Project : Layout Boat/w dog

Good Day all,

I picked up a foam "Sea Snark" sailboat hull for $25 a little over a year ago. My intention is to make a very low profile floating rig that I can throw my layout blind in, brush in and hunt the tidal estuaries when the water is just too deep for a layout on its own.

Probably cost me a few hundred in materials, and I'll glass over the entire thing to add a bit of toughness to it.

I do want to make sure its stable so I'll plan to include a small spud on each side that I can drive into the mud and allow it to raise and lower with the tide, while giving it some side to side stability.

I don't have any experience hunting with my own dog in a layout and am not sure of the best place to make a position for my dog. Up front would be best as she would be able to see better, but I am thinking being behind me is safer?

Anyone have any experience/advice to share about dog position in very small boats?

I like this guy’s build and attention to detail. Might be useful to you as you work. I think later on in the series he addresses the dog thing.

https://www.lumberjocks.com/DustyMark/blog/57250

Ron, Be aware that shotgun muzzle blast will deafen a dog fairly quickly when your planning a place for him. Good luck.

Wondering too about the wisdom of driving a “spud” in to the mud to give side to side stability. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean, but if you are in any kind of tide in the Fraser estuary, you won’t want to be fixed in one place with it pushing against you.

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Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Wondering too about the wisdom of driving a “spud” in to the mud to give side to side stability. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean, but if you are in any kind of tide in the Fraser estuary, you won’t want to be fixed in one place with it pushing against you.

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Beachcomber,

Not concerned about that in the area I hunt. The spot I have in mind is a bitch to hunt. Too little water, can't get near the birds, too much and can't layout. With my layout, I can hunt about 10" of water max and most days on the perfect tide can only get about 40 minutes before I am high and dry or flooding out. A canoe or even my john boat just has too high a profile "tried both" and spook birds. On a high tide, there is enough grass still above water that I can hide a very low profile boat and still hunt the pockets the birds seem to want to be in. There is barely more than 2' of water on a good flood.

Labguy,

thanks, that was one of my concerns about safety. I had seen another rig something like what I have in mind where the hunter positioned his rig and shot to the side, not over the dog.

so now my pup is nearly full grown, time get this project going. Had this 12' foam boat hull in the local lake today for a stability test. Was actually not bad at all.

Started today by modifying an old layout blind to fit in the boat. I had to make a new frame for the blind as the original one was far too wide to fit. And I can see now I've got lots of room to work with to give Jessie a comfy spot to work from.

Next Step now that I know how much room I have to work with is to figure out how best to hide the pup. I'm thinking I may glass in some light wood rails, attach some hardware for a removable camo cover that can be set up behind the dog.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/boat2.jpeg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/...ium/boat1.jpeg

Thats going to be a great set up Ron. Very nice.
In your stability test did Jessie bail out and back in a few times?
Did it leave you much free board .

Thanks for sharing your project.

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Originally Posted by curly top

Thats going to be a great set up Ron. Very nice.
In your stability test did Jessie bail out and back in a few times?
Did it leave you much free board .

Thanks for sharing your project.

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Jess was pretty good. She jumped right in and sat when I told her, but she was pretty jacked up. Once its done, I'll take it to the marsh and do a few training and work out the bugs before we ever hunt with it.

This rig will let me hunt a local spot on high tide that has gave me fits for the past few years. h

Sounds perfect

Nice work - You dog certainly looks pleased! I like the layout blind conversion. I have been working on an old punt and want to install doors on it too. The problem I have is the cockpit is curved, not rectangular, so it is hard to fashion hinges so doors fold in/out easily. I've thought about something similar to your version using pvc pipe and mesh to fashion something. Still goofing around with it but not arrived at a conclusion yet. Probably spending too much time thinking about it and not enough just getting it done.

It looks like you may have enough room behind your layout blind for a mutt hut. That would conceal her. Will she have any difficulty getting back into the boat after a retrieve or do you plan on making a ramp for her?

My dog blind fits my dog quite easily,,,,or my two grand kids.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8d464ce9_o.jpgIMG_1016 by Brent Davy, on Flickr

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Originally Posted by mastercaster

It looks like you may have enough room behind your layout blind for a mutt hut. That would conceal her. Will she have any difficulty getting back into the boat after a retrieve or do you plan on making a ramp for her?

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I was thinking of one of the dog blinds used by field layout guys, then I could use it when we are hunting out of my other layout. Agree, there's lots of room for one. "what model is that one?"

it will be used in 10-15 of water on the tidal flats on the edge of deeper channels. Will see if she can get in in that depth of water during our testing and adjust from there.

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Originally Posted by Ron.C

I was thinking of one of the dog blinds used by field layout guys, then I could use it when we are hunting out of my other layout. Agree, there's lots of room for one. "what model is that one?"

it will be used in 10-15 of water on the tidal flats on the edge of deeper channels. Will see if she can get in in that depth of water during our testing and adjust from there.

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My blind is the Rig 'em Right blind,,,,available at Cabelas - I bought it out of the States for about $50 less than they are up here. ($120 USD)

BUT if I had to do it all over again I'd buy the MOmarsh Invisilab blind. I think one of those would be ideal for your situation! If you didn't want to put it in the boat you could set it up right beside the boat because the legs can extend up to 36" if need be. They're more money ($185 USD) but I think it would be well worth it for your location. I still may get one but I need to sell mine first.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/moma...-lab-dog-blind

https://youtu.be/Ko7nAG9-0wU

I had looked at the momarsh blind. Pretty slick. My big concern would be the saltwater on the adjustable points and linkages on that blinds frame.

It would be awesome in a flooded field or shallow fresh water, I'm just not convinced of it's longevity in the salt marsh

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Originally Posted by Ron.C

I had looked at the momarsh blind. Pretty slick. My big concern would be the saltwater on the adjustable points and linkages on that blinds frame.

It would be awesome in a flooded field or shallow fresh water, I'm just not convinced of it's longevity in the salt marsh

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Wouldn't it be pretty much be like dealing with fishing reels and any other metal parts that may corrode while out on the water? Just gotta be diligent in hosing them down really well after each trip. I beach fish quite a bit and it's a PITA but something you just have to live with. Wiping down shotguns every outing is the same thing,,,,we just do it. Otherwise we're just asking for corrosion to show its ugly face.

I dont submerge my shotgun or reels in saltwater, let alone for hours on end. :wink:

Can water get inside the legs and what sort of locking mechanism is used to extend/retract the legs?
Not saying it wouldnt work, just saying it allot of money for something that may not last overly long in the environment I want to use it in.

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Originally Posted by Ron.C

I dont submerge my shotgun or reels in saltwater, let alone for hours on end. :wink:

Can water get inside the legs and what sort of locking mechanism is used to extend/retract the legs?
Not saying it wouldnt work, just saying it allot of money for something that may not last overly long in the environment I want to use it in.

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True enough.

I wonder if spraying them down with some gun oil would help? I guess it is the inside of the legs that could end up being the issue although you should be able to soak the legs in fresh water. Where I beach fish there's a river close by so I just sit in it with my waders/boots on and submerge my rod and reel,,,,let all the line out, too. Sure saves me time at home if I can do that.

Maybe you can do the same thing if you have running river in the general area because I imagine you've got to wash the brine off your boots and waders, as well.

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Originally Posted by mastercaster

True enough.

I wonder if spraying them down with some gun oil would help? I guess it is the inside of the legs that could end up being the issue although you should be able to soak the legs in fresh water. Where I beach fish there's a river close by so I just sit in it with my waders/boots on and submerge my rod and reel,,,,let all the line out, too. Sure saves me time at home if I can do that.

Maybe you can do the same thing if you have running river in the general area because I imagine you've got to wash the brine off your boots and waders, as well.

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I fired an email off to MOMARSH and asked them a couple question on the construction of the INVISBLIND. Barring my concerns about corrosion, I agree with you that its the perfect solution for me. Could remove the blind from the stand for use in the layout boat, or on the stand beside me, or with my traditional layout when only in a few inches of water.

if your dog doesn't move a lot you don't need to hide her. I use a dog blind sometimes but a lot of the times she just sits outside of my layout, or beside the blind. Ive had lots of birds come in as the dog is out there picking up their dead friends.

Fair enough Lorne. I think initially, it may not be a bad idea to conceal her, at least until she gets some hunts behind her and I can gauge her steadiness in the blind.

Agree though on some days, the birds just come in no matter what's going on.

Hmm dont know anything about marsh boats.HOWEVER. .that Jessie is one fine looking best friend.
cheers
Srupp

So how is the new layout boat working Ron? I got out today (last day of geese) for the first time this year, aghhhh. Got myself a Christmas goose!

SO, as it turns out this layout boat set up worked pretty good once out in the marsh but I ended up having to tow it out behind my canoe or jon boat because it wasn't stable enough with gear and dog to paddle. And it was a bitch to paddle.

So in the off season I looked at different options and picked up a Discovery 119 canoe/kayak hybrid. Sub 50# and picked it up at less than cost because it had a couple scratches on it, not a big deal for a duck hunter.

Over the summer I retrofitted my old layout to be able to quickly set up (takes about 3 minutes).

I loaded it up last weekend with blind, gear, decoys and dog and went for a paddle. Quite stable and easily paddles (was actually surprised at how fast it goes.) I can paddle through as little as 5" of water and pull it simply with as little as 2". I want to be able to set up in up to 18" of water so I made 4 30x 2" posts that drive into the mud and secure to the cross frames, stabilizing the canoe perfectly for the dog to exit and enter as well as shooting ( worked well with it's predecessor). And when pulled into the small muddy channels (anyone who hunts the tidal flats knows what I mean) its a stable as can be and disappears.

Should fit the bill perfectly when hunting tidal flats on days when there is too much water for a layout and not enough cover for a blind

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/canoe11.jpg


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http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/canoe3.jpg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/canoe5.jpg
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