My son Tyler wanted to hunt gators for years and we finally went last year. He did great and got a nice 10' gator. My 15 year old daughter Jennifer thought it looked fun and wanted to go. Well, we have to keep the girls interested, so the hunt was planned. I drew a really good permit for Okeechobee County that allowed 2 gators. My older son Jeff would also be coming along to try for one. I have a friend in Florida who also drew a tag and said I could use one and if either of the kids wanted a 2nd gator they could use it.
The hunt was fantastic. We all got a nice gator and my son Jeff got 2.
Jennifer did amazing. She made a perfect shot with a 50# Bear Grizzly and the rodeo was on. The end result was a very big and angry 10' gator.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/JennBigGator2.jpg)
Jeff hunted really hard and had some horrible luck but ended well with a solid 7' gator and one over 9'. He was shooting a recurve of unknown make.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/JeffBigGator.jpg)
I was really lucky and was able to take a great 12'2" gator with my TimberHawk longbow. We had a fantastic family outing.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/TerryBigGator.jpg)
Wow, nice hunt. Congrats to all 3 of you.
Here's a couple more fun photos. Jennifer with her head in the gator's mouth.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/JenHeadinGatorsMouth.jpg)
This one shows just how big the gator was. I'm 6' and 230#s. His tail is longer than I am tall and his head is nearly as big as I am.
(//%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%20http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/TerryHangingGatorHugeHeadwithBow.jpg)
Try that photo again.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/TerryHangingGatorHugeHeadwithBow.jpg)
THAT IS COOL STUFF RIGHT THERE. Congratulations to all.
Wow, well done! Sounds like a great family hunt. Your daughter reminds me of mine at her age. Your a lucky dad.
Very cool.
WOW that is awesome, what a family adventure :campfire:
That girl is gonna make some man a great wife in about 45 years. :)
great, i have always wanted to do it here in the everglades but don`t own a boat , are you able to use all the meat besides the tail?
Congrats Terry, You are truley blessed bro with some fabulous children. Tell everyone I said Congrats. Hopefully the weather will work out better next year for some Rays. Talk to you soon, Ed
Wow thats great!! I might have to add that to my ever growing list of hunts to do. Any weights on those brutes? Congrats to all Joe
Guys, all I can do is thank the Heavens for my good fortune. I am blessed beyond measure. I have an amazing wife and fabulous children. I certainly am not worthy of all the blessings, but am truly thankful!
Joeo, the meat is all good. The tail and jowl meat is the best. It is all white and nice texture. You get into the limb meat and it is darker, gamier, and stringy. We save it all.
Big Ed, the weather in NY has been awful. I haven't had a chance to get Skippy, Jon Barr, or Swampbuck out bowfishing. Hopefully, within the next week or so. If not, I will get them next spring, I will not forget. I look forward to some ray shooting. I have a friend who just bought a place on Chincoteague and have free use of it and his 19' SeaArk!
Excellent job by all!! Way to go there!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
JoeM, we didn't weigh them, but Jen's gator was hefty and estimated at @300#s, mine was mutant big and four of us couldn't lift it. It had to be 500#s. Of course these are just guesses! I can't lift the skinned out hide and head!
Well done,it's great to see family doing things together.Just wondering what you will do with them.
Leland
Leland, the 2 my son got will be European skull mounts, Jen's will be shoulder mount, don't know yet on mine. Would make a really neat full body mount. My wife said I could get it full body and I could sleep downstairs with it. Of course, we save and eat all the meat. With this many gators we definitely believed in sharing some of the meat. My friends in Florida love gator meat.
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttt
MMM gator. congrats
Now I have to put a gator hunt on my wish list.
That's awesome!
Congrats,
Bisch
Wow...awesome is right. What a cool family outting. I love gator meat as well. Thanks for sharing. ;)
WOW :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Wow! Congrats!
Nice job Jennifer, that's a super gator :bigsmyl:
Hey I know you guys :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Terry, Colton saw Jenns pic and wanted to know when you were moving back to IN? How ya been?. Miss seeing you guys at Farmland and Cloverdale. Nice haul on the gators. Take care.
Way to go Jeff and Jenn, that is awesome!!!!! And not to shabby from dad either, way to go Terry.......I can only imagine the feelings you have seeing your kids enjoying their success, congrats! :clapper:
David
Congratulations to all!
Great family fun! And some fathers take their kids to Disney World for an adventure. I'd say you have them beat for adding excitment to the vacation.
Make sure you send Scott over at Timberhak the photos! Great job!
Wow that was a great hunt Terry.
Jack
Now that is something your kids could tell about in "Show and Tell"... Congrats to all of you and what a way to spend time with kids...God Bless, Keefer's <")))><
WOW!! :thumbsup: :clapper:
awesome.
holey smokes, those are some scary looking critters!
Thanks for sharing.....really cool stuff guy's n gals.....congrats to all....especially the gal. ;)
Looks like a great family hunting trip. My congrats to the Lady and well ass you and your son.
It would be cool to see the pics of them when the skulls and mounts are done.
Excellent!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Cool outing!
Where exactly do you shoot a gator anyway? I'm guessing you hunt them at night with lights. The big one looks like it was shot right down between the eyes in the picture.
How about some "How to" details for us northerners.
Congrats to all!
I'd also love to hear the method of hunting such a beast! and to think I was just down near Okeechobee (sp?) two weeks ago!
Now that's just cool...
Terry, that is awesome.Glad you all had a good time.How bout autographed pics of the biguns you and Jennifer killed? Youll all have a show of your own before long. :thumbsup:
Congrats guys!!AND GIRL!!! Somehow Im not surprised....and no, Im not diving on a gator Terry. :D
Wow! Dino hunting with a bow! That's cool!
The photos are great! That is very cool! Great job.
ummmm... gator nuggets.. fried gator... baked gater... Congrats on a good hunt!!! I hope y'all find a way that you enjoy all that gator tailll It's good, but I have only had it 3 different ways...
I'm sure there's more... just back when i grew up back there, they were protected, but there were a couple of commercial farms around...
WOW Good job :scared: :bigsmyl:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: to all three of you!
Thanks everyone! We had a ton of fun!
The meat is excellent and we make it many ways as noted above. Stir fry in chinese is good too.
Jen and Jeff did an amazing job and made the shots when they needed to!
Tell the boys out there that pretty little cheerleaders can hunt too!
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/JenReadyforaGator.jpg)
That is AWESOME! It's good to see a young lady that has some grit nowadays and not a Paris Hilton wannabe.
Those are some toads all right! Wicked!
Im looking at doing this same hunt in bama next year, gotta get drawn first...
I have never done any gator hunting but have seen several during my life. Do you consider this a difficult hunt?
How do you go about hunting gators? Lights at night to glass and then try to ease into bow range?
Thomas
good stuff there terry!!! always like reading your posts.. look forwad to seeing you in feb..
good luck this fall hey!!!
gaff
sweet...congrats
ThomasTaylorIII, tough question on whether it is a difficult hunt or not. Lots of variables. Of course like most things Location, Location, Location. We had a tough hunt last year due to weather and inexperience. We were fortunate and took a nice 10' gator for my son. Probably more luck than skill. This year I think we planned a bit better based on what we learned last year and frankly just got lucky and pulled probably the best tag in Florida. I also had some great friends in the area that could help scout and teach us even more about gator hunting. It does take some technique and experience to consistently get a big gator. I would think the small gators are like shooting a 1.5 year old whitetail. Not that big a deal. I do have a play-by-play recount on another site if you want to PM me I'll let you know where it is at.
Just had to bring this one back up.It wont be long until gator time.
Bill
congrats Terry and family.
Bill, You and Tracy thinking about gator hunt?
I'll be back after them this year. I'm taking two kids first and then a couple good traditional guys. Should be a lot of fun and we'll be hunting the same area where Jen took her great gator.
That is an awesome story right there! Thanks for reviving this one.
Those are awesome gators, Thanks for the great treed and pics. Good hunting Jen, Jeff and Dad. Hope you do well this year also.
Got any pics of the mounts? Would love to see them.
Congrats on an excellent outing.
Tracy and I are headed to Lake Orange in Aug.I got to thinking about this hunt with Terry and his fine family and had to bring it back up.
Bill
Holy smokes those are some big gators. Congrats to you and the family.
That is greatness
Congrats
wow that is amazing!
:thumbsup: Congrats! I know that had to be a blast!
Good eats right there. :thumbsup: :archer2:
Holy smokes those are some big gators. Congrats to you and the family.
Man, that rates pretty high on the cool factor!
My hunting partner and I are the 2 guys joining Terry this August to hunt these big swim-lizards. A few months ago alligator hunting was just something on my wish list. Somehow magical things happened, and here we are planning a hunt just a few months away. I just got confirmed of a successful draw for permits in our preferred area, so it's game on!
I've chased a lot of big game over my life, but this just has that wild and different aspect that I love. My intrigue level is peaking over this. I could never thank Terry enough...but you can be assured I'll do my absolute best!
Big Lizzie is waiting....
DillBilly, we do have a tradition to maintain. WHEN you get a 9' or better gator you have to give the very alive and aggravated gator a kiss on the head before we dispatch it!
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/TylerKissingtheGator.jpg)
I'll also try to get one this close to the boat for you. This is at least a 9' gator and that is the side of the boat you see.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/8GatorCalledtoBoat.jpg)
We'll try real hard to get you one a little bigger than this one. Although, I would be impressed with your shooting skills.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/TylerwithBabyGator.jpg)
I'll also try to keep you from getting your arm in the mouth of one. As you can see they are a little toothy!
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/JeffBigGatorTeeth.jpg)
It's so easy even a young girl can do it. No pressure DillBilly.... :)
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/JenWithGatorinBoat.jpg)
If you get a chance get out and do a lot of night bowfishing. It does help to get yourself familiar with arrow flight, lights, and refraction.
(http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/TJReceveur/CurtTylerDouble.jpg)
Well Terry, I must say you got a pretty cool family. I just saw the bear hunting thread a bit ago too. You got some pretty cool kids! and I'd guess they'd say the same about Dad. Keep 'em coming. Love the stories and pics. :campfire:
Don't know about that gator meat though :biglaugh:
Hey TR....
I think I can handle a gator smooch...just don't ask me to dance!
I love all your pictures...even the li'l lizards are cool. I think Bryan is just as pumped as I am. He was just saying how he couldn't wait to see the arrow connect, and hear "his" gator go..."eeek"!!!
Very Cool! Well Done! :thumbsup:
Congrats on some great lizards! I really want to do that one day.
Nosch
Congrats to all! TD.
QuoteOriginally posted by IndianaBowman:
I'll be back after them this year. I'm taking two kids first and then a couple good traditional guys. Should be a lot of fun and we'll be hunting the same area where Jen took her great gator.
I'm still pinching myself thinking about how blessed I am to have the opportunity to hunt these gators with Terry this year. I'm also trying to figure out if Dillbilly and I are the "two kids" or the "traditional guys" :)
That sure looks like a neat hunt. You don't get to do that everyday. Thanks for the pics.
Those are some dandy lizards!!! Congrats to all of you! good times!! :thumbsup:
Awsome job! :clapper: :clapper:
I love that pic of Jennifer and her big gator. Way to go Jen.