant? and thinking of clipping a paddle to the outrigger somehow,i need the excersise too!
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mahleu

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2006, 01:06:24 pm »

Get a tractor's inner-tube and float around in that, you can steer and paddle with your feet and your top half will be out of the water
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AHAB

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2006, 02:39:08 pm »

There is a canoe that is made with the gunnel squared off, its called the Ganoe.
Not sure on the spelling.
Perfect for adding a motor.
Very fast and quiet with a electric motor.
I've seen them down here in Central Florida.
I think they are made here.
Hope this helps,
AHAB
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Bobtrips

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2006, 11:58:52 pm »

Quote
There is a canoe that is made with the gunnel squared off, its called the Ganoe.
Not sure on the spelling.
Perfect for adding a motor.
Very fast and quiet with a electric motor.
I've seen them down here in Central Florida.
I think they are made here.
Hope this helps,
AHAB
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Yep.  Forgot about those.  I have a friend who has a square stern canoe and propels it with an electric trolling motor.

You can get foot controlled trolling motors which allow you to control speed and direction with a single foot pedal.  I expect that you can switch into reverse via foot as well, but that might not be as big an issue.

So hang a trolling motor off the back or arrange it midships, either should work.  As will the Hobie pedal kayak.

Heck, you could even get one of those "ducks" that you pedal.  Might get a good deal on it from the local lake.  You could blend right in with the rest of the flock.

Doesn't Garrison Keeler have a story along that line?
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gkramer

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #9 on: December 26, 2006, 03:29:40 am »

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I would like to be able to motor around lakes and rivers here in Western Australia at anything between a crawl and flat out run...love the excersise paddling gives but yearn for hands free too so i can concentrate on actually getting the shot!...any ideas?

So far i'm thinking canoe/kayak/electric motor (nice and quiet) with some rudder pedals,or a small aluminium punt with tiny 4 stroke motor...as i need to be able to launch and use it by myself.Any suggestions about that or related items is most welcome:)
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Another solution would be a 'sneak boat' as used by the commercial duck hunters of yore; low freeboard, but beamy, plenty of storage space, though it would require a motor (or oars, which aren't very stealthy).  

A stealthier, low-tech solution would be an ordinary canoe (or kayak, I presume), with a one-handed paddle, as used by North American indian hunters of yore. The paddle has a bracket or sleeve about halfway up the forearm, so by gripping it at the neck, just above the blade, the paddle, and canoe, can be controlled with one arm; and by sculling (keeping the paddle in the water, without lifting it out for distinct strokes), a good canoist can manoever quite well, and stealthily, in calm water; and, at the last minute, releasing the paddle (which will stay attached to the forearm) and use the extra hand for the camera. (Keep a conventional two-handed paddle, or a small outboard--square stern quite unnecessary--in the canoe for travelling to or from home waters).
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coppertop

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Shooting birds while on the water
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2007, 12:46:39 pm »

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I would like to be able to motor around lakes and rivers here in Western Australia at anything between a crawl and flat out run...love the excersise paddling gives but yearn for hands free too so i can concentrate on actually getting the shot!...any ideas?

So far i'm thinking canoe/kayak/electric motor (nice and quiet) with some rudder pedals,or a small aluminium punt with tiny 4 stroke motor...as i need to be able to launch and use it by myself.Any suggestions about that or related items is most welcome:)
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I had the opportunity to chase Osprey on the Tennessee River over the summer.  The only way to approach the nests which were on a Channel Marker was by boat.

We took the boat up river from the nests and drifted back to the nests.  When working the shoreline we used the trolling motor.

One thing I learned was not to use a monopod while the engine is running.  The vibrations from the motor transfer rather nicely up the monopod to the camera.
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