The voyageurs (French for “travelers,” normally in the employment of major fur companies) or coureurs des bois (independent “runners of the woods”), stalwart French Canadians who fueled the fur trade of the 18th and early 19th centuries, have become heroes celebrated in folklore and music. Their spirit sparks a sense of adventure anytime a modern outdoorsman launches a canoe or kayak. There’s something simply elegant about paddling along silently and efficiently in a canoe or kayak, and they can provide access to waterways free of formal boat launches. The average canoe or modern hunting kayak is easy to handle alone, and allows access to shallow or vegetated waters that would quickly founder larger boats.
For whitetail hunters, these light watercraft open a world of possibilities, allowing quick access to habitats adjacent to smaller waterways or rivers, and the possibility of trekking deep into watery wilderness few hunters penetrate. They’re also super stealthy, allowing hunters to silently access riparian habitats commando style.
In many areas, canoes or kayaks allow hunting private lands (up to the high-water mark) or land-locked public lands accessible only by water and unavailable to those coming overland afoot. So whether you’re contemplating a day-trip jaunt or a longer foray, canoes or kayaks have emerged as a viable whitetail-hunting tool. The following are some excellent locales where you can paddle your way to whitetail-hunting adventure.
Northeast: New York’s Adirondack Park
Nowhere is the voyageur lifestyle more prevalent than at Upstate New York’s 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, where canoes and kayaks are the only practical way to delve deep into wild areas away from the maddening masses of the Northeast’s population centers. A full day of paddling, plus a half-dozen highly manageable portages, easily puts you into hunting primeval, many lakes including primitive lean-to shelters. Admittedly, the Adirondacks is the kind of whitetail habitat — boreal forest with harsh winters — that has never held large deer densities, but in this survival-of-the-fittest country 250-pound bucks rule and monster racks do turn up. This is adventurous deer hunting in every sense of the word, with success a bonus to a classic deer hunt in a gorgeous landscape once enjoyed by hunting luminaries such as Teddy Roosevelt. Successful hunting is found by guarding beaver-dam crossings on larger streams, or still-hunting old growth stands of birch, maple, cedar and hemlock. The region’s most pleasant hunt is during the September archery-only season.
There is an endless array of possibilities, but the north-central Adirondack Lakes Region shines, with its 600-plus bodies of navigable waters, including jump-off points such as Long, Tupper, Indian, Raquette, Cranberry and Saranac lakes and connecting rivers. Float-plane drop-offs are often available from pilots who live in the small towns in the region. The towns of Long Lake, Saranac Lake and Paul Smiths are good starting points, but don’t be afraid to study maps and find your own adventures. Visit: Adirondack Park Agency, www.apa.ny.gov or New York Department of Environmental Conservation, www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/hunting.html.
Upper Midwest: Lake Michigan, Michigan
My first instincts when considering combinations of solitude, adventure and paddling mixed with undisturbed whitetail hunting is Michigan’s far-north Upper Peninsula, or UP. This is quintessential canoe and kayak country where the voyageur legend was spawned and grew. There truly is an endless supply of paddling options in the UP, including the region’s large and fabled rivers. The problem is deer densities and success rates are extremely low, though with luck some of the state’s biggest bucks are found there. It’s worth the slower hunting from an adventure standpoint alone.
That said, for better success rates and the prospect of higher numbers of mature bucks, your best bets likely lay along the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, more specifically in the region between the Manistee (north) and Muskegon (south) rivers. Those rivers, and miles of lonely Lake Michigan shoreline, create higher-odds whitetail destinations with abundant state forests. Scattered farmland and relatively friendlier winters allow higher deer densities.
I could never pretend to cover all of this vast and varied landscape, but desolate stretches of Lake Michigan shoreline north of Muskegon and north and south of the town of Manistee are as good a place as any to begin research. There are many more navigable rivers in this area, many with state-administered forests along their banks open to the public but otherwise unavailable to walk-in hunters. State lands do include special regulations to assure a high-quality experience for all involved, so be sure to check those out before your trip. All areas provide intrepid paddlers remote real estate, providing the ability to hike inland to hang stands or still-hunt. Visit: www.michigan.gov/hunting.
Upper Midwest: Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods
Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods is one of those places with something to offer any sportsman, from the serious fisherman, to waterfowl and upland bird hunters, to black bear, wolf and especially white-tailed deer hunters. This is big water and big country — only a portion of the 70×70-mile lake and its 14,552 islands (which all hold white-tailed deer) and 65,000 miles of shoreline are located in the United States. The larger portion of the lake, and its hunting, is found in Ontario and Manitoba, Canada.
This is a place where hunters can literally lose themselves for a week or two, and is also home to some truly behemoth white-tailed bucks, making this the most adventurous option on this list. Warning: This is no place for tyros or the unprepared. Lake of the Woods, especially during later firearms seasons, can easily kill you. Prepare accordingly.
There is plenty of hunting to be enjoyed on the United States side of the border, including some 1,500 acres of state-administered lands around the easily accessed Muskeg Bay/Buffalo Point area on the southwestern corner of the lake, and Big Traverse Bay to the southeast.
Accessing the wilder Northwest Angle requires driving through Canada, via the Warroad, Minnesota, border crossing, which is no big deal. This provides access to plenty of state forests and adjacent islands. Visit: www.dnr.state.mn.us.regulations/hunting and www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com, or email questions to info@lakeofthewoodsmn.com.
Nonresident alien hunting is certainly allowed in Ontario, and opens a much larger portion of the Lake of the Woods’ wild island wilderness and white-tailed deer potential, including the Aulneau Peninsula and larger land masses such as Falcon, Big and Bigsby islands. Perspective hunters are required to register as a sportsman, and then purchase a deer license. For the truly adventurous, the paperwork is worth the effort. Visit: www.mnr.gov.on.ca.
Southeast: Land Between the Lakes
The area known as the Land Between the Lakes, on the northeast corner of middle Tennessee and western Kentucky, has been going by that moniker since the first settlers arrived during the 18th century — a raise of land where the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers flowed close together. That name really became indicative after, first, Kentucky Lake was created by the Tennessee Valley Authority under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and then in the 1960s, the Cumberland River impounded to create Lake Barkley and a canal built between the lakes.
Clever engineering created the largest inland peninsula in the United States. John Fitzgerald Kennedy declared Land Between the Lakes a National Recreation Area, turning it into an outdoorsman’s paradise, with 170,000 acres of forested and public lands available to hunters, and just as important to our discussion here, 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline. Archery licenses are unlimited, while quotas are in place for firearms hunting. A $35 fee buys you a Hunter Use and Backcountry Camping Combo permit.
Hunting rules differ between the peninsula’s north (Kentucky) and south ends (Tennessee). You must purchase state licenses and tags according to which side of the border visited. Kentucky gives you an earlier start of September 5 (and the possibility of velvet bucks), and a later close of Jan. 18. Crossbow hunters are limited to specific dates (Oct. 1–18 and Nov. 14–Dec. 31), while Tennessee hunters may hunt with horizontal or vertical bows throughout the whole of the Sept. 26 through Jan. 3 season. The nature of the beast truly indicates purchasing tags for both ends of the peninsula and hunting accordingly.
For more information on area maps and recreational regulations visit: www.LandBetweenTheLakes.us; to purchase Hunter Use Permits visit www.usedirect.com/CampLBL.
Northwest: Idaho Panhandle Lakes
You often hear Idaho referred to as the Potato State — a silly pretext in itself, seeing as potatoes are grown in only a small portion of southern Idaho — but far northern Idaho is the land of lakes, rivers and timberlands. For a serious hunter with a canoe or kayak this is also the land of trophy whitetails. There are ample opportunities for day-trip paddles, some as simple as zipping across a modest river to sit in a riparian stand on the opposite bank where cold, rushing waters keep foot-bound hunters at bay, other places where canoe or kayak access is easy enough but ramps for larger boats distantly removed, and still others where a half-hour paddle allows access to remote private-property-blocked public lake shore.
Accessing stands across large trout rivers is possible in places such as the St. Joe River above St. Maries or the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry. (Sportsmen may access rivers to the high-water mark from any public access point or bridge). Various public-access boat ramps allow paddling into blank areas around lakes such as sprawling Coeur d’Alene or Pend Oreille, or smaller Spirit or Priest lakes and the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, while longer camping trips can be taken on the southern end of Pend Oreille (simply to avoid additional paddling) or north out of Priest Lake and into road-free Upper Priest Lake. Visit: Idaho Panhandle National Forests, www.fs.usda.gov/attmain/ipnf and Idaho Fish & Game, www.fishandgame.idaho.gov.
— Patrick Meitin is a widely traveled bowhunter and former big game hunting guide. He hails from northern Idaho.
D+DH In-Depth is our premium, comprehensive corner on America’s No. 1 game animal. In this graduate-level course, we’ll teach you about deer biology, behavior, and ultimately, how to become a better hunter. Want to be the first to get our premium content? Become a D+DH Insider for FREE!
