I was asked just the other day which boat of all my duck-hunting boats was my favorite and while I am at first inclined to answer that you always should love the one you are with, (that means the boat I currently own, or the one I am using at the moment), the truth is I have real soft spot in my heart for the “Cackler” series of boats. These little “Garvey-type” hunting boats are properly most similar to a sled with decks. They are great all-around boats that do what is asked of them with little fuss and no whining. They can be used as proper and concealable hunting boats but also excel in other categories of use. Little things like being a great platform for the Spring trout opener on the local lakes, a proper water-ski boat for my young sons, a little beach/log salvage work on the salt-waters of Puget Sound, and many other uses. If there were a best all around boat Oscar category, then the Cackler-type boats would be nominated year after year.

The Snow Goose 16 is just the latest in our offerings of the boats in the Cackler series. She measures in at a length that falls directly between the large and capable Honker design and the smaller and more cancelable Cackler 14. She has a bit less freeboard (or side height) than the Cackler 14 and shares the same outboard mounting feature that the larger Honker has. The outboard motor (up to 40 hp) mounts on the stern of the boat with a bailing splashwell just in front of the engine. There is room below the splashwell for a 9-gallon portable fuel tank that is safe in place and out of view. On both sides of the splashwell are positive floatation chambers (to make the boat non-sinkable) and in front of that a very large cockpit, with proper side decks to allow for a reserve of buoyancy and camoflageability. In front of the cockpit is a foredeck with stowage below and in the very bow of the boat, another floatation chamber. She is unsinkable, will hunt up to 3 hunters, and is strong and solid. In my ever so humble opinion, this boat is dollar for dollar, pound for pound, the best bang for your buck! The Snow Goose 16 is going to be my next boat and I’m thinking will be a proper member of my family for good. I hope you, too, will like this boat. — Sam Devlin

The Devlin Snow Goose 16 is available in study and construction plans.