Zone 9 Gators

Got this 8'3" gator on Sat the 12th. We saw 48 gators that night, several of which were over 10'. Word to the wise, even if you are using a Gator-aider which makes shooting a bow accurately at night very easy, if you are not used to shooting a bow, take a few practice shots. Jim missed the first gator, maybe a 10'r, but he then connected on the 8'r. Larry put a second arrow in it, then used his 44 to put it down for the count. Then it was Larry's turn to try and fill his tag. While Larry had no trouble pulling the bow back with adrenaline pumping for the first "back-up" shot, after we found him a 10+'r, he couldn't pull the bow back. I gave him a different bow, then found a monster swimming down river. We got so close you could have literally stabbed it. Larry drew the bow, aimed, but since it was now maybe 4 AM, in his sleep deprived state and not being a bowhunter, he tried to simply "release" the release instead of pulling the trigger. Since it was attached to his wrist, that didn't work. Now he was too spent to draw the bow again and the gator finally dropped before he could pass the bow to Jim. We ended the night with just the one Gator, but it was still a great night.

Last night we went back to the Savannah River in search of that Monster that got away from Larry. Once again we saw about 45 gators, but didn't find as many "shooters" as before. We had a 10'r get away about midnight, which turned out to be good because about 2:30 we found this 11' 5 1/8"r. Rick made a great shot on it and the fight was on. It quickly stripped the line off the Gator-aider and drug the float all the way across the river. After we got reloaded and caught up to the float, it took off again and pulled us back across the river. Then it got hung up under a log. We held on for over 45 minutes, then I elected to simply release the line and easy off instead of trying to horse it in with only one arrow. After about 5 minutes, sure enough the float started moving again just like in the movie Jaws. It pulled the float down and under the log. Once it popped back up we caught up to the the line and was then able to pull the gator up and put a second arrow in it. Unfortunately it was a marginal hit in the arm. Even worse, when we started trying to horse the gator in for a pistol shot, it bite the line to the first arrow and broke it. Now we really had to baby the gator as I wasn't sure how those new Steel Force Gator Heads would hold on a marginal shot. 45 minutes passed before we were able to get a third arrow in the gator, but it was also a glancing shot and since I only had 2 Gator heads, this fishing point didn't hold and soon we were back to only having the 2nd arrow attached to the gator. Luckily the Gator point performed just as promised and stayed put. Another 45 mintes went by before we finally got it up and this time we put a well place shot completely through the chest. It didn't take long then to get it up and put several 9 mm's to it's head. Then it was all the 3 of us could do to pull it in the boat. In all it took well over 2 hrs from the time Rich shot the gator until we got it in the boat.

Just to show you how tough these dinasours are, we later learned someone had shot it weeks before, hitting it just behind the right eye with an exit wound around the lower left arm pit, which should have been fatal, but instead was now almost healed. Then we'd shot it 4 times with arrows, 6 times to the head with a pistol and later stabbed it once in the left lung and twice in the right lung and yet it was still alive when we got home Good thing we played it safe and left it hog tied and taped.

Looks like a fine time Michael!

I cant wait to draw a tag.

wow

Now that's a Gator

frydaddy40 said:

Now that's a Gator

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After taking so long to get this 11'r in the boat, I'm kind of glad we didn't find the Monster that got away Sat

Thats a big ol gator right now !!! Congrats.

great job michael

Sounds like you guys had some great hunts. Congrats to the shooters and yourself.

heck of a lizard, congrats

Thats me holding the bow! It sure was a great hunt and an awesome gator. Thanks to Micheal for putting me on him and Richard for spotting him!!!

Looks like you're going to need a bigger boat!

Very nice congrats to all!

hogman2 said:

Thats me holding the bow! It sure was a great hunt and an awesome gator. Thanks to Micheal for putting me on him and Richard for spotting him!!!

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Richard is definately the best "spotter" I've ever seen. Not only was he able to tell the difference between actual eyes glowing and those reflectors used to mark trotlines, he was able to tell from a great distance the difference between a small gator's eyes and those of a huge bull frog.

It's just my young eyes. I had a great time and Michael told the story perfect. Let me know when we you want to do it agian. Thanks agian Mr. Rick and Michael for letting me tag along.

Great gators guys and good story

People who have'nt tried this don't know what there missing.Congrats to ya'll.

Congrats.The boys said what was uncle Ricky thinking getting in the same boat as that thing.

caveman168 said:

How do you like the gator aider compared to the gator getter? I am using the gator getters by muzzy and have hit a couple of gators at about 10 to 15 yds and hunted with a friend last weekend who hit two gators and none of the arrows stuck. I know for a fact that they hit because we had it on video and reviewed it several times. I really wanted to use the gator aider but I just didnt have the $400 to spend on it. Also i thought $400 was just too much money for that. Sounds like it works good though.

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I like the Gator-aider! Most everyone I've know who has used one shoots high the first time they us it, but that could be because their mouth is still wide open from the shock of seeing how big these gators get. After that they can usually go back to driving tacks with them.

They are $300 which is a lot of money, but if you think about it, that's only about the price of a cheap shotgun.

As for not sticking the gators, that may be from not using a strong enough bow. Don't hunt gators with your bowfishing bow. That's an advantage of the Gator-aider, you can simply screw it onto the bow you hunted deer with by day and you are ready to hunt gators that night. Remove it and your bow is ready for deer again.

How often to get a tag to hunt Gator? I have not got one yet. When l do get one I am going to have the best stuff to give me the best chance of bagging the Gator.