So my buddy Ryan, his dad and brother went out Gator hunting last night in South East Alabama. My buddy Ryan drew a special Alligator permit allowing him to hunt them on Lake Eufala. We saw about 6 gators that night and he decided to pull the trigger on this one. I took video of the whole entire thing. I'll try and figure out the video part later. For now here's a couple of pics following the story.
So like I said before my buddy Ryan drew an archery Gator tag. The four of us got in his dad's boat and cruised real slow along the banks and back into the tributaries of the lake with 4 spotlights. At night the Gators float in the water so only the tip of their nose and their eyes protrude out of the water. So you're hoping to see a red or white shine from their eyes. We found a couple of smaller ones and one we estimated to be about ten feet. But as soon as we got close to the ten footer SHE would go below the surface and we'd lose her. We played cat and mouse with HER for about an hour. I saw it was a she because the bigger Males will come up to your boat and defend their territory.
Eventually we came upon this Gator. Again we played cat and mouse with him and just as Ryan would get close enough for a shot down below the surface the gator would go. Some fisherman drove passed us so we cut our engine and decided to let them pass and also hoping he'd pop up somewhere because it had been awhile since we'd seen him. I was just about to turn my camera off when he popped up about 2-3yds from the bow of the boat where Ryan was. Ryan quickly drew back and launched his Muzzy "Gator Getter" into the Bull Gator's neck. Immediately the Bull headed down to the bottom of the shallow tributary we were in. This left my buddy Ryan with a very serious dillema. Because you see the arrow was firmly attached to the Gator's neck, and firmly attached to that arrow was a 600lb line that was firmly attached to Ryan's bow. And firmly attached to Ryan's bow (He bought it 2 weeks ago and this is his first archery hunt) was Ryan. So he ALMOST got pulled into the water with the Gator. But luckily we were able to tie the line off to the boat.
The Gator weighed in at just over 300lbs. So this Gator actually started pulling Ryan's, 19 foot ski boat around. Now came the hard part. Pulling that Gator up to the surface. We had to hand-line that bull Gator up to the surface and get a noose around his neck. Imagine trying to hand-line a 300lb angry gator up to the boat and getting a noose around him while he's thrashing his tail and doing that gator death roll thing they do. This was definately an exciting event. Well eventually we got him into position so that we could shoot him in the base of his spine with a shotgun.
Now let me explain something. The point of shooting the gator with a shotgun is NOT to kiill him. It's to stun him. You "stun" him with the shotgun so you can pull out a HUGE knife and attempt to sever his spinal chord. So we shoot him and stab the gator and Ryan thought he had cut the spinal chord. So they pull him into the boat. At which point the Gator comes back to life a little bit. Now buddy Ryan is really in a predicament because you know that saying "I have a tiger by the tail." Well my buddy Ryan had the Gator by his mouth. So we motored over to the boat launch while the entire time this Gator is breathing heavily and looking around and trying to kick a little bitand trying to open his jaws while my buddy Ryan is litterally holding on to that nose for dear life. I did not get this part on video much because he needed help. I know right what a WUSS!!!.
Eventually we got him onto shore where my buddy Ryan finally was able to put some weight into it and popped through the spinal column. The Gator measured out to 8 feet 2 inches. It may not sound very big but it was pretty big when your trying to hold it down
The largest Gator every taken down there is 17 feet long. In deer terms a 12 foot Gator is like a 180" buck. So an 8 footer is about like a 130" buck or so. It's not a monster but it's definately not one that you'd want to pass up with a bow. Overall I had a blast. It was an awsome experience. Oh yeah I forgot to mention. Gators stink worse than Sea Lions. They are horrible. I can't wait to one day shoot my own gator. Here's a couple of pics. Video will soon follow.
8' 2" Bull Gator Down!!
My buddy Ryan with the Gator's Head!
