I went to check my line that I had set to catch an alligator this morning. Much to my suprise the chicken that I had placed for bait was missing. I got to the rope and tugged on it and up came an alligator. The problem was that he was wrapped around a log out in the middle of a deep pool of water. I went back to the house and grabbed a .22 revolver. I was wondering if I should try to swim to the log and untangle the alligator or shoot him and then find a way to get him loose. After much deliberation I decided to shoot first and untangle later.



I fired a round that caught the gator in the back of the head and all hell broke loose. The gator started twisting so I grabbed the rope and pulled as hard as I could. Luckily I pulled the gator around the log and started pulling it in. When I got it close to the bank I fired another round into the back of it's head. I finally got the gator on the bank when it decided to come alive again. Once more I pumped another .22 bullet into it's head. This calmed it down enough for me to get it in the bucket of my frontend loader and take it to the house. After getting to the house I lowered the bucket and the gator started snapping again. Two more rounds to the head did the job. I was finally able to grab the mouth and tape it shut.



I have some bigger gators on my ranch but this is a nice 8' medium size one. Maybe next year I'll get a bigger one. This was the last morning for me to get one since I am heading to the south texas ranch to get ready for deer season which opens this weekend (MLD). Here is a picture.

Nice Catch!

You might should take a Bigger Revolver next time .

A good friend of mine caught a 10'-2" and a 7'-9" a couple of weeks ago and their 22 LR Revolver didn't work out either. He said they had to make a follow up shot w/ a 357 Mag.

Good Luck!

Reloader

M16,

Quote:

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I was wondering if I should try to swim to the log and untangle the alligator or shoot him and then find a way to get him loose.

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Call me a wuss or something, but swimming out to a hooked and severly pissed off gator does not seem to be real smart!!

Nice gator though; just glad your here to tell the story!

Regards,

Pete

PS what "set up" did you finally go with to catch this one?

Call me a wuss but swimming in a state with Alligators is OUT!!!

I used a double hook system. Two 12/0 hooks back to back along with two 16/0 circle hooks. I used some 480 pound test cable to attach them to 50 feet of 1/2" nylon rope. The hooks were placed in a whole chicken that had been left in the sun to rot for several days. I used an angled stick secured to two steel posts and suspended the chicken about two feet above the surface of the water. The cable was attached to the stick with masking tape. Just enough tape was used so when the gator grabbed the chicken the tape would break allowing the gator to swallow the chicken as it tried to swim away. Once the gator swallows the chicken it gets hooked and will be there waiting when you arrive to check your set.

Just read an article this morning about a 20 year old woman found floating face down in a lake around Fort Meyers, FL. Seems she went swimming in the lake and an alligator took off part of her arm. She probably bled to death before she could reach shore. I think a .22 is a little on the underpowered side for me if I am anywhere near an alligator.

Fast Ed

Nice gator!

I have a friend that is a registered trapper here in Florida. He called me up the other day to come help him pull in a gator he caught in a local pond, said to bring my .45 ACP along. I figured the 230 grain FMJ bullet would be the shadow of death to the reptile. WRONG. When he pulled him up by the rope he hooked him with, he said shoot him just behind the eyes. Well....I shot (at about 2 feet) and the bullet BOUNCED off his head! DAMN. The bullet did
not penetrate the armour around his head but it did knock him out cold. My friend held him by the jaws and pulled the still alive (but unconscious) gator into the boat, and finished him off with a knife into the soft spot about 3" behind were the bullet hit. Who da thunk it?

We regularly cross rivers in Africa that are full of crocodiles.

In fact, this year, we kept feeding them right in front of our camp, and then one day decided to cross teh river to the other side to take photos.

Hunt report in the Selous, August 2004