Gator Hunt Update

[GaryDowdy]

Boy, I spent some money buying the gear I needed for the Exomag to set it up for gator hunting! We arrived on the Ogeechee River in Richmond Hill, GA (just south of Savannah) at 2:30 A.M. Saturday morning. We saw gator eyes shining in our lights before we even got the boat in the water! They were very cagey due to the boating activity in that area and the hunting pressure. We only had one shot opportunity on a small one that night (morning). We left the river as the sun was coming up after going over 24 hrs without sleep.

We went and got a room to get some sleep and charge the boat batteries. A power outage caused by a storm cut into our chrging time, and also sent us into another town to shop for supplies and eat. We got rear-ended by a car in another rainstorm and it seemed everything was trying to ruin our fun. Somewhere around 6 P.M. we got back on the water for so daytime recon. We headed east towards Ford Plantation to check out so of the many canals. We were once again in the rain and it was only getting worse. We saw a lot of gaotrs, some large ones in deep water, but there was no use in trying a stalk in the daytime with the water bouncing off our hull as hard as it was. We made the decision to head up river past the I-95 bridge for safety in this rain, in case of a boat failure and the uncertainty of the weather. My BlackBerry was in my dry bag and I couldn't keep up with my weather updates.

We looked past the U.S. 17 bridge were we briefly saw a ten-footer the night before. Proceeding further past the Canoochee River and the border of my old home, Fort Stewart, we successfully stalked a gator too close to the legal limit to shoot. I told the shooter "Don't shoot" and everyone else was saying "shoot". Thank God he listened to me. God had mercy on me, sending in a massive thunderstorm and sending us packing. It was "mercy" because of the idiots I was with. We ran out of gas around 300-400 yards from the landing. Glad I decided to go back up river, huh?

The season will end Oct. 3rd and I'm not sure if I'll get to go back, or if I'll put my tag between two peices of bread. At any rate, I had a blast, the equipment is mine, and there's always Florida! We have 850 tags issued, they issue over 12,000!

Thanks, Bill, for building the best crossbow on Earth!

[vixenmaster]

Sounds like a very wet time but gator hunting is all about water & gators. Glad you got to

[OkXbowHunter]

Well Gary, after seeing this news article, I know what your problem is. Your hunting in the wrong state! And apparently you need a blonde woman along...

Mass Woman Kills 900 pound Gator

[GaryDowdy]

I will be returning this coming weekend! Sept. 24-25th! I am going to the same location with a local. They took an eleven-footer at the swimming area at King's Ferry... our landing! They have filled all but one of their tags, and he's not ready to quit yet, so he invited me along. God moves in mysterious ways! My unfilled tag may not be ready for the bread yet...

[wheelie]

I would like to see a picture of your setup. You could even email it to me. Good luck on filling your tag.

[GaryDowdy]

Will be setting it back up after I hunt deer with it Monday. Will post pick then. Here is a pic of my first gator and the bow setup I used. This one I'm using for this hunt is my Exomag with Muzzy gator getter equipment. Will post it Tuesday.[img]http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... 845691[img][*][img][/img][/img][/img]

[GaryDowdy]

Man, what am I doing wrong?

[GaryDowdy]

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... 1284845846

[wheelie]

Man, what am I doing wrong?

[wheelie]

cool, I have a recurve 40 Lbs.and a compound 50-60lbs and switch around awith a Zebco 808 bowfishing reel with a one foot fishing pole off it. 200lbs test line. Would like to see a crossbow setup for bow fishing

[wheelie]

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... 1284845846
Hit the image button then paste it in the middle [img]paste,it,here[/img]

[Bucko]

Thanks for the gator hunt post, I really am enjoying reading up on the hunt.

[huntfishfam]

What an awsome post, that is a dream hunt of mine. Gator hunting !I would love to do that.
Sean

[GaryDowdy]

I'll have to try an post from my BlackBerry, I can do it on bowsite. I also post hunt updates to facebook. I am pumped about returning to the Ogeechee River! I'll post pics of my Excal setup with the Muzzy gear after I set it back up. I'll be deer hunting with it on my next off day.

[GaryDowdy]

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae18 ... 1284845846