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Canoe

Gellar said:
I have an old Grumman aluminum canoe. Its been straightened and welded after being wrapped around a tree. It weighs 84 lbs and it’s ugly. But so am I, so i like it. I would like to have a fancy lightweight canoe, but Kevlar doesn’t have much use in our local rivers. Get a canoe with a keel, the lightweight alumacrafts are indestructible and usually only weight around 60 lbs.
I worked in the boundary waters for a summer and 1 group wanted 3 Kevlar and 1 aluminum canoe. Didn’t ask why but thought it was weird. When they got back after a week the aluminum canoe was black from fire soot. They said they filled it water and would put over the fire for a hot tub.
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I'm just shocked no one picked up on the fact that @Gellar weighs 84 lbs. How is that possible with the food pics you post. Derail is over I'm looking into a Discovery Next myself. Doesn't fit the OP's needs but a sweet looking ride.
 
The best canoes I've used for all-around and hunting purposes have been the Wenonah Royalex canoes. They slide easily over rocks and just plain take a beating. I don't believe you can get new ones anymore, but I'd be looking hard for a used one. They are also nice and quiet compared to aluminum. I believe they have a similar material out now that I think is called T-Formex. We put our canoes through absolute hell and they don't miss a beat.
 
neffa3 said:
I swore off all social media two months ago (ish), though like a bad habit I can't kick, I've lurked a bit from time to time without logging in. But Gawddamnit, I can't stand for that east coast elitist @wllm1313 trying to talk someone out of a canoe.

@Southern Elk drive yourself over to Spo-Comtpon and get yourself something that'll last a life time. https://spokane.craigslist.org/boa/d/deer-park-classic-canoe/7317809696.html

Canoes have been successfully doing exactly what you're looking to, for 100s of years. That chincy little raft may not last a couple of decades of use. Plus you could put 300 lbs of gear in that canoe and still fit an entire elk in there.
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actually for 1000's of years, but you are correct and I agree. ;)

I replied via pm, but was ask to respond here as well. Yes we do still use canoes, and kayaks. We use kayaks to hunt things like seals, walrus, caribou, as well as fishing and fowling. We do still make kayaks from scratch ( driftwood and seal skin ) mostly to teach and to keep the art of doing so alive. I personally prefer canoes similar to the one posted above by neffa and yes, we can, and do, transport our canoes via float planes.
neffa3 said:
I am currently working on building an armada of old canoes. Aluminum, fiberglass, kevlar (did you know they were making kevlar boat in the 70s?!), just not plastic! There is simply nothing better. They're cheap, exceptionally effective, easy to transport, suitable for almost any water (we did some class 2 3/4 recently and only had to empty the boat 4 times!). And might make a run at some big III this weekend. Easily fixed or scrapped. and you don't have to sit on the damn floor and paddle like that silly little packraft or a kayak.

The perfect combo is 17', fiberglass, wood gunnels, 20+ yrs old, <$800 off CL.
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good job, enjoy !
 
Thanks everyone. I never knew there were so many canoes to chose from. Lots of good options. I especially like seeing all of the pictures.
 
Some of these options are hardly canoes. If you are primarily thinking about camping on white water, get a raft. For fishing and traversing slow water or lakes, a traditional canoe is the answer. Here we have a lot of water. Mostly lakes chained together. A canoe that is light is important if not a must. I have a 17' Souris River 4 ply kevlar canoe. It's nearly indestructible and only weighs 40 lbs. I can easily portage the thing myself. I prefer it over Wanonah as Souris has extra ply of kevlar and higher gunwales. The downside to this canoe is it is easily blown around by the wind (adding more ballast helps) and a little more tippy than heavy aluminum or Tupperware varieties. If I had it to do over again, I'd get one with a keel as I'm mostly on lakes. Keel helps keep it on track in the wind. And of course the other downside is pricetag. I paid $3K new for my canoe (Canadian dollars). But it will last a lifetime. I doubt the fancy inflatables go for anything less.
 
I had two Colman canoes, one 15 footer and one 17 footer. The 15 for when I was alone and the 17 for when I had company. I sold the 17 footer and the 15 burned up in the fire. I never tried white water but they would handle a good riffle with no problem even when loaded up. If we did hit a rock they just bounced off with no damage.
very stable. Between me and my buddy we landed 40 to 50 salmon in that canoe. Some over 35 lbs. On a hot day, we would jump in the lake for a swim and climb back into the canoe without ever tipping it over. On the other hand I have a friend who insists that canoes were invented by the Indians and sold to the white man on the pretense that it was a boat. The goal was to drown all the white men
Here's an old picture of me on one of those salmon trips.
salmon 7.jpg
 
Very interesting - I'm looking to get a raft to do some float hunting - i need the raft cause a moose is alot of weight to pack out. I want a Canoe though, there is alot of nastalgia in a canoe and feels like its the right way to do it. But for our rivers, for the weight capacity, etc I'll be looking at Rafts.
Pristine Ventures, Chugach Mountain Sports are probably my top two currently.
 
Western Traveler1 said:
If they can cross the Kaiwi Channel Hawaii in one of those I’m betting it is good to go at your camp...
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Imagine having to portage one of those things. Ugh! And though they are stable they're a bitch to steer. Sometimes on big lakes the wife and I would makeshift an outrigger for our canoe, especially on rough windy days. Usually we lashed two canoes together but can make do with the right piece of driftwood. Works fine in that situation ... to go in a straight line.
 
I have an old town discovery 133, for small rivers like the Smith here in Montana I don’t think I could get a better canoe. It’s wide and very stable. We’ve been on the MO and it was very windy and we had difficulty keeping it straight. I’d definitely get a 16-17’ canoe for bigger, smoother rivers. Used Old Towns are pretty reasonable.
 
ThunderNocked said:
Very interesting - I'm looking to get a raft to do some float hunting - i need the raft cause a moose is alot of weight to pack out. I want a Canoe though, there is alot of nastalgia in a canoe and feels like its the right way to do it. But for our rivers, for the weight capacity, etc I'll be looking at Rafts.
Pristine Ventures, Chugach Mountain Sports are probably my top two currently.
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Back in the day the Soar Pro Pioneer was all the rage for that type of float hunting. Size of a canoe with the capacity of a raft. I was too broke to afford one after buying a 4-wheeler and a jet boat. Never did shoot a moose up there. lol.
 
I have 5 canoes. Each is better for different applications...there are tradeoffs...
Inflatable canoes are great for hauling lots of weight, portable for packing in bush planes etc, tough to paddle when wind is blowing up river.
Square sterns are great with a kicker motor and stablity, great for shallow water duck hunting with a mudbuddy motor, tough to portage a great distance.
White water canoes are great for snaking through narrow boulder rapids, sliding thru riffles, easy to portage, etc.
Cedar strip canoes and pirogues are fun to build and super lightweight and portable, great for duck hunting..
Headed_Home.jpg
mudbuddy_cropped.jpg
pirogue_clip.jpg
 
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AlaskaHunter said:
I have 5 canoes. Each is better for different applications...there are tradeoffs...

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we do the same thing ( different modes of transportation for different reasons ). As mentioned earlier we also use kayaks. If you dont use water transportation vessels as much as we do, pick the main reason you want it and buy a canoe that fits that application. ps. you probably dont have to worry about ice damage, but if you do, take that into consideration also
 
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