Anyone here got a pirogue?

bernie · November 3, 2002, 02:24 PM

I am about to buy some sort of a small boat that I can carry in the back of my pickup truck to use to duck hunt. It will be used on the way to and from work (I am a saleman and travel quite a bit in my region) to hunt small, shallow bodies of water.

I am looking for something lightweight and easy to carry 50 or so yards, can be carried in my pickup, and is stable enough to lay in the bottom of and then lean up quickly to shoot ducks.

I like the idea of the pirogue, but is it stable enough to lie in the bottom of and hunt?

I have hunted out of a flatbottom fiberglass "layout" boat. I am talking about the Mississippi River delta type layout, not the northern type. It worked well, but was a little bit heavier and less maneuverable than the pirogue probably would be.

Thanks in advance for the input.

Southla1 · November 3, 2002, 03:06 PM

Until I was 16 or so I THOUGHT you had to have a priogue to hunt

.

Seriously I have my daddy's pirogue which I inherited when he passed away last Jan. It has been in the family or years. About 15 foot long and 2-1/2 feet wide. He built it out of one sheet of 4X16 foot AAA marine plywood, cypress ribs, brass screws and fittings when I was maybe 10 or so. It carried me, him, and sometimes my little brother along with 3 or 4 beagles for years. just paddle to where ever the rabbits, ducks, deer etc were, turn the dogs loose and take a stand.Never did turn it over. We shot from it, around it etc.

It used to make a many snake hunt in the spring back in the same area. I guess a man could be wealthy if he had all the empty .22 brass that fell in it over the years.

It was nothing to paddle it 10 or 12 miles a day back in the bayous in the swamps by the lake.

Today they have the fiberglass, and aluminum ones. They are smaller than mine and maybe a lil less stable. Remember all the old time Cajuns (hell some still do) stood up in a pirogue and used a push pole for propulsion so stability is no biggie once you get used to it.

A 12 footer should fit nicely in a pickup 8 foot bed pus 2 foot tailgate and a couple of ropes, not too much overhanging ................. I used to get the 15 footer in my pickup and tie it down, but lately have gotten old and lazy and just pop it on my 14 foot utiility trailer...............a coonass boat trailer

.

scotjute · November 8, 2002, 11:33 AM

bernie,
I made one out of plywood that was 10' long and 28" wide on bottom. I have lived out of it for up to 3 days. Wouldn't recommend anything shorter or narrower for hunting. I could shoot 12 gage sideways in it sitting down and not tip boat over. I've been in one that was around 21-22" wide on bottom and if you looked sideways it wanted to tip you over.
It is my opinion that the flat-bottom plywood pirogues for the same width are more stable than the curved bottom fiberglass ones. So if you're buying one I would want one at least 30-32" wide. I think most of the mfd. ones will be wide enough as they won't stay in business if they're product ducks people routinely in the water. I think there is a company called Moccassin (or some such) that makes some good looking short pirogues. Don't know about their weight.
Am currently working on my 4th boat. This one will be 12' long and 26" wide on bottom, my narrowest yet. I'm not planning on shooting sideways in this one, tho perhaps I should just to test.
Hope that helps.

Southla1 · November 8, 2002, 07:35 PM

Bernie, I have not forgotten my promise to take some pics of my priogue and send them to you but things got hectic here. I have to leave for about 2 weeks offshore tomorrow..........see post in General discussion forum on that. I will try to get em when I get back in.

bernie · November 9, 2002, 11:49 AM

Thanks for the information. I was looking at the 2 man that is 25" wide in the bottom at www.pirogue.com. Mack's Sport Shop in Stuttgart has a couple and they looked nice.

Borf · November 9, 2002, 07:53 PM

bernie - did they look to be well constructed in person? I'm amazed by the price! Kind of tempting...

Dave R · November 9, 2002, 08:51 PM

Those prices are pretty attractive...

Looks like a great alternative to a canoe.

bernie · November 9, 2002, 10:11 PM

They appear to be very well made, that is why I was interested. I have looked at a lot of different type of duck hunting boats, and it is among the tops in looks. I know that looks can be deceiving, but I do not like spending money on something that looks like a rag bag. My main concern was stability for shooting out of it. I do not liked to be soaked to the skin when the weather is freezing!

rock_jock · November 12, 2002, 06:36 PM

You bunch of coon-a****.

Will Beararms · November 12, 2002, 06:41 PM

You must see the aluminum pirouges offered at www.duckcommander.com. They are head and shoulders above the rest.

Southla1 · November 12, 2002, 07:41 PM

"You bunch of coon-a****."

Guilty as charged

.

NorthofI10 · March 13, 2011, 02:00 PM

Hello Guys, I have been looking to buy a pirogue to shoot from and have ran across alot of post and discussions about this topic. I have been looking for a great deal on a suitable boat not trying to figure out what I can or can't shoot from. I have seen post sugesting every thing from canoes to the traditional louisiana pirogues that I have used a good bit. And are by the way useally about 24" wide and so unstable, that the fist day of use after a while of being out of practice you feel like someone spent all day taking a broom stick to your ribs. And somthing as simple as a curious dog looking over the side at a fingerling swiming by will put you in the drink. As I have flipped over a 12' cheap riveted aluminum jon boat shooting a one week old banellie SBEII. I would have to say that shooting out of a canoe or traditional pirogue is just an unreasonable notion. However the brand someone mentioned above (mocassin) actualy "water mocassin" boats another brand is "bobcat" boats these are not traditional pirogues but very very stable and still very easy to get around in. As well as lightwieight. I assure you that you can shoot out of these boats. Leiving in north louisiana I pretty much hunt flloded timber backed up off of lake an bayous. I had a bobcat pirogue as a kid. I won it at a raffel at a local fire department fundraiser. I spent hours and hours in it and it is very stable. I actually found pretty much exact disign as the 2 brands I mentioned above at a flee market here locally that I am going to go get in a few hours. It isn't one of the brands I just mentioned but my searching has paid off. I am getting it for $75 I will post the exact brand and pics. when I can.

GeauxTide · March 14, 2011, 11:30 AM

You'd be better served with a 17' square stern canoe. I've hunted from both and the pirogue was too tippy (an original plywood version). With the canoe, you can mount a 4-5hp motor, carry 1,000# and still draft 3". You can also c clamp some stabilizing boards to set up the blind in shallow water.

Hog Buster · March 14, 2011, 01:18 PM

I hunted and fished from a pirouge for years and years. There’s nothing that will get you around the marsh or flooded timber like a pirouge. You can paddle down a trenasse that only has 2 or 3 inches of water to get to your duck blind,. You can also maneuver through flooded trees hunting with almost no effort and be quiet while doing this. Shooting out of one is no problem. Using one is kinda like riding a bicycle, once you learn you can stand up and pole it or sit and paddle it.

I don’t know much about commercially made ones, the only ones I ever owned were made by another local coonass. I do know that if they don’t have a flat bottom that’s curved from front to rear you can’t steer them.

A friends wife bought him an aluminum one, it had a flat un-curved bottom. I can still hear him banging into trees and cussing it. Made a distinctive clang every tree he hit, followed by a string of expletives.

I tried a fiberglass one once. Walked out into it an it started to split in the middle, me and my shotgun just made it back to the bank.

The traditional ones are the best, but it’s getting hard to find anyone one who still makes cypress pirouges. A hurricane got my last one. It was made by an old man named Chauvin in Centerville, LA. He’s been dead for years and I don’t know anyone who is still making them.

Can’t master a pirouge, get yourself a bateau. You’ll have to try to fall out of it.

jhog1 · March 15, 2011, 08:23 AM

I think you should just make your own

http://www.unclejohns.com/boat/

Art Eatman · March 15, 2011, 10:37 AM

Ah, necrothreadia! The thread began nine years ago...

November 3, 2002, 02:24 PM	#1
bernie Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2000 Posts: 145	Anyone here got a pirogue? I am about to buy some sort of a small boat that I can carry in the back of my pickup truck to use to duck hunt. It will be used on the way to and from work (I am a saleman and travel quite a bit in my region) to hunt small, shallow bodies of water. I am looking for something lightweight and easy to carry 50 or so yards, can be carried in my pickup, and is stable enough to lay in the bottom of and then lean up quickly to shoot ducks. I like the idea of the pirogue, but is it stable enough to lie in the bottom of and hunt? I have hunted out of a flatbottom fiberglass "layout" boat. I am talking about the Mississippi River delta type layout, not the northern type. It worked well, but was a little bit heavier and less maneuverable than the pirogue probably would be. Thanks in advance for the input.

November 9, 2002, 07:53 PM	#6
Borf Senior Member Join Date: February 24, 2001 Location: Middle Tennessee Posts: 424	bernie - did they look to be well constructed in person? I'm amazed by the price! Kind of tempting... __________________ A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. -- Wiliam James If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money it values more, it will lose that, too. -- W. Somerset Maugham

November 9, 2002, 08:51 PM	#7
Dave R Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2000 Location: Idaho Posts: 6,073	Those prices are pretty attractive... Looks like a great alternative to a canoe. __________________ I am Pro-Rights (on gun issues).

November 12, 2002, 06:41 PM	#10
Will Beararms Senior Member Join Date: October 12, 1999 Location: North Texas Posts: 2,834	You must see the aluminum pirouges offered at www.duckcommander.com. They are head and shoulders above the rest. __________________ "Without a rifle you are nothing, worthless, you are waiting for death, any minute, any second." -- Aron Bielski

March 13, 2011, 02:00 PM	#12
NorthofI10 Junior Member Join Date: March 13, 2011 Posts: 1	Shooting from a pirogue Hello Guys, I have been looking to buy a pirogue to shoot from and have ran across alot of post and discussions about this topic. I have been looking for a great deal on a suitable boat not trying to figure out what I can or can't shoot from. I have seen post sugesting every thing from canoes to the traditional louisiana pirogues that I have used a good bit. And are by the way useally about 24" wide and so unstable, that the fist day of use after a while of being out of practice you feel like someone spent all day taking a broom stick to your ribs. And somthing as simple as a curious dog looking over the side at a fingerling swiming by will put you in the drink. As I have flipped over a 12' cheap riveted aluminum jon boat shooting a one week old banellie SBEII. I would have to say that shooting out of a canoe or traditional pirogue is just an unreasonable notion. However the brand someone mentioned above (mocassin) actualy "water mocassin" boats another brand is "bobcat" boats these are not traditional pirogues but very very stable and still very easy to get around in. As well as lightwieight. I assure you that you can shoot out of these boats. Leiving in north louisiana I pretty much hunt flloded timber backed up off of lake an bayous. I had a bobcat pirogue as a kid. I won it at a raffel at a local fire department fundraiser. I spent hours and hours in it and it is very stable. I actually found pretty much exact disign as the 2 brands I mentioned above at a flee market here locally that I am going to go get in a few hours. It isn't one of the brands I just mentioned but my searching has paid off. I am getting it for $75 I will post the exact brand and pics. when I can.

November 3, 2002, 03:06 PM	#2
Southla1 Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 19, 2000 Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the Posts: 1,999	Until I was 16 or so I THOUGHT you had to have a priogue to hunt . Seriously I have my daddy's pirogue which I inherited when he passed away last Jan. It has been in the family or years. About 15 foot long and 2-1/2 feet wide. He built it out of one sheet of 4X16 foot AAA marine plywood, cypress ribs, brass screws and fittings when I was maybe 10 or so. It carried me, him, and sometimes my little brother along with 3 or 4 beagles for years. just paddle to where ever the rabbits, ducks, deer etc were, turn the dogs loose and take a stand.Never did turn it over. We shot from it, around it etc. It used to make a many snake hunt in the spring back in the same area. I guess a man could be wealthy if he had all the empty .22 brass that fell in it over the years. It was nothing to paddle it 10 or 12 miles a day back in the bayous in the swamps by the lake. Today they have the fiberglass, and aluminum ones. They are smaller than mine and maybe a lil less stable. Remember all the old time Cajuns (hell some still do) stood up in a pirogue and used a push pole for propulsion so stability is no biggie once you get used to it. A 12 footer should fit nicely in a pickup 8 foot bed pus 2 foot tailgate and a couple of ropes, not too much overhanging ................. I used to get the 15 footer in my pickup and tie it down, but lately have gotten old and lazy and just pop it on my 14 foot utiility trailer...............a coonass boat trailer .

November 8, 2002, 11:33 AM	#3
scotjute Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2001 Location: texas Posts: 260	bernie, I made one out of plywood that was 10' long and 28" wide on bottom. I have lived out of it for up to 3 days. Wouldn't recommend anything shorter or narrower for hunting. I could shoot 12 gage sideways in it sitting down and not tip boat over. I've been in one that was around 21-22" wide on bottom and if you looked sideways it wanted to tip you over. It is my opinion that the flat-bottom plywood pirogues for the same width are more stable than the curved bottom fiberglass ones. So if you're buying one I would want one at least 30-32" wide. I think most of the mfd. ones will be wide enough as they won't stay in business if they're product ducks people routinely in the water. I think there is a company called Moccassin (or some such) that makes some good looking short pirogues. Don't know about their weight. Am currently working on my 4th boat. This one will be 12' long and 26" wide on bottom, my narrowest yet. I'm not planning on shooting sideways in this one, tho perhaps I should just to test. Hope that helps.

November 8, 2002, 07:35 PM	#4
Southla1 Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 19, 2000 Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the Posts: 1,999	Bernie, I have not forgotten my promise to take some pics of my priogue and send them to you but things got hectic here. I have to leave for about 2 weeks offshore tomorrow..........see post in General discussion forum on that. I will try to get em when I get back in.

November 9, 2002, 11:49 AM	#5
bernie Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2000 Posts: 145	Thanks for the information. I was looking at the 2 man that is 25" wide in the bottom at www.pirogue.com. Mack's Sport Shop in Stuttgart has a couple and they looked nice.

November 9, 2002, 10:11 PM	#8
bernie Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2000 Posts: 145	They appear to be very well made, that is why I was interested. I have looked at a lot of different type of duck hunting boats, and it is among the tops in looks. I know that looks can be deceiving, but I do not like spending money on something that looks like a rag bag. My main concern was stability for shooting out of it. I do not liked to be soaked to the skin when the weather is freezing!

November 12, 2002, 06:36 PM	#9
rock_jock Senior Member Join Date: January 19, 2000 Location: SE Texas Posts: 1,779	You bunch of coon-a****.

November 12, 2002, 07:41 PM	#11
Southla1 Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 19, 2000 Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the Posts: 1,999	"You bunch of coon-a." Guilty as charged .

March 14, 2011, 11:30 AM	#13
GeauxTide Senior Member Join Date: April 20, 2009 Location: Helena, AL Posts: 4,424	You'd be better served with a 17' square stern canoe. I've hunted from both and the pirogue was too tippy (an original plywood version). With the canoe, you can mount a 4-5hp motor, carry 1,000# and still draft 3". You can also c clamp some stabilizing boards to set up the blind in shallow water.

March 14, 2011, 01:18 PM	#14
Hog Buster Senior Member Join Date: October 26, 2009 Location: Pointe Coupee, Louisana Posts: 772	I hunted and fished from a pirouge for years and years. There’s nothing that will get you around the marsh or flooded timber like a pirouge. You can paddle down a trenasse that only has 2 or 3 inches of water to get to your duck blind,. You can also maneuver through flooded trees hunting with almost no effort and be quiet while doing this. Shooting out of one is no problem. Using one is kinda like riding a bicycle, once you learn you can stand up and pole it or sit and paddle it. I don’t know much about commercially made ones, the only ones I ever owned were made by another local coonass. I do know that if they don’t have a flat bottom that’s curved from front to rear you can’t steer them. A friends wife bought him an aluminum one, it had a flat un-curved bottom. I can still hear him banging into trees and cussing it. Made a distinctive clang every tree he hit, followed by a string of expletives. I tried a fiberglass one once. Walked out into it an it started to split in the middle, me and my shotgun just made it back to the bank. The traditional ones are the best, but it’s getting hard to find anyone one who still makes cypress pirouges. A hurricane got my last one. It was made by an old man named Chauvin in Centerville, LA. He’s been dead for years and I don’t know anyone who is still making them. Can’t master a pirouge, get yourself a bateau. You’ll have to try to fall out of it. __________________ Those who beat their guns into plows, will plow for those who don't.-Thomas Jefferson

March 15, 2011, 08:23 AM	#15
jhog1 Senior Member Join Date: April 11, 2010 Location: Rensselaer Co NY Posts: 221	I think you should just make your own http://www.unclejohns.com/boat/

March 15, 2011, 10:37 AM	#16
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Ah, necrothreadia! The thread began nine years ago...