Greetings from NH

Aaron B

New member
I found this site quite by accident. I had been heavily addicted to waterfowl hunting and my old girl, Belle, had not been able to hunt for a year due to failing health. I had gotten away from it while taking care of her and was deer hunting a lot. I ended up selling my duck hunting/fishing boat and purchased land for a deer hunting camp. Belle had to be laid to rest in September. It was the toughest decision of my life. After grieving and realizing Belle would have wanted me to continue doing what we both loved, I decided to get another pup. With that a renewed passion for waterfowling. My brother and I enjoyed our time together in pursuit of the ducks and geese. With that, I need another boat. One for fishing in the off season, and one for waterfowling. When I was in it heavy, I carved my own foam decoys and built a couple small layout boats. Now I need something that I can hunt 2 guys and a dog most of the time, fish 3 people some times, but most of the time 2 people. I'm thinking that the Devlin Snow Goose might be the thing I'm looking for. What do you think? Would the Devlin Black Brant III fit the bill? Thank you from this NH boy.
Aaron
 
Hi Aaron, welcome. For me, the size boat you are talking is one step above the bbIII, but some do hunt/fish 2/3 from them. The boats are low sided and the cockpit makes them seem smaller, especially for fishing (very seaworthy, though). Hunting 2 from a bbIII is fine, but fishing 3 would be more of a problem. I have a snow goose and that is what I?d build in your situation, the cackler is also a good option.

Are you thinking of building?
 
tod osier said:
Hi Aaron, welcome. For me, the size boat you are talking is one step above the bbIII, but some do hunt/fish 2/3 from them. The boats are low sided and the cockpit makes them seem smaller, especially for fishing (very seaworthy, though). Hunting 2 from a bbIII is fine, but fishing 3 would be more of a problem. I have a snow goose and that is what I?d build in your situation, the cackler is also a good option.

Are you thinking of building?

Thanks Tod. Yes, I will be building whatever I decide on. It will most likely be the Snow Goose. Do you think the Cackler would serve my purpose? Most of the areas we hunt with a boat are marshes and ponds and the Connecticut River which is not a large river in our area. The largest lake we fish is Lake Winnipesaukee, but it is solely in the bays and not on the main lake.
 
Cackler can be stretched to suit (they all can). Get a look at any one of the models to calibrate your eye to get an idea of what suits you. You can check out my snow goose any time (I?m right off I84 in western CT).

Build is a great experience.

Have you searched here for photos of people hunting the boats? that will give you a better idea of size.
 
Welcome Aaron! Sorry to hear about your girl... I lost my Kodi on 11/30. I understand.

The actual boat that you need is the Honker... There is one in the classifieds that is a STEAL!!!!
 
[/quote]
Welcome Aaron! Sorry to hear about your girl... I lost my Kodi on 11/30. I understand.

The actual boat that you need is the Honker... There is one in the classifieds that is a STEAL!!!![/quote]

Thanks Phil. Some people who don't own dogs, don't understand the grieving. That dog to me was another appendage, another child. I feel bad saying it, but it hit me harder than when my two grandmothers passed. I loved them dearly, but they didn't live with me and I didn't see them every single day. Not JUST a dog. Sorry about the rant, but I heard that once and it was too much.
This was my Belle

View attachment belle.jpg

This is my new Duck Dog in training


View attachment Bailey3.jpg
 
Welcome, I'm on the west side of NH and Hunt/Fish the CT river and anywhere I can find time to get to. Boats are so personal. I have a 2 person glass sculling boat that I bought 35-40 years ago and have redone this and that along the way. Bought a Marsh Rat for one of my boys and found it easier than anything to tug around most days jump shooting small spots. When its just me and the dog I go steal that from my son. When we get a group to set up (rarely these days) I love my sneak/layout/skull boat, pretty dam comfortable just have to tow something to haul lots of decoys.

See you on the water,
Bob
 
R.A. Nevins said:
Welcome, I'm on the west side of NH and Hunt/Fish the CT river and anywhere I can find time to get to. Boats are so personal. I have a 2 person glass sculling boat that I bought 35-40 years ago and have redone this and that along the way. Bought a Marsh Rat for one of my boys and found it easier than anything to tug around most days jump shooting small spots. When its just me and the dog I go steal that from my son. When we get a group to set up (rarely these days) I love my sneak/layout/skull boat, pretty dam comfortable just have to tow something to haul lots of decoys.

See you on the water,
Bob


Hey Bob, I'm on the same side of the state! I agree that boats are personal. As much as I like building my own things for hunting, after pricing out, my buddy Andy at County Line Boats in Missouri gave me a great deal. Best of luck to you this year!
Aaron
 
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