We got a duck boat!
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- čas přidán 17. 08. 2024
- So we ended up getting a duck boat. We've wanted a boat for a while, but were struggling to find exactly what we wanted. We decided to settle for a small jon boat with a mud motor just for learning the ropes.
We've had fun so far. We are keeping everything simple, and just installing a light bar and navigation lights.
The boat is just an non-named jon boat with a Predator 6.5 hp motor with a Mud Skipper longtail kit.
MicTuning Light Bar - amzn.to/2pyRwnR
Attwood Navigation Light - amzn.to/2qntZ7w
Instagram - / drakevalleyoutdoors
Twitter - / drakevalley
2016 Hunting Videos - goo.gl/8BCG62
Product Reviews - goo.gl/Bm2dR7
First Impressions - goo.gl/AF69qN - Sport
Oh man! Let the fun begin!! Nothing like a boat to keep you bu$y in the off-season! So fun to work on and plan and whatnot. Great/fun project! I realize you said you don't plan to hunt out of it, but I'll bet you two dollars and two donuts that changes, should you keep it into the season. With that said, IF you do end up hunting out of it, I only have one tip: quiet the floor and sides with some cheap astro turf or thin outdoor carpet. I've hunted out of john boats plenty and they can be so stinking loud (boots, shells dropping, coffee cups dropping, guns clanking the sides, etc., etc., etc.!). Putting some sort of material on the floors, sides, heck, even the benches, really helps unintended clanks, clunks, thanks, and thunks. Oh,, and if it's not already been done, hinging the bench seats for storage is pretty much a must-do. Not so much a big deal for a fishing only boat, but for hunting, with all the junk we lug along, making those benches storage spaces (semi-waterproof storage spaces) is pretty needed. Just a coupla cents worth of advice! Good luck! Hope you find time to post some boat updates throughout the summer! Cheers Drake!
Thanks Yup!
I just don't think I can see this boat being safe/comfortable for more than one person to shoot out of it. It feels fine with the driver standing up, but anyone else stands up and it sways a little too much for my liking. We'd obviously have to drive anchor poles to make it more stable, but I'm still not sure if there's enough space.
We'll have to look into doing something with the seats. It would definitely help to have more storage. Right now, I think the seats are foam filled.
Good to see that you got a boat. Its a little sketchy but I've driven 4 and hunted 3 people out of my 14 ft 39" semi v and did it safely. Learn how to shoot sitting down, you can get a shot off faster if you need to. Just my 2 cents. I've been watching since y'all started. Good luck this year!
Ian McGonigal I agree with the shooting while sitting comment. We used to use bleacher seats clamped sideways. Worked pretty good.
Congrats man! Looks like it will turn out to be a sweet rig by duck season!
How did you mount the light bar? Self-tappers?
I'd like to see y'all working on it! Nice little boat, just about perfect to get from a to b
Unfortunately we did most of the work before I got the camera out. We just did two small things after I recorded this. We're pretty much done with it at this point.
Bummer, well if you get a new one you outta do some videos on it!
If we get another, it will probably be just mine so I'll definitely do more videos working on it. We have split ownership on this one, so it was stored at my buddies house and he did a little work on it when I wasn't available. We also didn't do too much to this one. Mainly just undoing the jerry rigging from the previous owner, and adding lights.
does that light bar obscure the red and green lights at night from a distance
Congrats on the new boat! I got my first boat in 2015. I also got an older boat (the hull was a 1976.) The trailer on mine is also an old single axle with a 25 hp Mercury outboard. The motor isn't ideal for waterfowl but it gets the job done most of the time.
I always found more stuff that my boat needed. I just put new Amazon type LEDs on my boat that are super bright. Someone suggested Sportsmansdesigns.com for a blind. I plan to get one of those this year.
I made the $500 mistake last year of buying a used hard side blind it got us through the season but it took WAY more work and money than it was worth for a blind we couldn't fold down. It was heavy, boxy and high profile. Many softside blinds from Banded or Beavertail are pricey. I haven't used a Sportsman's Designs yet but even with all the extensions, bells and whistles for my boat, it'll be only $220. Plus, it's semi DIY build so it'll be fun.
Looking forward to your video of you all running lines! That's a blast!
I'd think about some marine plywood for a floor. It's nice not tripping over the cross ribs all the time. Using a saber saw you can notch along the edges where the cross members come up. Good luck with your boat.
Just fyi, marine ply has a chemical (tanins?) that will cause corrosion on aluminum.
Could be, but I've had it in my 16ft flatty for 25 years, no problem along those lines.
Thank you
How did you make the handle for the driver? I'd like to do that to mine
I'd probably have to get some better video/pictures to explain it better.. but it's just conduit piping anchored to both sides. There are two pins that can be removed so it can fold flat if needed.
Great video
Is that light bar 12v ? And does is come wired
It will run off a 10-30v power source. It does come with the power and ground ran, as well as a rocker switch but you will have to do some wiring to get it hooked up to a power source.
@@DrakeValleyOutdoors thanks bud it’ll work on a 12v battery is what ur saying ? Bc that’s what I’m trying to rig up on my 17/52 boat
@@joshuaverdin2160 yes, we have ours wired into a 12v deep cycle marine battery
@@DrakeValleyOutdoors thanks bud
Duck hunting isn't a poor mans sport.
Moving weight forward will help when you are in the water. Weight of fuel tank and motor, driver in the back. I'd move the battery forward for balance.
We'll have to look at that. We'll likely never be running the boat with only one person on it, so the second person will be sitting further up on the boat. We'll also almost always have gear that we can set up in the front to counter the weight.
We took it out yesterday with the battery in it and it seemed to do fine, but that was definitely something I had not thought about when we were doing the wiring.
If the boat is just for transport I'd open it up some. get rid of some of those cross seats. (I'd take all of them out) My boat is 15-40 and I can get me and 2 others with all our gear. Its not a speed boat by any means though. I put a 23hp Backwater longtail on my boat...a 1976 fisher. I mounted straps along both side gunnels to hold our shotguns (in floating gun cases also) that way they are off the floor and out of our way. Seats are the smaller yeti type coolers (I got cabela's brand) and they act as dry storage. I mounted loops on both sides of the boat down low and run a strap over the coolers during transport so they don't blow out the boat. My storage in the bow is just big enough to hold the life jackets, throw-able, small tool box, TP, spot light just in case my bow light goes out, and 2 small collapsible paddles. My front deck comes back past the storage a bit...just big enough to cover the gas tank and my mojo bag. I ran my fuel line down the sides just like your electrical lines...and my electrical down the other side . I run a string across the bow from eye to eye tie down brackets. I clip my carabiner that is holding my decoys (tx rig) to the line and they hang down back over the bow in the front of boat. All this to keep the boat VERY OPEN as space is a premium. My battery is a small lawn and garden type. Its sits in the rear.
Good stuff got my sub!
I got 2 small light bars for my jon boat how long do u run the lights of the battery before it drains it. Thanks
We have never ran it till it died all the way. We usually only hunted once a weekend with it, and ran the lights for 3-4 hours at most each time. Then it went back on the charger before the next weekend.
20 hp long tail mud moter
You sound exactly like Nicolas Cage
Hey man where are you out of ? Cali?
The Midwest.
Drake Valley Outdoors haha duh the first thing you say is Kansas in the video 😂 but I love the vids man super badass
Haha, yes I read your comment the other day when I was out hunting and thought... "ummm I said Kansas in the first sentence of the video" lol. But I don't really disclose that anymore. I think this is the only video I ever actually said it.
You get this bad boy out yet with video?
Not yet. We've taken it out quite a few times now, but mainly around areas that we hunt so I'm always a little nervous of showing too much of the surrounding areas.
Drake Valley Outdoors makes sense. We just went a little bigger and bought a 1440 jon boat. We hunt a lot of backwaters on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, so didn't want to go too much bigger. Should get the job done for us. We got it all camo'd up and wired. Just need to take it for a float now instead.
How much?
$850 is what we paid for the boat, motor and trailer. I think we're at a total of $1200 with all the stuff we we've done so far. Bearing (plus a spare set), trailer lights, wiring, spare tire, light bar, navigation lights, battery, parts for the handle, ect.
I've got a 1640 river jon with blind.
Most duck hunters are big fat fuckers and won't go in anything under a 1648.
1430? Its gonna be tippy.