Been taking a look at the Beavertail Stealth 1200/2000's and was wondering if you guys had any thoughts on them or good alternatives to look into. Last year was my first year duck hunting and I didn't have much success walking in. Thinking I can float to some better areas as the area people always boated into sounded like a warzone every morning.

Your thoughts are much appreciated.

I would just st get an old14 foot Jon boat to get to better spots.

I have had a 1200 for over 10 years. Absolutely worth it.

It is very safe. You can stand on the gunnel and it won't flip over. With a trolling motor it is a great duck boat. Put a spare battery up front, it will balance well and you have fresh juice if you need it.

They are hard to paddle. So you really will want to use a motor.

Had a 2000 for years and it was a great boat - for the right waters/area. It's not an all around but its very stable, drafts in a couple inches and easy to drive. Had two people/dog and gear and did great. I have also towed a jet sled behind it.

Thanks all for your thoughts.

I thought about a Jon boat but everything I saw seemed just a little too expensive.

So the stealth boats are hard to paddle? Have you guys shot out of them? How stable are they for that?

I have done the paddle thing and it just isn't worth it. Your range isn't much better than walking in and your speed is miserably slow if you do decide to make a long paddle. You already have to wake up early enough on public land to not want to paddle an extra hour. You are also severely limited on decoys and forget about bringing an extra person. They also are more dangerous, less stable and not as easy to shoot out of as one would think. I think the stealth boats have a place off a mother ship or covering short distance over deep water, or as a sneak boat/blind in a spot that you don't have to work to get too, but it really isn't going to extend your range and comfort like you think in many applications.

I would do the walk in thing while pinching some pennies and then buy one of these:

http://fourriverslayoutboats.com/t/boats

I have the EBADS but the SOBADs looks nice too.

By far the best duck boat on the water, imo. It is amazingly stable and you can go in miles and has a small profile. I have hunted 3 men and a dog, but two and a dog is comfortable. Only negative is you do need to use a trailer with it, but I have never had a problem finding a spot to back in.

The safety aspect of it can't be overlooked as well. I've busted some thick ice with this too that there is no way you could paddle through.

Hassan, it is hard to paddle. But you can poke it pretty easily in skinny water. Like I said above, put a trolling motor on and you can get to a lot of places you would never get otherwise. And it's a boat one guy can easily manage into and out of a truck bed, and it's extremely safe in terms of flipping.

I only shot out of mine when I dragged it up on the bank and put a cover over it turning it into a layout blind...which it does really well. Otherwise it's not stable enough for good shooting. But that's not what it's for...use it to get to where you can get out and hunt. It's a truck, and a good one.

Will disagree with the poster above on a couple of points... I used to take mine every year to Nebraska and Kansas on big water and small. It can also carry plenty of gear. Not the smartest choice, but back when I would crawl naked over broken glass to kill a duck, me and my best friend would load up with two bags of decoys and our other gear and head down the Colorado near Austin to hunt. Half again over weight...no issues.

In big, calm, water, or flooded timber, it's a great boat. Very safe. Very easy to handle. Trolling motor or a long pole and you are good to go.

Thank you for the information! Seems like I need to do a little more looking around. I'm still pretty new to the sport so I'm still in the crawling on glass phase lol!

How about a bump:

A guy offloading his stealth 1200 for $350 with a dog rap and motor mount.

It a hell of a deal but what I want to know from you guys that own one, what's the best way to transport it? At 110lbs it seems like a beast to get on a roof rack, or do you just put it in the bed of your truck? 12ft seems a little long.

Thoughts?

For $350, just get it.

You can figure out a way to load it.