Duck Boat

Just bought a new 24 hp. Mud Buddy longtail and now i'm confused on which boat would be best. I'm looking at a Tracker Grizzly but the negative is the seating layout. Sitting on the rear bench (with or without seat) would make me sit on an angle, not straight out toward my decoys. Also looking at an Alumacraft Waterfowler with a rear split seat, but it's almost 4 grand. Just looking for something decent that will last and allow me to hunt in comfort. Any suggestions or pics of your layouts?

Hydro Turf for boat flooring is the best hands down. Comes in different colors and designs. Easy to install yourself. OO Buckshot nice boat! I have the same set up but made the mistake to put the gas tank in the back.

all open. 2 seating pods in the rear and i have a 56" front deck with storage underneath for gas tank and trolling motor battery keep things light and balance the load don't get a mod v front it plows and slows you down if you got a good hunt load in the boat. Go long and skinny mine is a 17 x 44 bottom w/ 23 hp It is faster than the 1448 I had last year a 16' hull would be ideal. A longer boat helps get a load on step and balance the weight of the motor If you want a heavy a$$ boat go with excel my buddy has one it likes to get stuck in the mud to many boxes and storage adding weight which are nice for fishing but not for duck hunting. Overall its a nice boat but I wouldn't get one.

Anyone try using this on the floor and/or insides of their boat? http://rustoleumrestore.com/ Looks like it might work pretty good. I don't want to put in carpet and I was going to prime the wood to keep it from getting water logged.

My last war eagle had a rhino lined floor in it, but I really added a lot of texture to it. I have a couple of guys that join me in the boat and the ice has been bad on the wooden floor, and I almost had a couple of them tip over. I was also thinking of just going with aluminum and just buying the matching war eagle neo mats for the floor instead. I'm trying to customize my boat a little more this year, I want to add war eagles half storage to the boat and a gun box in it. The floor will really help out with that.

Long shafts in my mind are still great. I wouldn't own a short shaft. My buddy had one and it was useless where we hunt. Shallow water you cant dig the short shaft in enough to get anywhere. We need a long shaft. My cousin and I just bought a complete go devil setup. 16 x 56 walk threw boat 39 hourse long shaft. And it will go threw anything. Its all personal opinion. Most companies are using the same motor. So as for motors they are all pretty similar.

How late in the year do you hunt? Rhino lining with ice is worsr than metal with ice.

So I'm sick of wooden floors getting water logged in my duck boat and having to replace them every year. I'm looking for someone near Waukesha to install an aluminum floor in my 542 War Eagle. I should have just purchased the boat with the floor in the first place. Any suggestions on where I can go and have a floor installed in my boat? I was thinking of just getting a diamond plate floor and put some linex or rhino liner on it.

I was talking motors when I said prodrive and gatortail, not their boats. I'd still take their boats over an excel or beavertail though, atleast they use .125 for their bottoms. My 1760 will be done here shortly, I went with 3/16" bottom and 1/8" sides. I've got every bell and whistle you can think of with features I wanted and those eliminated that I didn't need, and paid what beavertails 1648 costs but have so much more boat. I'll have an extended deck which is a great spot for kids to sit so they can watch birds, and it allows me to move my batteries and gas tank up front to distribute weight better. I can still hunt 4 guys in there if I had to, but 3 and a dog is the norm. Pods are worthless with a surface drive, the only benefit they have is if you're running a longtail on a 16' or less, anything longer will be able to carry the load just fine. My huntdeck is where the dog will sit, and there's a ladder for him and hunters to get back in the boat. Foam is overrated, over time it gets wet and waterlogged and just adds weight to your hull.

Apologies for "options" I listed for the boat manufacturer, I copied and pasted a bullet point or list for them and because of the garbage lake link forums formatting they got put in as a run on sentence.

First off look at what you get for standard features with boats, especially with excel. EXCEL Exceleration™ Hull with flat/slick bottom Duck Back transom step (floatation) Running lights .125 hull (5056 hardened aluminum hull) Twin full length storage boxes (TGB model) Single gun box (OFP and B model) Tubular 1/4" bow (B86 model) Aluminum floor Khaki or Cobblestone paint Extruded gunwale rail w/rubber bumper Recessed switch panel w/two interior lights (amber and white) Bilge pump - 800gph Full Coast Guard floatation 20" - 17 degree transom Longitudinal 6063 5 rib construction Triple Tapered Chime (turns on a dime, with limited slip) 3' bow hand rails Rear deck grab handles Extended front deck w/storage or low front drop deck Mud motor stand-up bar Fuel tank storage area (high deck only) Battery storage area Fuel tank storage area Interior lighting Driver seat base Beavertail All welded, durable 100 gauge aluminum hull, stern, & sidewalls Two, 10 Ft. water-resistant gun boxes for stowing extra gear Drop floor in stern for securing batteries & fuel tank Flat diamond plate floors & forward deck for an ultra-stable system Heavy-duty rub rail sidewall cap Exclusive forward tapered front deck to run water out the bow Patent pending Performance Flotation Pods Built-in interior tubing for accessory wiring Foam filled floor, front deck, & pods for extra flotation & load offset 24" sidewalls Front and rear exterior grab handles Interior mounted Heavy-duty tie-down loops HD olive-drab paint for a non-reflective wear resistant finish Compare those to gator tail & prodrive: Gator Tail • 4' Deck w/ Pedistal Base & Under DecK Storage • Trolling Motor Bracket • Front Deck Drain • Rear Heavy Duty Driver's Box • Rear Driver's Stand Up Bar (Grab Bar) • Angled Transom for Enhanced Reverse Performance • Full Floor • Performance Step Hull Design Prodrive 4 ‘ TOP DECK WITH NON SKID PAINT EXTENDED DECK FULL SEALED FLOOR WITH NON SKID PAINT REAR SEAT WITH STORAGE “LED” SHARK EYES RUNNING LIGHTS 12 GAL. LOW PROFILE GAS TANK BATTERY TRAY AND BATTERY DISCONNECT 20? TRANSOM STANDARD GUN / ROD BOX PRO-DRIVE DUCK BOAT PAINT As you can there really isn't any comparison between the two boat lines you mentioned, you litterally get a bare bones rig vs a fully "pimped out" rig with excel/beavertail. In addition to that, neither of the lines you listed have "pods" or "performance decks" on the back of the boat, I can't even begin to tell you how BIG of a difference this makes in your hole shots, not only in the open water but when beached in the mud as well. It literally lifts the boat up and out of the water. They also come in extremely handy when getting back into the boat itself or getting your dogs back in. Sure you loose some maneuverability with your motor, but it's minor, the benefits of the pods/deck far outway the slight loss in maneuverability. I can't say this for sure about excel because it's been so long since I've seen one in person, but beavertail boats "hold their width" almost the entire length of the boat. This gives you so much more room in the interior of the boat for decoys, gear, movement. The two boat lines you listed begin to tapper in severely once you get toward to the front 1/3 of the boat itself. Unless you've been in both or seen both, it's hard to graspe how much extra the beavertail has in the front portion of the boat compared to the others. The other major difference is the elimination of the massive "front deck" that the two boat lines you listed have and that have plagued pretty much every jon boat thats ever been used for duck hunting. This huge front platform or deck is for fisherman, for duck hunters its just wasted space, it's less room for your gear/decoys and forces hunters in the boat to sit much closer together. You can't have someone sitting on that deck and be at the same height as the other hunters which inhibits it use completely when you have a folding blind on your boat. Beavertail is by the far the best in this regards (excel does now offer the "small front deck", they just don't have a picture of it on their website and I don't think its as small as beavertail), they have essentially completely eliminated the front deck completely allowing you hunt for people from the boat with a blind comfortably. You are able to space out over the entire length of the boat, all sitting at essentially the same height, versus in the boats you listed you would be only be spaced out over the rear 2/3 of the boat. Again, it's kind of hard to explain big of the difference the things I've listed mean, I tried my best. All I know is that every single person who has had hunted out of my beavertail or seen me at the landing has said it's so much better than other boats they've hunted out of because of the reasons I listed above. In the end it's up to you, I'm just giving my opinions, but I think I make a damn strong arguement as to why Beavertail & Excel are head and shoulders above the rest.

So what makes beavertail and excel so great? What makes mud buddy head and shoulders above other brands? I'm kind of dying to hear it lol. Right now they'd be 3rd on my list after prodrive and gatortail, but that could change if they ever come out with the sport v/h. As for motors, there's plenty of point to own a longtail if that fits your hunting style. I've got a buddy who leaves his boat on shore at Rush Lake all season long. It's a short 20 min ride to areas he typically hunts, so he wouldn't benefit from a surface drive, or "short tail" as you put it lol. Plenty of guys have short runs in boats that are 16' an under, no way they'd benefit from a surface drive on their boats. There's always gonna be a time and a place for those "fossils".

IMO there's only two boats to even consider buying when it comes to duck hunting in WI. Beavertail is a pure "waterfowling" boat, where as Excel is more multipurpose (i.e. fishing). As far as motors go, in WI there is no point in a longtail, they are a "fossil" compared the new short tail mud motors. Brand wise, look no further than Mud Buddy, they are head and shoulders above any other mud motor brand in all aspects.

that is awesome! lol if the salmon don't run all the bears will starve ha ha ha

Just got a used boat just for hunting '14 aluminum V haul what is the best paint for boat and motor it has a carpeted flat floor. Any info would be great thanks and shoot straight

Just got new duck boat in June hope some water is around to run it in. I feel like Timothy Tredwell we need some f***ing rain lol.