Gator with my Horton Crossbow

[hatteraspk]

Got this gator the first night of the season down in Florida week before last
ten foot - four inches - Hung my deerstands in Ohio last weekend and looking forward to Oct 15th!

Is it safe yet for a Gator to make it back up to Buckeye country yet?

:cool:Scott





IMG]http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s310/hatteraspk/DSC_0015_edited-1.jpg[/IMG]

[bmiller]

No pic

[hatteraspk]

Ok I need to learn how to post pictures -Us old Gators are not that smart

[hatteraspk]

[QUOTE=hatteraspk;363342]Got this gator the first night of the season down in Florida week before last
ten foot - four inches - Hung my deerstands in Ohio last weekend and looking forward to Oct 15th!

Is it safe yet for a Gator to make it back up to Buckeye country yet?

:cool:Scott





http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s310/hatteraspk/DSC_0015_edited-1.jpg

[bluegillkiller]

nice gator

[antiqucycle]

How about the story behind the picture. did you need to go scuba diving the retrieve the carcass? Been to Sawgrass lake so I can picture the hunting environment

[riverdude]

DANG! Nice Gator!! What ya going to do with him? :yikes:

[wildohio22]

DANG! Nice Gator!! What ya going to do with him? :yikes:
EAT IT! :rolleyes:

[hatteraspk]

Made the decision that I wanted to get my first gator this year with a crossbow - I pulled a permit ($275) to get 2 gators about 12 miles from where I live here in Melbourne beach- Area called Hell-N-Blazes west of I-95 and South of SR192- I went out with a good friend of mine that runs a bait and tackle shop here on the beach - we used a 14' alum. john boat The gators are swiming in the water or close to the banks- We started the hunt at 12 midnight - use a high power light to spot them ( You see a red pair of eyes from up to 200 yards away and try to judge how far apart the eyes are (How big the gator is) When you get close to them and if they stay up on top of the water - you can also judge how big they are from the tip of the nose to the eyes- we passed on a lot of small ones 6 and 7 footers I wanted one over 10 foot I shot over the top of the first one we tracked down - The second one I shot at, the arrow bounced off his back! About 5 AM in the morning - just as the sun was coming up - I was blessed with a pefect shot and got him in the side of the neck (15 yard shot, there is a very small area that the arrow tip will go in a gator behind the head, about 10" area) I got a second arrow in him and the chase was on! The arrow tips are attached to a line with floats and you follow the floats and gently try to bring the gator to the surface - finish the job with a 44 bang stick in the top of the head - then sever the spine, and work on getting 350 lbs of dead weight into the boat - The tail meat, backstrap, and jowel meat is very good, all white meat - got about 40 lbs. - Wife is going to use the hide for belts, wallets and bags - the head is going on the wall next to my 2 Ohio Bucks

Scott

[antiqucycle]

I cant imagine two guys wrestling even a dead gator that size into a 14' aluminum boat. airboat yes. then you probably need a backhoe to get to get it out of the boat and into the truck.
yes I know where hell n blazes is. have relatives in palm bay.

[dannmann801]

I cant imagine two guys wrestling even a dead gator that size into a 14' aluminum boat. airboat yes. then you probably need a backhoe to get to get it out of the boat and into the truck.
yes I know where hell n blazes is. have relatives in palm bay.

I cannot even conceive of being in the same water in a small aluminum boat with alligators, let alone trying to drag one in the boat. Wouldn't the commotion attract other alligators? Just sayin....:yikes:

[antiqucycle]

There is a ton of big gators where he shot it, sort of the headwaters of the St. Johns River.

[ohiodeerhunter21]

Got this gator the first night of the season down in Florida week before last
ten foot - four inches - Hung my deerstands in Ohio last weekend and looking forward to Oct 15th!

Is it safe yet for a Gator to make it back up to Buckeye country yet?

:cool:Scott





IMG]http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s310/hatteraspk/DSC_0015_edited-1.jpg[/IMG]


http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s310/hatteraspk/DSC_0015_edited-1.jpg

[ohiodeerhunter21]

gator meat is pretty good.