Earlier this year I posted about an old "pirogue" I had picked up for $100. My plan was to recondition the aluminum craft and have it ready to go for duck season. I finally finished, and decided to do a little research on the boat before I launched her. Here's what I discovered:

What I have is an Alumacraft Ducker. The riveted aluminum duck hunting boats were built between 1947 and 1954, making mine somewhere between 54-61 years old. Alumacraft only produced 2600 of them. The originals came with a set of aluminum oars with wooden handles. The oars could be stored in the boat, with the paddle end sliding into a metal brace, and the handle settling in a metal hook (see interior picture). The boat also has two "spud holes" to allow you to anchor in place by sticking a pole/rod/stake through the hole and into the muck. My boat is missing the oars and the original wooden spud poles. I did a Google search and found two Duckers listed on different Craig's List sites -- one for $2,000 and the other for $2,500! I also found a picture of an old advertisement for the boat, listing all of the specs: 12' x 42" x 12" and 67 lbs.



Here is the description: "Ideal for marsh hunting and open water retrieving. Tough enough to break ice yet exceptionally light weight. Sturdy and leakproof, cannot rust, rot or dry out. A solid roomy shooting platform for 2 men. Draws only 3.5 inches of water fully loaded"

Anyhow, I thought it was all pretty cool, and I can't help but think of all of the great hunts that must have taken place in this boat over the years. Hopefully I'll have some good hunts in it myself this season:



Be kind in commenting on the camo job -- it was my first shot at doing something like this!



I still have to devise some type of flooring or "shooting platform", and perhaps a layout-type seat.

I like it, can you stand up in it?

Not really. More of a sitting or kneeling boat. I'll mostly use it to hunt in the high grass and retrieve birds, since I don't have a dog...

That is awesome. If it were me, I would combine some new school with the old school. Put a sheet of plywood in the bottom to get you off the cold floor, and then a nice flip open lawyout blind. Stuff some grass around it with a pair of full bodies at your feet, and I bet ducks would be trying to land on your island.

That's awesome.

I'd love to have something like that.

That thing is cool. Heck of a job on the camo.

You know I said I would mix old school with new school, but really, you should use an old Double Barrel, find some period hunting cloths off ebay, reload some paper hulled steel loads, and go retro all the way. When other hunters come by, just look confused and ask them what year it is.

I like Sniper Johns ideas on this boat. It is SWEET ! The only thing I could offer about the camo is, I start with my back ground colors which would be the brownish green water then come back over that with the tan and lighter brown reeds. But I'm sure that camo will work just fine. Thanks for the post!

oh man that is awesome

Nice very good job

btw I would stay away from the plywood and use foam board, or just some foam rubber, kinda softer and make less noise. Remember if you add a trolling motor, you'll need running lights & Reg stickers

sweet rig. You'll have some memories in that thing when its all said and done.

Good luck this year.

They are sweet little boats. Me and my brother have hunted out of one all of our lives. We have taken canoe trips down a ton of rivers and killed alot of ducks and caught more fish that you could think of in that little thing. We built a trolling moter bracket on the back with either that or a 2.5 that little boat will flat out get it. They are really fun little boats just dont try to put three people in it duck hunting and all shoot at the same time. The boat will flip. . It looks to me though they were originally designed to have a sail. If you notice the holes in the front of the boat and the two holes in the cockpit near the back where a mast and a jib pole would go. At least thats what we always thought it was for. Either that or anchor ports but the design is flawed for that. Oh well beside the point sweet boat.

Nice job! I would love to have one of those.

I think the article said the holes were to put your mud pole through it and anchor the boat with the mud pole.

How do you haul it and how do you launch it?

Dan, that is cool. Where in the world did you find that?

Give me a shout. I can help you with the camo side of things, ie. grass, doors, etc. I'm working on two right now.

I'll give ya $125 for it!!

How about some "turkey hunting" type seats? Maybe one with a back. Check out this one, I have one, it has to be one of the most comfortable. http://cornellhuntinproducts.com/huntpac.asp

Most layout style boats don't have seats, I just use a flotation cushion

Man that is sweet!!! The camo is fine, as long as it breaks up the pattern it will do the job. Have you thought about grassing it up?

Do you still own this boat? If so, are you interested in selling it?

Nice! I'm huntin' up ideas to put a blind in my boat!

Welcome to the forum Ron. This post is 4 years old, but he did put it up for trade about three months ago. Click on his username and send him a private message with the question.
http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3167784/