Here is the setup

you have spend 3 days in a blind trying to hunt a single croc that was shot at twice before. He takes 2 hours to get to this position and is still 2m from the bait.

Do you take the shot or not ??

If I were shooting and had a suitable rifle and scope, I might consider it, but if I had a client, I'd tell him, it' up to you. If you think you can make the shot, take it, but if you're not sure, don't feel pressured to take it.

It's hard to tell by the picture just how far it is. I copied the picture to my desktop and blew it up. I have a hard time defining the shot but I'm sure a scope would help. He's probably going to stay put for a while. If the scope helps and you have time to draw a picture of where to place the shot and the client understands well then....hell, I still don't know?
Rich Elliott

Hard to tell, but it appears the flattie is not very big. 9-10 footer?

Looks like a 50-70 yrd shot? I am surprised that there are not any other crocs at the bait. Perhaps that is why the croc is sitting for hours...no competition.

If you are sitting there watching him for 2 hours...hard to imagine not pulling the trigger.

He was exactly 102m and 3.2m long

375,

Tell the story. Did you anchor him right at the spot or did you wait for him to exit the water?

What caliber did you use? Did you measure the distance?

dale

I had to help out with the hunt as it was the clients second time on this croc. i started baiting about two weeks before he came down. the croc was enjoying the free lunch and i set my blind up two days before the hunt started. I saw him a few times on the land where we were baiting. The client arrived on the thursday and we were in the blind. we saw him in the dam a few times and he realy worked on our nerves, but he will not come to the bait.

we could not shoot him in the water as the dam is very deep. he knew that and flirted with us. On the Saturday i put out a 2nd bait on the opposite bank in a area i saw him a few times and he looked comfortable there. After 2 days of waiting and watching the old bait with no success.with the new plan he finaly showed interest and by 9h00 he was laying 10m from the bait and watching it carefully. It took the croc nearly 3 hours to get to the posision where the photo was taken.Only 1.5m from the killing zone the plan worked wonderful upto now.

Then Murphy joined the party and a herd of cattle and one cow wearing a bell arrived he turned around and swam of to go and check the cattle out he never came back and it was our last day. So close but yet so far the client clearly stated that he wants to shoot it on land as he took a shot in the water previously and stressed for days until they saw it was miss.

This is one of the cleverest animals i have ever hunted and you can understand why they have roamed the rivers for so many years. they are super sly especialy when they were shot at before

Isn't 3.2 meter - that is less than 10 feet - a bit small to shoot?

Mind you, I have heard of clients from Europe who wanted relatively small crocs.

A couple of years ago in Tanzania, we baited several areas for a big croc.

It seems lots of smaller ones - up to 12 feet - cam to eat, but, we knew there were some real monsters there.

We went to check one bait on our way back to lunch to the camp, and we found a number of them by the biat, but, none that we wanted to shoot.

We took quite a bit video, and both my PH and video cameraman were getting out of the hide, and I thought I would take one last look. I saw this monster's head come out of the water, and signaled to them to get back. As Murphy would have it, the video camera, which was working just fine earlier, decided to stop working.

I had the croc in my sight, and Alan was saying "don't shoot yet, the camera is not working."

I waited a few seconds, then saw the croc turn away from the bank, presumably to dive. I fired a shot at him. He was dead for all intents, but the current picked him up and turned him down stream, I put another bullet into him. Alan dropped the camera, and ran off and jumped into the river to stop the croc from going deeper.

What river is that, Saeed?

I think it was the Ruaha.

Saeed he is about 12'

he is quite a meany and has taken plenty of dogs and goats. Parksboard caught him about a year ago and released him into this dam. they also measured him then at 3.2m.

Having had a bad experience with cows and bells on my very first hunting trip EVER, I'd have probably started shooting at the cattle!

I have said it before on camera and in print'' if I had to only hunt one animal in Africa every day for the rest of my life it would be a big croc! They just really do it for me. I think they are the worlds most underestimated big game animal. I know few agree, but thats my story and I'm sticking to it. Hell. I even converted Boddington. He took a 15'4 monster on the Zambezi with us at Chifuti ans says it is in his top 3 best African trophys. God bless big flatties !!

Dave,

I took a 13'7" back in '96 and still think it was one of the most interesting hunts I've ever been on. I think hunters that poo-poo the crocodile have missed a unique experience. This year Johan Strasheim/Bahati has promised me a MUCH bigger one on his Coutada 10 in Mozambique.

Mark

Hunting Croc! There's nothing quite like it!! Read the article on hunting croc in the latest Sports Afield by Walt Prothero. One of the best written articles in a long time.

Actually buddy,

There's one thing better you can do with a croc than to hunt it and it's a LOT more fun!

How big of one have you landed? I have a little experience with gators, but would love to tie into a croc.

Biggest to the bank is about 2.5 metres, biggest hooked and lost is about 3.5 metres. Longest fight was about 3.5 hours.

Damn, but it's fun!!

To make it more sporting, you need to follow the rules set up for alligator hunting in most of the Southern US States:

-No rifles;
-No shooting the reptile until it is secured on land or secured along side your boat;
-Use either a bow and arrow or a spear/harpoon to get a line into it (to bring it along side the boat, of course).

Since most won't let you get close enough for an effective shot, there is a delightful custom involving a weighted treble hook, some shark line and a fishing pole. You dredge the bottom with the hook, trying to snag the gator. You'll know once you do.

SLOWLY, take in the line raising the gator to the surface. Be prepared to get a more secure line into it once it breaks the surface.

Their heads usually surface first. Check out the distance between the nostril and the eye and avoid soiling yourself (about 1" distance for every foot of dinosaur).

This is about the point where thoughts like "we should have brought a bigger boat" or "we should have brought a bigger gun" begin to creep into your mind.

Be ready - once you try to shoot that second line in, all hell will break loose (it is Southern tradition, by the way, that these activities be conducted in the dark of night).

There will be an explosion of thrashing followed by a prolonged roll. If you have two lines in him, chances are you can get him alongside the boat. If not, it is back to the tackle shop.

Bring the hissing and snapping monster along side the boat, and place a pistol shot in the triangle just behind both eyes. The shot will be followed once more by much thrashing and rolling and jaw snapping - watch those fingers! OH, and watch the distance between the gator and the pistol; too close and you'll go through the rest of life with nicknames like "Lefty" or "Stumpy".

If your shot was not a CNS shot, you have entered the zone of the deep shit. Angry is an understatement. No matter how many lines you have in them at that point, they will break free unless you can manage a CNS shot during the rolling and tail thrashing.

Caliber choice is important. I have seen a gator with a .38 slug in the "triangle" embedded in its skull. A 44 Magnum works nicely, and the high velocity 20 caliber rounds are said to do the job by our Cajun bretheren.

Dead reptiles will have great reflexive responses after they are gone. I saw one that was still thrashing its tail after an hour and a half ride back to the launch. Which brings yup the next slightly tricky part - you MUST secure its jaws with duct tape prior to moving it from the kill site. The best advice is not to draw the short straw here.

Now I imagine that crocs are a tad more ornery than their American kinfolk, so multiply the reactions and warnings by two. But damn, it would be a hell of a hunt!

I always used to use hooks but now I just tie a bait into the line and let them swallow it deep...... don't shoot them though. I just give a few hard tugs (not yanks! ) to get them to regurgitate the bait and they turn and run for the water........... they're as dumb as a sack of spanners and by the time I've got the bait back into the water, they're back totake it again.

Hey Mark
Here I am (on the right) with a 14 & change from Mozambique in 07. We filmed it for an episode of 'Tracks'. It was the most nervewracking stalk and shot I have ever had to pull off, but resulted in one of my very favorite trophys . Dan at The Wildlife Gallery is finishing it up as a lifesize mount that I can't wait to put up. Should keep burglers out
/Users/safariclassics/Desktop/dave croc.jpg

Help Shakari
I'm smart enough to shoot a croc, but not smart enough to figure out how to attach it to my entry, can you give me some help ? Personal email is davefulson@mac.com

Thanks
dave

Looks like we will be hunting Salties in Australia again soon. Hopefully by July when our Buffalo season opens. I think taking one of their huge Croc's would rank up there with hunting true dinosaur's
LDK

Getting back to "375 fanatic's" question...No I don't shoot the croc. Not because of an inability to execute an anchoring shot, but because he's to small. As Saeed pointed out 3.2 meters is less than 10 feet, which if I'm correct, (Rich help me here) is less than the minimum SCI record book (oops shouldn't have said that) standard for Nile crocodiles. From that short of a distance 50-75 yards, the one shot kill is easily do-able. Any good PH oughtta be able to coach you where to aim the bullet, especially after watching for two hours which is ample time to calm the jitters. He's too puny though. Let him chow on the bait, take some good photos and go search for a longer one.

Ditto on all comments about how exciting they are to hunt. A near 14-footer I shot w/ Andrew Dawson of Chifuti in '05 in the middle of the Zambezi is one of my top five hunts of all time.

Moja

Marc:
Not to highjack this thread, but congratulations on one FANTASTIC Mountain Nyala Trophy!!!

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:
Looks like we will be hunting Salties in Australia again soon. Hopefully by July when our Buffalo season opens.

Got a long way to go yet and it wont likely happen this year...

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
This year Johan Strasheim/Bahati has promised me a MUCH bigger one on his Coutada 10 in Mozambique.

Mark

13'8" is on order ... No, seriously, the old & big ones are there but they are old & big for a reason. We'll hold thumbs for all the elements working with us, mother nature not having PMS and will give it a good workout and maybe you're in luck!

Dave..any pictures yet?

I've sent him an email but haven't had a reply yet.

Looks like the SCI Minumim on croc's is still 9 feet and since they measure them over the curve and not between the pegs that's actually less than nine feet. I checked with the new edition (Vol. XI) and was quite surprised to see that none of our big Croc's from Lake Chamo are listed. We had an 18'2" and several that went over 17 feet. Guess the folks didn't think enough of em to get em registered

Rich Elliott

Well, I checked the records. Our biggest was 18 feet & 7 inches.

Rich Elliott

HOORAY, congratulations Dave.

Okay,
It was harder to kill the lizard than it was posting the pic!! Here is my Moz croc (me on right ) am having him lifesized-can't wait.

WOW what a croc

way to go Dave.

That's a very serious flatdog. Congratulations!!!!

Adam's best at 16'8" from the Selous.

Since it's flatdog posting weekend...

15 feet, at Mahenye with Zambezi Hunters.

quote:

Originally posted by Rich Elliott:


Well, I checked the records. Our biggest was 18 feet & 7 inches.

Rich Elliott

That person's too close to the water!!

quote:

That person's too close to the water!!

I never thought about it but you have a point. I'll bet there was a lot of commotion though!

Rich Elliott