Father/Daughter Gator Hunt
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
Father/Daughter Gator Hunt
My 18 year old daughter had been asking me to take her alligator hunting for the past two years. As this was the first time she expressed an interest in joining me on a hunting outing, I was eager to make it happen. This year I was fortunate to get a permit which allows the hunter to take two gators. We put together a trip with a guide who had never used a crossbow. He was very uneasy about it and reminded me that we may quickly change over to his "tried and true" method of harpooning them. Long story short, two shots with my Exomag, two gators. My daughter's was 7 1/2 ft long and mine went 9 1/2 ft and weighted about 300 pounds. He emailed me the next day asking me exactly how to set up a crossbow! What an amazing hunt.
-
Brampton Mike
- Posts: 902
- Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 6:05 am
- Location: Brampton Ontario Canada
-
mdcrossbow
- Posts: 1368
- Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2003 12:48 pm
GaryL
I set up my crossbow by mounting a bowfishing reel and canister to my quiver mount. The canister held about 65feet of 600lb. test line. I then mounted a bouy to the end of the line thru one of the sight mounts. I used a 21 inch fiberglass bolt with a muzzy gator getter point attached to the line. The fiberglass bolt has no vanes so you have to drill a hole about 1 inch from the back end to run the line thru. This allows the bolt to track straight with the resistance from the line "pulling" from the back. With this set up, we could take shots out to 50 feet comfortably. This was a huge advantage over the harpooning method as rarely did we get within 30 feet before they would go down. Once they go down it could be over a hour before they come back up.
As always we practiced alot before we went (in the dark with a spotlight to simulate the conditions we would encounter). Once you stick the gator, you put on gloves and fight him like handlining a big fish. After a number of times of pulling him in and having him run back out and pull the boat around, he would eventually tire. The end game is with a bangstick to his small brain.
GaryL, you helped me post a picture of my hog a while ago. If you would be kind enough to assist again I will put up a couple of pics.
Thanks
I set up my crossbow by mounting a bowfishing reel and canister to my quiver mount. The canister held about 65feet of 600lb. test line. I then mounted a bouy to the end of the line thru one of the sight mounts. I used a 21 inch fiberglass bolt with a muzzy gator getter point attached to the line. The fiberglass bolt has no vanes so you have to drill a hole about 1 inch from the back end to run the line thru. This allows the bolt to track straight with the resistance from the line "pulling" from the back. With this set up, we could take shots out to 50 feet comfortably. This was a huge advantage over the harpooning method as rarely did we get within 30 feet before they would go down. Once they go down it could be over a hour before they come back up.
As always we practiced alot before we went (in the dark with a spotlight to simulate the conditions we would encounter). Once you stick the gator, you put on gloves and fight him like handlining a big fish. After a number of times of pulling him in and having him run back out and pull the boat around, he would eventually tire. The end game is with a bangstick to his small brain.
GaryL, you helped me post a picture of my hog a while ago. If you would be kind enough to assist again I will put up a couple of pics.
Thanks
What did you do with them
You got a nice new pair of boots and your daughter got herself a new purse or did you make them into luggage? 
Seriously, what do you do with a dead gator, can you eat them? We don't have too many of them up here in the Great White North.
Nick
Seriously, what do you do with a dead gator, can you eat them? We don't have too many of them up here in the Great White North.
Nick
Last edited by GaryL on Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Always learning!!
Home fer now!
Home fer now!
-
mdcrossbow
- Posts: 1368
- Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2003 12:48 pm
Re: What did you do with them
Seriously, what do you do with a dead gator, can you eat them? We don't have too many of them up here in the Great White North.
Nick[/quote]
. Nick, Gator is good meet. I pay from $4 to $5 a pound in S.C. Every time I go down I pick up a few 5 pound packages.
Nick[/quote]
. Nick, Gator is good meet. I pay from $4 to $5 a pound in S.C. Every time I go down I pick up a few 5 pound packages.