Arrow Flinger
Moderator
Ater a 4 year wait, those long awaited gator permits were in our hands. A month of preparing was done. We had read everything we could find and talked to folks that knew there stuff (thanks Mark for putting up with all my questions!). We made the 5 hour haul to Spring Creek on Lake Seminole and got there late afternoon on Friday. We were as fired up as any hunters could be and spent a few hours learning our way around the lake.
It was me, my Son Jake and his best friend Jeremy. We had 2 tags and didn't really know what to expect. We hung out at the motel until 11pm and started easing around looking at gators. Every thing I had read and heard said the lake was going to be covered up with gator hunters. I want to thank GON for the fine artical last month about gator hunting Seminole. It said in the artical that the best advice was to NOT go to Seminole on opening day . Apprarently, everybody read that artical because at 12am (opening day), we had yet to see another gator hunter. The hunt was on! We started stalking gators and got close to a few but thought they were small so we move on. At about 1:30 am we slipped up on a gator in the grass and got within 10 yard of it. Being the inexperiance rookies we were, with only the eyes showing above the water, we thought this one was small too. The gator dropped his body to sink and we saw it was a shooter. We were kicking our selfs for not taking the shot when he popped back up swimming away. Jake slammed him with the muzzy. He was in 12 foot of water and grass from the top to bottom. Jeremy took the line and the fight was on. After 5 minutes the gator settled and it was a tug of war for the next 20 minutes. The grass was terrable. We knew we were getting the gator close but couldn't see anything for the grass. I took the gaff and started pulling grass away from the line. This went on for a few more minutes and the arrow appeared. There was a huge wad of grass pulled against the boat and as I pulled it away, a huge mouth opened. The gator was not happy about it either. She took another dive and we repeated the process 2 more times until we finally got a shot and finished her off. 2 Hours in the hunt and we had a 9' 2" gator in the boat and were headed back the the ramp. What a rush! That was the most exciting thing we had done in a long, long time.
3am and we were back to the ramp, gator unloaded and taking pictures when the DNR fan boat showed up. They were as shocked as we were with the number of hunters. They said thay had only found 3 boats to check all night.
9' 2"
Night 2 we head out a little too confident with all intentions of killing gator #2, getting a little sleep and heading back to the house in the morning. Again, no other boat to be found. We got on gators imediately and got close to I don't know how many 5-6 footers. The bigger ones just didn't want to play though. We chased 10 or so shooters with a couple 12' or better but they always dived and didn't pop back up or took us to places the boat couldn't go. The last chase of the night was over 2 miles before we couldn't go any farther. We hit the dock at 7:30 am with some humble pie and hit the sack for a few hours. We never got within shooting range of a decent gator all night.
There was a 9 footer that stayed in the bay at Spring creek camp ground that the owner had told us about and he wanted it killed. We had messed with this gator the past 2 nights but you could not get within 50 yards of him before it would go down. It would not pop back up for 15 minutes every time. I was at the dock right at dark and got a good look at him. We made up our minds to try and get a snatch hook in that gator if we could. At around 9:00 pm, we eased out with the trolling motor and had him located. This time, be went down when we were about 100 yards away and didn't come back up. We waited 30 minutes and headed off the the main lake. We stalked several but they were all small and passed on several shots at 6 footers. We had a coupled of spot light batteries that needed charging so we decided to run back to the motel and stick the batteries on charge and check that gator again. He was no where to be found so I went to the room and put the batteries on charge and when I got back to the boat, the boys had spotted the gator so we eased out with the trolling motor. We got within 50 yards and saw the gator make it's first move to sink. Jake gave the snag hook a sling and made a perfect cast landing only a foot behind the gator and slammed the big treble hook home. If you can imagine a freight train on the end of a fishing rod, that is what is was like. Drag screamed and we were chasing as fast as the trolling motor would allow. Then the gator stopped and we started catching up to it. But again, the grass was awful and we were having to pull the line through the grass. We would pull and pull and the line would pull through a patch and jump 20 foot at a time to the next patch. After 30 minutes of this, we were finally directly over the gator. Lucky for us, he ended up in the channel in 16 foot of water with very little grass. We could not budge it and wondered several times if the gator was still on or if we were just pulling on a log or something. After an hour of all the pressure Jake could put on the gator, Jake reeled down, clamped the line with his hand and forced the gator up a few feet but everytime he dropped the rod to gain a little line, the gator was right back on the bottom. After 10 tries doing this, we started gaining a little line. Finally the gator was coming up very slowly. I had made a harpoon using a muzzy gator point and I had laid the bow down and had the harpoon ready. Finnally the gator was in sight about 5 foot deep and I slammed the harpoon home just behind the head. With a good rope in him, he was at the surface and after a short fight, the 45 barked and the gator was done. It was a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes from the time we hooked him till we got the gator in the boat. This gator had had a hard life. It only had 3 legs and was missing a foot and a half of his tail. He still stretched the tape at a little over 8 foot.
I know these two gators might not be trophies to the experianced gator hunters but for 3 North GA rookies, we were extremely proud of them. Over all, it was a great trip and experiance that we will always remember. I will start the long process again next year and can't wait for the "gator rush" again.
In 3 nights of hunting, we only saw 8 other boats and never got within 1/2 mile of anyone else hunting.
I really wanted to kill mine with the bow but after the all nighter with out a shot opportunity, also knowing we had to leave in the am, I just decided that I would use what ever method was necessary to get gator 2. Bow or not, it was still a rush I will never forget.
I guess if I could give one piece of advice, it would be to that if you are a wore out 50 year old like me, take 2 strong scrapping 21 year olds with you!!
It was me, my Son Jake and his best friend Jeremy. We had 2 tags and didn't really know what to expect. We hung out at the motel until 11pm and started easing around looking at gators. Every thing I had read and heard said the lake was going to be covered up with gator hunters. I want to thank GON for the fine artical last month about gator hunting Seminole. It said in the artical that the best advice was to NOT go to Seminole on opening day . Apprarently, everybody read that artical because at 12am (opening day), we had yet to see another gator hunter. The hunt was on! We started stalking gators and got close to a few but thought they were small so we move on. At about 1:30 am we slipped up on a gator in the grass and got within 10 yard of it. Being the inexperiance rookies we were, with only the eyes showing above the water, we thought this one was small too. The gator dropped his body to sink and we saw it was a shooter. We were kicking our selfs for not taking the shot when he popped back up swimming away. Jake slammed him with the muzzy. He was in 12 foot of water and grass from the top to bottom. Jeremy took the line and the fight was on. After 5 minutes the gator settled and it was a tug of war for the next 20 minutes. The grass was terrable. We knew we were getting the gator close but couldn't see anything for the grass. I took the gaff and started pulling grass away from the line. This went on for a few more minutes and the arrow appeared. There was a huge wad of grass pulled against the boat and as I pulled it away, a huge mouth opened. The gator was not happy about it either. She took another dive and we repeated the process 2 more times until we finally got a shot and finished her off. 2 Hours in the hunt and we had a 9' 2" gator in the boat and were headed back the the ramp. What a rush! That was the most exciting thing we had done in a long, long time.
3am and we were back to the ramp, gator unloaded and taking pictures when the DNR fan boat showed up. They were as shocked as we were with the number of hunters. They said thay had only found 3 boats to check all night.
9' 2"
Night 2 we head out a little too confident with all intentions of killing gator #2, getting a little sleep and heading back to the house in the morning. Again, no other boat to be found. We got on gators imediately and got close to I don't know how many 5-6 footers. The bigger ones just didn't want to play though. We chased 10 or so shooters with a couple 12' or better but they always dived and didn't pop back up or took us to places the boat couldn't go. The last chase of the night was over 2 miles before we couldn't go any farther. We hit the dock at 7:30 am with some humble pie and hit the sack for a few hours. We never got within shooting range of a decent gator all night.
There was a 9 footer that stayed in the bay at Spring creek camp ground that the owner had told us about and he wanted it killed. We had messed with this gator the past 2 nights but you could not get within 50 yards of him before it would go down. It would not pop back up for 15 minutes every time. I was at the dock right at dark and got a good look at him. We made up our minds to try and get a snatch hook in that gator if we could. At around 9:00 pm, we eased out with the trolling motor and had him located. This time, be went down when we were about 100 yards away and didn't come back up. We waited 30 minutes and headed off the the main lake. We stalked several but they were all small and passed on several shots at 6 footers. We had a coupled of spot light batteries that needed charging so we decided to run back to the motel and stick the batteries on charge and check that gator again. He was no where to be found so I went to the room and put the batteries on charge and when I got back to the boat, the boys had spotted the gator so we eased out with the trolling motor. We got within 50 yards and saw the gator make it's first move to sink. Jake gave the snag hook a sling and made a perfect cast landing only a foot behind the gator and slammed the big treble hook home. If you can imagine a freight train on the end of a fishing rod, that is what is was like. Drag screamed and we were chasing as fast as the trolling motor would allow. Then the gator stopped and we started catching up to it. But again, the grass was awful and we were having to pull the line through the grass. We would pull and pull and the line would pull through a patch and jump 20 foot at a time to the next patch. After 30 minutes of this, we were finally directly over the gator. Lucky for us, he ended up in the channel in 16 foot of water with very little grass. We could not budge it and wondered several times if the gator was still on or if we were just pulling on a log or something. After an hour of all the pressure Jake could put on the gator, Jake reeled down, clamped the line with his hand and forced the gator up a few feet but everytime he dropped the rod to gain a little line, the gator was right back on the bottom. After 10 tries doing this, we started gaining a little line. Finally the gator was coming up very slowly. I had made a harpoon using a muzzy gator point and I had laid the bow down and had the harpoon ready. Finnally the gator was in sight about 5 foot deep and I slammed the harpoon home just behind the head. With a good rope in him, he was at the surface and after a short fight, the 45 barked and the gator was done. It was a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes from the time we hooked him till we got the gator in the boat. This gator had had a hard life. It only had 3 legs and was missing a foot and a half of his tail. He still stretched the tape at a little over 8 foot.
I know these two gators might not be trophies to the experianced gator hunters but for 3 North GA rookies, we were extremely proud of them. Over all, it was a great trip and experiance that we will always remember. I will start the long process again next year and can't wait for the "gator rush" again.
In 3 nights of hunting, we only saw 8 other boats and never got within 1/2 mile of anyone else hunting.
I really wanted to kill mine with the bow but after the all nighter with out a shot opportunity, also knowing we had to leave in the am, I just decided that I would use what ever method was necessary to get gator 2. Bow or not, it was still a rush I will never forget.
I guess if I could give one piece of advice, it would be to that if you are a wore out 50 year old like me, take 2 strong scrapping 21 year olds with you!!
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