anyone use a boat?

does anyone use a boat for getting closer to birds? I have a pond in my back yard and there are ducks out there but its heavily wooded / swampy and its impossible to go around the shore to get near them

so I am thinking of getting an inflatable boat like this

I own that boat. I use it for fishing.. I think it is a bit unsteady for photography. Being soft you can't get a very good stable position for shooting. .....and no I never take my camera out on the fish hunter..

I think if you lie down and rest the lens on the front it should be pretty steady wouldn't it? if not I could always put a plywood bottom in it and use a monopod

They do make a floor for it... The lack of seating is a problem. What they show in the picture is more like a blow-up pillow and none to comfortable

You might want to look into a one-man pontoon. Do a search on inflatable pontoon and you will see what it is. They are usually used for fly fishing. They have a nice, rigid seat. And you can use oars or flippers on your feet to move them around. I use mine for fishing, but would not hesitate to use a camera on it. They are very stable, and most have plenty of storage.

joayne wrote in post #7626965
They do make a floor for it... The lack of seating is a problem. What they show in the picture is more like a blow-up pillow and none to comfortable

yeah I read that its not that comfortable but I dont really plan to be in it a long time so I dont think it will be a big deal

I fish and do photography out of both my boats, the 18' deep v and 14' lightweight jon boat. For what you describe I would go with a Lowe 1032 10' jon boat. It will have a hard bottom for your mono or tripod, it has seats, its aluminum so you don't have to worry about getting a hole in it, when you don't want it anymore sell it and recoup most of your money. If you buy the blow up raft I would definately get a pelican case. Hope that helps...Jeff

I agree with jmik26, recoup is the secret to boats. That inflatable will never even sell, would you be leary of a used inflatable, even a top notch like an avon or zodiac? Get an aluminum anything, I started with a canoe, then a rowboat, then a drifter, then a couple different jonboats, now a 115 hp flatbottom sled that runs in 2 inches of water if ABSOLUTELY necessary. Just rough estimation, besides gas and licenses and everything that goes into the boats like life jackets and depth finders and radios and such that you keep and move into the next boat, my total cost has been 6500 amortized over twenty five years of being able to easily get to where no one else goes. And I still own 4 boats!
My advice: don't even look at inflatables unless free, (they will be eventually) get wood if you want to spend alot of time keeping it nice, and then keep it nice, Fiberglass is tempting and can be a good way to get a boat with a decent motor to keep for the aluminum hull you will eventually move up to. Better yet, get an Aluminum jon boat in the dead of winter after goose season is over, use it alot, then sell it years later two weeks before duck season starts. Have fun, stay safe.

Having raced sailing dinghies for 35 years, owning boats is reather like standing fully clothed in a cold shower tearing up ten pound notes, or $20 bills if US. Still I did manage to win two championships, the poor old body isn't up to it these days though, carrying camera kit is hard enough

racing is expensive, you bet. So is fishing, so is photography. but just owning a boat is nothing like racing a boat, wouldn't you agree?

This is me having a blast in one of my earlier boats

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Kayak or Canoe? Old Town makes some nice lil boats

thanks everyone for the suggestions, I have a canoe and almuminum boat at the cottage, I just wanted something cheap / small for my back yard to try and get some pics of the wood ducks that are out there

I had a look yesterday at bass pro and this boat looks ok for what I need, still not ready to jump on it yet though

I like the 1 man inflatable pontoon idea. I've had a couple small inflatables like the one pictured, and was rather displeased. Very difficult to position oneself in one. Plus, how do you move without oars? The oars will spook ducks away. Even leaning to take a shot will cause ripples, which may spook the ducks away. Ducks can be so incredibly skittish. The more solid/stable your shooting platform is, the more likely you will actually get them to come within camera range.

If all you want is a shooting platform, just build yourself a square box as 'boating performance isn't what you need. Flat and wide is going to be more stable than a boat with a rounded hull. You can just scull it from the rear to slowly propel it forward.