Kayak duck hunting is an amazing way to chase after highly pressured public land ducks. I love the minimalist style of packing in gear on a small kayak, slipping into hard to access areas and decoying ducks in close over a handful of premium decoys.
Hunting with minimal gear out of a kayak doesn’t mean you have to be uncomfortable or that you have to leave the essentials at home. I have been hunting out of kayaks since 2016, focusing primarily on hunting walk-in public land. I know what gear is worth packing in, and what is better off left at the truck. These are the best kayak duck hunting accessories that you won’t want to hunt without.
With limited space, these are 11 kayak duck hunting accessories I use every season:
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Kayak duck hunters face many challenges. Hunting in cold and wet conditions can be difficult enough out of a large boat, but as the boat gets smaller, so does the room for error. Essential kayak duck hunting accessories prioritize space, weight, safety, and staying dry.
When you have a large boat, there is plenty of room for inefficient storage. Blind bags can be slipped under a seat, the decoys piled at the front, the snacks set on a shelf. But when you switch to a kayak, all of a sudden the blind bag is soaked in water, the decoys are laying on top of you, and the coffee gets spilled when you set up to shoot. Hardly the relaxing experience you were hoping for when you bought a duck hunting kayak.
Saving space quickly becomes a top priority when hunting from a kayak. That giant blind bag that holds a case of shotgun shells, last year’s Twinkie wrappers, and a gallon jug of coffee just isn’t going to make the cut.
More than likely, kayak duck hunting involves dragging your setup to the water. If you had access to a boat ramp, a kayak may not be your first choice. Whether you are portaging a few hundred feet or over a mile, cutting down on weight will save you time and energy in the mornings.
On a public land walk-in spot, I drag my kayak up a near-vertical 10ft ditch, only to walk another quarter mile to get to the water. There isn’t a single morning that I get to the spot that I wish I had an extra 10lbs of weight to drag. Everything I do with my kayak is centered on the idea of cutting weight.
Unless you enjoy being cold, it is essential to stay dry. The same goes for your gear too. That becomes a difficult task while duck hunting out of a kayak. Waders will help keep you dry, but jumping in and out to retrieve ducks or set decoys will bring a lot of water into your kayak. No matter how hard you try, things are guaranteed to get wet. Having kayak hunting accessories that are waterproof is very important.
Keeping space, weight, safety, and staying dry as top priorities, here are the best kayak duck hunting accessories you won’t want to hunt without!
Nothing beats a hot beverage during the mid-morning slow down. And nothing is guaranteed to get the ducks moving quicker than pouring a nice full cup of coffee. When the ducks start flying you are left trying to stash the full cup somewhere safe, only to shift your weight and have it spill all over the place.
This thermos solves that problem. It is designed to drink directly from the mug. That by itself isn’t a total game changer, but this mug really stands out because it is totally spill-proof. It features a locking lid and rubber gaskets that prevent even a drop from seeping out.
I toss this mug in my blind bag at the house and it doesn’t get pulled out until halfway through the hunt. If there is only one thing you take away from this list, the Zojirushi coffee mug should be it.
This is easily my all-time favorite kayak duck hunting accessory. I purchased this coffee cup back in 2015 and it has been a staple for my mid to late season hunts ever since.
I hunted out of a kayak for many years before I finally got tired of dealing with rusty shells. My cardboard box of shells sat next to me and by the end of the hunt, the shells at the bottom were always wet.
They are still good for a few hunts but when I notice rust on the shells I set them aside for off-season practice. If you have ever sat up to shoot at a beautiful group of mallards, only for your gun to go ‘click’ instead of ‘bang’ you know it’s not worth taking the chance on a rusty shell.
Personally, I use a plastic shell box that is the same size and shape as a normal cardboard shell box. However, I can’t find a plastic box that fits anything larger than 2-3/4 inch shells.
That isn’t a problem for me because I shoot 2-3/4 inch shells all season long. When kayak hunting, I found I don’t need anything larger when the birds come in close. But I know a lot of people shoot 3 inch shells, so I included a box that will hold both.
This won’t be a kayak duck hunting accessory for everyone, but depending on how your kayak is set up, a gun mount can be incredibly beneficial. I had a regular unmodified sit in kayak my first year kayak hunting. I used an ATV style gun mount to secure my shotgun during the hunt. It keeps your hands free for working the jerk rig, calling, and of course, drinking coffee.
You can always lay your shotgun on the top of your blind, so I wouldn’t consider this an ‘essential’ accessory. However, where it really shines is if you want to use your kayak for jump shooting ducks.
Paddling around the bend in a river or on the other side of some cattails is a great way to sneak up and shoot some ducks on a slow afternoon.
One of the tricky parts of doing that is setting the paddle down and picking the gun up in time to get a shot off. Having a secure gun mount can help with this.
I hunt out of a kayak that has been modified into a layout blind. I have a full post on how to design a duck hunting kayak setup. I use a solid frame with flip open doors that gets brushed in with raffia grass and natural vegetation all season long.
However, I know many people that don’t want to paint their kayak or only use them for transport and then need something to cover up the kayak once it is stashed in the weeds. So this camouflage netting makes the list for top kayak duck hunting accessories.
One thing that makes this netting nice is that it doesn’t have any rope or string throughout like some netting does. That’s important, especially if you are using the netting as a base layer for a blind on the kayak.
You don’t want something that has a lot of strings to get tangled in and collect weeds. This isn’t the best camo netting you can buy, but it’s cheap, lightweight, and packs up small.
If you have to transport your kayak more than a few hundred feet, this will totally change your hunting experience. Here is a video from a few years back that features some of our group’s experience with kayak carts.
If you strap your kayak up for the first time in the dark, you might run into a few difficulties like Dan, but once you’ve done it once the process is incredibly simple.
In the video, Dakota mentions that he thinks the carts are a waste of money. A few years later and guess who has a cart? That’s right, Dakota does, and he won’t hunt without it!
There are a lot of options for good carts but look for one that has no-flat wheels, like this Bonnlo Kayak Cart.
The only time I won’t use a kayak cart is if I have to go through very thick vegetation and weeds, or very thick mud. Other than that, my cart comes on every single kayak duck hunt I go on, it truly makes a huge difference in the amount of effort required to get to the spot.
Unless you just enjoy getting an extra workout in before your hunt, a good cart is an essential kayak duck hunting accessory.
I don’t always take this dry bag with me, but it gets brought along for a good percentage of my hunts. It works great for keeping extra layers like jackets and gloves dry.
I have the 30L version of that bag which works great for bulky jackets, but it also is small enough to get stuffed in the back of the kayak.
The 30L bag also has backpack style straps which make it handy for a dual-purpose bag. I hunted for years without any sort of dry bag so I don’t consider this to be essential.
But I have to admit, it makes life easier. Considering that it weighs next to nothing, it is a great addition to your kayak hunting accessories.
If you have a kayak, you likely already have a paddle. But nonetheless, it is an important kayak duck hunting accessory. I only take a paddle on a small percentage of my kayak hunts because I usually am hunting shallow water pools on public land where I have to cover more land than water to get to a spot.
But, if you are looking for a good paddle, here are a few considerations:
Length is the most important thing; duck hunting kayaks tend to be wider for stability so you want a paddle that is long enough to make it easy to get to the outside edge of your kayak.
Also, look for one that can be split, a single piece design might be a bit sturdier but it will be harder to hide or stash in the kayak once you reach your spot.
Most of my kayak duck hunting is done on water that is less than 2 feet deep at the deepest point. If you hunt big water you will want a better style lifejacket that can be worn at all times. However, if you are like me and hunt shallow water, you might be asking yourself, why even bother with a life jacket?
I thought the same thing until I was checked by a game warden after a hunt one day. He was standing at the road and watched us drag our kayaks from the small pool across a quarter-mile open field. After checking our licenses he asked to see our life jackets.
I gave a little chuckle, thinking he was joking after watching us walk out of water that was 8 inches deep. He was not joking, although he let us off with a warning. In my state of Kansas, lifejackets are required on any boat, kayaks included. Check your state laws but you may find the same is required in your state.
I went out and purchased the smallest life jacket I could find (inflatable life vests are required to be worn at all times so those were out of the question).
The small, square, throw-able ones seemed to be the ticket, and it functions as a little extra padding in the bottom of my kayak. It stays in my kayak at all times except for the end of the season cleanout, and I take along a wearable life jacket anytime I will be paddling in deeper water.
Growing up my Dad always had a list of ‘#1’ safety rules he would mention before my brother and I would venture off on our own for a hunt. The #1 rule always changed. Some days it would be “don’t get wet” and other days it would be “know how to find your way home.” But one of his favorite ‘#1’ rules he liked to share was to always carry a knife.
As a duck hunter, you probably already have a stash of pocket knives all over the place. But if you don’t, now is a great time to add one to your blind bag or kayak. From opening up snack packaging to cutting natural brush in the morning for the blind, a pocket knife is not only essential for kayak duck hunting accessories, but for hunting in general as well.
I don’t buy expensive knives, I tend to forget or misplace them easily. I prefer a small, lightweight knife that has thumbstuds for one handed opening, and most importantly, it has to be cheap.
I like to recommend things that I have used before, but to be honest, I usually buy my knives from the 4 dollar rack at Walmart when I misplace one and need another.
This Smith and Wesson knife is well reviewed, has an aluminum handle, serrated blade, and is the perfect size for stashing in your kayak or blind bag.
As I have mentioned, most of my kayak is done with a cart. This means I just pile the kayak full of decoys and dump them out when I get to a spot. But if you are a hunter that primarily paddles to your spot, a decoy sled is an excellent kayak duck hunting accessory.
I use a sled on a small percentage of my hunts where I need to paddle across open water, and I plan on taking a larger decoy spread than what I can fit in my kayak. At first, I was hesitant to tow a sled, thinking it would add a lot of drag and slow me down. I found that towing the sled adds almost no noticeable drag; unless you are paddling against a strong wind.
Beavertail is perhaps the most recognized name when it comes to decoy sleds. You will pay for that name recognition though; there are certainly cheaper options that work just as well for light use.
Just be sure that you don’t pile the weight on the sled too high as it can cause the sled to become off balance, and it will be more likely to tip over.
Apart from the kayak itself, decoys are the next heaviest item when considering kayak duck hunting accessories. When kayak hunting, I like to opt for a small spread of realistic decoys, because the easiest way to cut weight is to decrease the number of decoys.
If you are looking for a way to cut weight but keep the same number of decoys, consider the new lifetime flexfloat decoys. These are some of the most lightweight decoys on the market today. The keel weights are even removable making the decoys an astonishing 11 ounces each.
They are made entirely from EVA foam so they are unsinkable, and they won’t make a lot of noise banging together on the walk-in. They feature a unique keel design that lets them sit upright even on ice, and because of how light weight they are, they move in very little wind.
I like the carve and the paint on these decoys, and one other thing that makes them stand out is the wider top-down profile, making them even more visible.
Having the right quality gear can make a good hunt great, and a tough hunt not so bad. While most of these kayak duck hunting accessories won’t make you a better duck hunter or help you see more ducks, they will help you hunt in comfort. From my experience, comfortable hunting means you hunt longer, and in the end, you actually do shoot more ducks.
If you have changed up your hunting style by switching to a kayak, you probably already realize the gear that works great for a large boat or permanent blind doesn’t work so great with a kayak. Use these best kayak duck hunting accessories to pick the right gear for your hunting situation.
I am passionate about duck hunting and I know how seriously duck hunters view their gear. I hope this list helps you pick out some kayak duck hunting accessories.
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