Finally got a duck boat for this season!

GregL

Active member
I picked up a 1982 St. Lawrence 16' Duck Boat with a 25hp merc about the same age.

Motor seems pretty good, starts on the first or second pull, good strong tell tail, runs strong and doesn't stall or bog out.
Trailer has all new wiring, tires, bearings and bunks!
There are some cracks in the gelcoat but it is an 82 and there is no flex in the transom. So I think she's good.

This boat is surprisingly stable!

I'm looking for some guidance on grassing this up, I've only had an avery blind that I completely covered in raffia grass. The wood and fencing was on the boat when I picked it up. I
will probably make aluminum blind along the same idea on it next year if I keep the boat. Should be lighter than all this wood. Anyways, I'm thinking those woven grass sheets would be the quickest
for me to camo this up as our season has already started.

I hunt in reeds, some of the lakes I hunt have just have trees and bushes and logs etc on the shore. So I'm not sure the grass mats will work in that situation.

Wondering what guys do to the grass mats to make them not so bright, the reeds in our area tend to stay fairly green right till freeze up or till the birds are gone anyways. Also, how do
these grass mats work in areas that don't have reeds?

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quick way to tone down brightness of new mats is rustoleum camo paint available at Walmart. some brown and o.d. green should help you blend in if your natural background not dead yet. The mats really need to weather to not be so bright. Mix up some nasty river bank mud and saturate them with it. Let dry and shake off excess. Allow them to dry between each use. I back mine with Plastic poultry netting available at lowes/home depot. Zip tie mats to it with black zip ties spaced about 10" apart. Poultry fence can be found in 4' width by up to 50' rolls. Has about an inch spaceing to fenceing. Flexability of poultry netting allows mats to be rolled , folded ,shaped. Would allow you to get rid of the green snow fence presently on your flapper frame and could be zip tied to rest of hull for camo.
 
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Thanks! Good idea on the camo paint!!! I'll just mist it with some greens and browns.

If I keep it for next year, I will pull all the wood of and put a lighter aluminum flip doors and those plastic grass rails, for sticking natural cover in to augment the grass sheets :)

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I hadn't seen one of those hulls before. That is a cool looking boat. Best of luck this year hunting out of it. Be safe, stay warm, shoot straight.

Once you tie on your fast grass sheets and do a little paint blending, you can always (if allowed per your local ordinance) add some of the local grasses on top to blend into the fast grass.

cja
 
Thanks! Ya not a lot of info on these boats. Apparently, they were made here in Canada for hunting the marshes along the St. Lawrence River.
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That fast grass is crazy expensive here $80 a sheet!
 
Switch grass bundles cut to suitable lenght makes a good replacement fastened to your flappers. Can even be used on decks. Of course salt hay works good if available in your area. Switch grass can usually be found for free along slightly wet areas. Your hull kind of reminds me of a Roy High Boat or at least the only one I,ve seen .
 
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Greg,
Nice boat. Looks like it will be a duck killing machine once it is grassed. As for the grass mats. Look around as they come in different colors ranging from their natural color to brown. I had a four pack of the natural which was too light for my use so I filled up an old aluminum canoe with water and dumped a bunch of walnut and butternuts in, then let them soak for a week. It worked fine and darkened it enough to blend in. I also tie some dry local reeds to the mats to break up the flat appearance or the mats.

Zane
 
I think for the sake of time since our season is already here, I'm going to go the fast grass option and dust it with a brown / green camo paint. then zip some natural cover on it.

Now I gotta find some store that has stock! Good luck in my area LOL!
 
Well, had this boat out twice now. It hunts pretty good and moves pretty good with this 25, I think it's actually 15 hp it seems small for 25hp I can't tell because it's painted and I can't find a serial number. Not that I really care the boat was under 3000!

I am definitely going to have to change the blind if I keep it next year, it's very cramped when I have both sides up. I have to sit in the center of the seat hunched over with no leg room. To be expected I guess with a boat this size.

I got 2 boxes of grass mats from Cabelas, these are really crappy quality. They are very thin compared to the pictures of the avery real grass pictures I have seen, they will have to do for this year. I need more for the
bow and around the motor. I'm not really a big fan of this stuff because I hunt a lot of different places and even after spraying it sticks out. I'm gonna hit with more green and brown this week, I ran out.
I am more partial to the raffia grass, I think it hides much better.
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It was nice to get out with my our new pup, who's just over a year now. We got through all his basics this summer, ob, pile work, 3 leg drill, wagon wheel and swim by(still got some work to do on this we ran out of time before the water started cooling off) etc.. Even started some easy cold blinds.
I'm hoping to get him some birds. I think I need to move or by some property duck hunting is really start to suck in my marshes :(

This was his second time in this boat and hasn't seen a bird UGH!

I do like that he is nice and calm in the boat so maybe a few trips without birds is good for him so he learns to be calm, we'll see.


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If I do keep this boat, I think I will cut out this middle seat and glass in some side shelves and have a dodger made
and hunt it like a sneak boat type set up might give me more leg room.
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your good camos right behind you in pic. Carry some clippers with you and cut a few of those spruce limbs and attach them to your flappers. Throw a couple on deck and you,ll disappear. Every duck boat I,ve got has a pair of limb clippers stashed somewhere for just that scenario. Those 3 legged fold up pop up blind seats work wonders in cramped quarters you,ve got. A boat cushion on top make them pretty comfy and they,ll fold down small for transport. What I used for a few years when hunting upright blind on my blackjack.
 
Hi Roy,

Good Idea on the seat and cover! I don't why I did not cut down some local cover,I used to do that all the time with my momarsh. I guess I'm to used to my old boat with an avery blind and TONS! of raffia grass.
I never needed to add cover , usually matched pretty good because I added a lot of green.
 
Bungee cords and clippers are a boatblind hunters friend! Usually when I set mine next to a tumb or wooded background there will be some limbs that need trimming behind it to tuck in tight. Those trimmed limbs go on the front behind attached bungee cord.
 
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