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Thread: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    738

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    I am surprised Urs hasn't started charging daily parking fees in the $50/day range. Sure hope he doesn't read this and get an idea....

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Vernon
    Posts
    1,573

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    Build one! . Not sure I'd use mine for fly in hunts, but a canoe is a useful hunting & family recreation tool that makes lifelong memories. This is my 16' Bear Mountain Boats Bob's Special. It's fairly stable as canoes go & the low profile at the ends is less affected by wind on a lake than more traditional high sweep designs. It weighs 56 lbs. I've paddled a Clipper too & it's a slug vs a cedar strip boat.








  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Van Isle
    Posts
    245

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    That is a beautiful canoe but looks like it took a lot of hours to build. I’ll have to keep trying to talk to the pilot and see if it is that expensive. Only post I saw was older and it said $100-150

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Vernon
    Posts
    1,573

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    As others have suggested, for fly in hunt your best bet is probably an inflatable. Yes, cedar strip build takes quite a while & is not cheap for materials either. But you end up with a one of a kind craft & there are many models to choose from. I built a 2nd for my daughter & son in law, same Bob's Special but a foot shorter at 15' which is the original plan length. Currently working on a Rob Roy solo, just under 13'. As I age, it will be much lighter & handier to load on the vehicle but the downside will be less cargo capacity. Should still be able to carry a de-boned deer, but anything larger would involve multiple trips.

    Big Bob's & Little Bob's photo taken the day we launched Hummingbird.


    The Rob Roy solo. I have the hull fiber glassed now but won't be finishing it until next spring.





  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Posts
    3,338

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    I built Ted Moore's Nomad,. It took me three winters. At 61# for a 17' Prospector, she's as light as Kevlar . If I was to do it again I would look at some of the asymmetrical plans. Swift builds some super light. <40#

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    North Van
    Posts
    1,888

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    I built one of those from a pattern I found in an old Popular Mechanics. I'd like to do a few more - my first was a stunner with high bows and a lot of rocker, which is both good, but somewhat impractical. Light and tough as well.

    Yours are beauts. I like how you handled the bow line.
    Rob Chipman
    "The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders" - Ed Abbey
    "Grown men do not need leaders" - also Ed Abbey

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Away from people!
    Posts
    396

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    I have probably flown hundreds of canoes in my years as a pilot. 17 foot canoes are fine on anything but a Super Cub. Yes, depending on the aircraft type and it's certification, you may lose a bit of payload when flying a canoe.

    i would suggest you avoid fibreglass or Kevlar and go with a "plastic" boat made of Royalex or something similar. The reason is that the ropes or straps used to tie the canoe to the aircraft have to be very tight...extremely tight. Glass and kevlar boats don't flex well and could crack when tied to the plane. I have seen this happen. It's common to hear a glass or kevlar boat "crackle" when tying them on. You don't actually crack the boat but it can't be good for it. Some companies won't fly cedar strip boats because of the damage that can occur when being tied on. I have flown them but they are fragile and I was never comfortable with them...I just couldn't tie them on as tight as I would have liked without damaging them.

    The plastic boats are flexible so it's almost impossible to crack one when tying it on to a plane. Oddly, they seem to fly better too for some reason...no idea why. They are heavier but they are more robust all around and would be my first choice.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    near the Skeena River
    Posts
    378

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    Quote Originally Posted by Brno22F View Post
    I would suggest looking at an Esquif 17 foot prospector, sold at Western Canoe and Kayak in Abbotsford. Very tough. Very durable, Great payload (1100 pounds +/_). They are ABS hull material like the Oldtown Discovery, Mad River and NovaCraft boats. If I recall the Esquif 17 weighs about 70 pounds. Not an issue to strap one of these to the Beaver. One of BC Yukon's pilots has the Esquif 17 ft Prospector at their base in Dease. This boat would do well on a moose hunt and on the lakes for fishing with the kids.
    I bought a Clipper 17 ft prospector - Kevlar a few years ago from Western Canoe. Absolutely love the boat. Great handling and so light on the portage. I don't have the heart to abuse this lovely boat on a moose hunt. At the time I bought, it was a toss-up between the Esquif ABS and the Clipper Kevlar. The Clipper was $500 more but it won me over on 2 points. It is 10 pounds lighter and it paddles like a dream.
    Every year there are a number of canoe expeditions on the Stikine river. They are generally flown into Tuaton Lk or Laslui lakes. Alpine Lakes Air has flown them in on their Cessna 206 and Cessna Caravan. I am pretty sure that BC Yukon also flies canoeists into that area in one of their Beavers as well.

    By far the best advice/reply to this thread, in my opinion, is from Norhternguy.


    Quote Originally Posted by northernguy View Post
    I have probably flown hundreds of canoes in my years as a pilot. 17 foot canoes are fine on anything but a Super Cub. Yes, depending on the aircraft type and it's certification, you may lose a bit of payload when flying a canoe.

    i would suggest you avoid fibreglass or Kevlar and go with a "plastic" boat made of Royalex or something similar. The reason is that the ropes or straps used to tie the canoe to the aircraft have to be very tight...extremely tight. Glass and kevlar boats don't flex well and could crack when tied to the plane. I have seen this happen. It's common to hear a glass or kevlar boat "crackle" when tying them on. You don't actually crack the boat but it can't be good for it. Some companies won't fly cedar strip boats because of the damage that can occur when being tied on. I have flown them but they are fragile and I was never comfortable with them...I just couldn't tie them on as tight as I would have liked without damaging them.

    The plastic boats are flexible so it's almost impossible to crack one when tying it on to a plane. Oddly, they seem to fly better too for some reason...no idea why. They are heavier but they are more robust all around and would be my first choice.
    Semper in excretum altum

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Van Isle
    Posts
    245

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    Thanks I will keep this in high regard when looking for a canoe

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Posts
    5

    Re: Flying in hunt, canoe recommendation

    flown canoes with bc yukon several times,, I have a square stern 16 foot aluminium.. No issues.. It does decrease your allowed flight limit down to around 1000lbs I recall. Pretty nice to have a canoe to help with the pack . Taken a small 2 hp engine as well

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