Been looking around for Jon boats on Craigslist but I'm not sure what size I should go for. I see a lot of 10ft ones online for cheap but I'm not sure if that's enough room. The goal would be to use it as a boat blind and also get to and from certain spots. It would need to carry myself and my friend (each around 200lbs), 2 shotguns, and around 1-2 dozen decoys. Would 10ft be enough room or should I search for something larger?

My buddy has a 1436 and the times I rode with him, we’re both about 160lbs, it was pretty much fully loaded. I hunted once with him in it during teal season and we could only safely fit about 1 dozen decoys and I had to leave my dog at home. A 10ft just isn’t really safe for more than one person. Your best and safest bet would be a 16ft. They’re around, when I was lookin for a boat this summer I saw a ton for sale under 500$

Anything less than four feet wide is not a boat. It is a canoe. How long and heavy depends on how you'll push it.

I personally would not step in a jon boat smaller than 1448 for any reason.

agreed.

It depends on what kind of water you are crossing. Just headed to a nearby cove with the right wind or a small lake is no biggie, but big open water is another thing. I hunted a lot out of a 10' jon back in the day, but the run was less than a mile and I could hug the shoreline so in the right wind it wasn't a problem.

On big water with a lengthy run you'll want at least a 16', which is what I use now with a semi-V hull. Even with it I hunt different spots based on wind when I'm going a long way. I've still had a couple of times that it got pretty hairy. My next rig will be 18'.

I don't haul 4 guys with a couple of dogs, either. I usually have one other guy and a dog, max two other guys.

I wouldn't go less than 14 feet.

1860 is what I have now and is great. Had a 2052 for 18 years, great for getting there but a bear to hide. Both haul 2-3 guys dog and 4 doz, decoys and blind never a problem except in wind over 25mph.

Typically the body off water would be the size of coffee mill lake in northern texas more or less.

No 10ft is not enough boat. And based on what you want to do even a 14ft would be questionable.

Thanks for all the advice yall. From what ive read i need to go with a 1448 or 1648. I do have a follow up question though. For these what hp should i look at for an engine?

1244 w/12hp Copperhead, plenty big to get to and from the areas i hunt with 2, dog and decoys, but I don't hunt out of it

You can say that again!

16x48 is a good starter rig, safe and enough room

Well, hadn't hunted out of the pro-drive either clown

IMO those 10 or 12 foot jon boats are pond bass-fishers. Hull shape makes a difference, too. Something like this will vastly outperform one of those with any sort of load in any chop. Your shallow-water performance is limited anyways with a typical outboard setup.

https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/boa/d/16ft-jon-boat-with-5hp-motor/6753104244.html

If you going on a big lake, I would go long and wide. I drive a 1760 Lowe with pods. Stable and safe.

Saw 2 young guys come the launch last Sunday in 14/48. The took in a lot of water and barely made it back.

I have a 1542 Starcraft. It's been an amazing boat, and just the right size for what I use it for. The max horse power rating of the boat is 25hp, and when i put my 25 on I'm able to hit about 23-24mph. This is the smallest I would go however, because as you add weight the boat gets slower and sits lower. Also you need to think about how you're going to hide the boat, and store the boat. Big boats are nice, but useless if you have no where to store them.

Hunted and fished out of a 14’x36” for a couple decades. That’s as small as I’d go and I’m not what you would call adverse to taking risks. One person boat. Hunted two with a 100lbs of lab and a couple dozen decoys many times, but I’ve survived that to grow wiser...oh, it had two 500gph bilge pumps and I used both of them more than a few times.

16’ will fit in a standard garage in one bay. Do that.

My current boat is 17’x54” and it’s self bailing.

I have an 1860 as well and run 4 guys with two decoy bags. Cockpit is small so better to run blind the full length of the boat. Would not go smaller on these lakes if you have to make a big run and wind over 10 is no fun.