Thought it might be fun to put a post up about duck rigs/boats/skiffs/whatever. I’m considering buying/building a river rig in the next few years, so I’m looking for ideas.
Post pics of what ya got! – Boats, motors, camo setups, gear, decoy spreads, etc… Lets see how many rigs we can get up here to give me (and others) some good ideas!
VERY nice photo. Must have been an awesome day. you never forget days like that… 
Here’s one from 12-3-2011.
25hp prodrive on the back. We’ve definitely learned that mud motors are fickle sobs. Missed 2 1/2 weeks of the season this year because I needed a new lower unit…..and no matter what the boys from Louisiana tell ya…..it’s not as easy as poping off 4 bolts and sliiiiiiiding the new one back on. 
The 16′ flat takes a beating though! I’d have no other style of boat for river hunting around here.
Very nice boat.. Any pics of how you camo that boat up? Or don’t you usually hunt out of the boat itself?
Nice rig!
hey jake… they make decoy bags ya know haha… im just guessing but most people that actually want to kill ducks… ditch the boat and make a blind out of natural cover. youll never catch me hunting out of a boat blind… only exception was last yr where the dry land was 8 ft under water!
Usually the decoy bags get ditched about Nov. 15th. 
Boat blinds….never ever ever ever…..ever. 
That brings up the question of how you guys rig up your decoys… I’m going to switch a number of mine over to “Texas rigged” this year. Seems like an awesome (tangle free) way to store, carry, put out and pick up decoys… With the grab loop at the top (by the keel), just being able to grab the loop, letting the decoy slide down the line, clip the loop to a caribeaner and go (instead of having to wrap decoy lines around the keel or head) seems like a major improvement over a lot of my setups from years ago…
Example of Texas Rig for those who aren’t familiar = http://www.txwaterfowler.com/html_pages/duck_hunting/texas_rigged_decoys/texas_rigged.htm
Duck boats are important keys to duck hunting itself. Yeah, mudbuddys are talked highly of. But to me, my 16ft semi-v with 25hp evinrude works just fine for me. My 111 ducks and 4 geese will back that up. The boat goes through hell every year, so take that into account when buying your duck boat.
This year me and a buddy made our own boat blind for hunting the last 4 days of the duck season. Worked very well. The first pic is of the first day we had the boat blind in action. We got a 3 man limit. The blind itself does not mount or attach to the boat in any way so it is very portable and easy to use. The top half of the blind has flip open doors on each side as you can see in the first pic (the ducks are laying on the flip open door). The blind, when not in use, folds up and lays right in the boat! 
For grass, my buddy has tons of pompus grass in his backyard. We shoved pompus grass under chicken wire to camo the outside. As you can see, the blind does not cover the whole boat. So to camo the rest, we ziptied huge bundles of that grass and then ziptied them to the boat. We also made huge grass mats to lay over the side, front, and back of the boat for more camo. This blind turned out awesome! We even used my heater to stay warm the last weekend of the duck season which was very comfortable.
For a 16year old, i would take my rig over most others. Ive hunted out of true duck boats and the mudbuddys are nice, not gonna lie. But truly, keep it simple.
Duck hunting isnt easy, and your equipment will go through hell. Ive learned that very easily the last couple years.
Sorry for the blurry pics. I couldnt get them to turn out clear.
Enjoy
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That brings up the question of how you guys rig up your decoys… I’m going to switch a number of mine over to “Texas rigged” this year. Seems like an awesome (tangle free) way to store, carry, put out and pick up decoys… With the grab loop at the top (by the keel), just being able to grab the loop, letting the decoy slide down the line, clip the loop to a caribeaner and go (instead of having to wrap decoy lines around the keel or head) seems like a major improvement over a lot of my setups from years ago…
Example of Texas Rig for those who aren’t familiar = http://www.txwaterfowler.com/html_pages/duck_hunting/texas_rigged_decoys/texas_rigged.htm
Texas Rigging is the way to go
nothing goes on my decoys unless it is an ace anchor. those t rigged dekes are for the birds imo… i dont want weights banging agasint my decoys and they still do get tangled… those ace are expensive… about 20 30 a doz…
Interesting to read through what guys do on inland duck hunting. Anyone hunt the open waters?
Back when I lived on Lake MI, we were generally 2 to 3 miles out. I ran a Lund Alaskan 18 as the cargo boat. 2-part set up for running decoys with 3 guys. Brick and drop cord (50 or 100′ depending where we set up). All decoys were pre-strung at 12 or 24 per runner and layered between burlap sheets. Dog clip to anchor line, and one guy flipped them in, 1 guy sat them upright, and 3rd guy navigated boat to keep the “Alley” formation. Would set 120 to 250 decoys. Guys hopped in their float tubes and sat in the spread. Last guy and boat ran off a couple miles to stay clear of the spread on clear calm days. If the water had a small chop on it, draped camo mesh painted battle ship gray worked great. When waves got into the 3 to 5 footers, I refused to go. Too dangerous, and had too many guys shoot the water just a couple feet from the boat.
But hunting out of the float tubes was the best. Educated birds would land in the spread just feet away from you. On clear calm days, divers would veer off at a half mile away from the boat. Sure do miss those Old Squaws!
Cool post, Randy… Never thought of a float tube instead of a layout boat.
I’ve wanted to try layout hunting, but there sure is a lot more work involved. I’ve heard stories of some incredible hunts on big water… I’ve got a buddy with the whole setup, so possibly next year… Or maybe just something to do “eventually” I suppose.
I’ve been itching to re-visit a lake MI hunt. All the guys I hunted with back then moved. I don’t even know what happened with the hundreds of bill decoys we made. Was too expensive to buy them, so we got a mold and the styrafoam bb’s and made our own. At one point I figured we had about 500 made. I was the first to move out of Racine, so I let those guys keep my share of the stuff.
I looked through my old pics and I don’t have any of the sqaws scanned. Sure are pretty ducks. First one I got freaked me out. We had to take it to Bong, the Wildlife Center and have it ID’d for us. Even they were shocked that we were getting ocean ducks on Lk MI.
Randy:
I got some guys that would be interested in helping you practice your Lake MI hunts…
Mark
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Randy:
I got some guys that would be interested in helping you practice your Lake MI hunts…
Mark
AHEM….
Mark – you guys going to hunt with Matt this year at all? I’m contemplating a return trip. 
Whit:
Certainly am interested in hunting with Matt again to see if we can’t get my nephews out to see what it is all about… We’ll see how Matt’s fall books, last year he booked so fast during the time we usually go that he was full and that’s a good thing for him!!!
Mark
1448 Alumacraft Jon, 25hp Yamaha 4 stroke and Beavertail 1600 blind with grasses.
1754 fowler with pods mud buddy hd5500. new 1750 gator trax hybrid w/huntdeck is on order and should be home the first week of june
Well she is all done! Obviously need to put some vegetation in the stubble straps to further break up the outline. I could’nt find a design I liked so this is what I came up with. Built the whole thing for under $400.00 including the stalilizer uprights. Most expensive thing was the material and having it custom sewn to fit.
let me know what you guys think
anything you would change?
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anything you would change?
I would get a motor for it. Rowing stinks. 
Looks great! 
thanks that would be a great idea. I should have thought of that. 
Leave it to one the the great minds of IDO to come up with such cutting edge ideas.
Actually I was hoping you want to go with Koots then you could help row
Randy,
can’t hunt open waters here in MN..
.m
I Love it!!! Very nice pic from 12/3! !
New Addicted River Guiding Rig 2012. First ever 20′ float blind with twin 35 HP Surface drives. 27.5 MPH. Didnt even realize it was featured on the cover of Go Devil. Once brushed and grassed in completely, outline broken up it will literally be an Island. It offers Safety, comfort, weather protection, total concealment, Soon will be plumbed for personal burners to offer heat, warm coffee or fix something to eat.
That is one sweet ride! Update us when you get it “finished”.
My grandson and I hunted out of this thing yesterday for the youth hunt. it is completely off the wall. Pictures don’t begin to show the size of it we had 4 adults and 2 pretty good size kids in there plus a dog and weren’t crowded. More than enough power from the twin motors and comfort to spare with the swivel seats and all the shelving and storage. Jeremy has it pretty well brushed out now so didn’t have any issues with concelment. The kids shot up 3 1/2 boxes of shells and bagged 6 ducks. We started calling the boat “The Avenger” and it definately added to an already great experience. Jeremy always puts on a great hunt and the new rig will make it even better
once you start hunting out of a boat blind it is hard to go back to puddle jumping,nice to just sit and wait for the birds.
Nice job on the blind!!
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