We finally got him under control and Bill was able to pithe the big guy and we rolled him in the boat.  The first gator of the night came at around 10 PM. He was a great gator and measured at 9'.

Here he as right after we got him in the boat.



The next two are the traditional hero shots.

Bob was up next and we had several great chances on good gators. It was around 11:30 PM when Bob made a great shot on a BIG gator.  This gator took all the line out of the reel in a heart beat and we had to toss it over the side and chase it down for nearly a 1/4 mile. This big dude wasn't going to go easy. We finally caught up to the reel float and I began easing him up to the boat. Bill was ready with the harpoon and sunk it in deep. We now had the 250# PowerPro arrow line in him and the big rope from the harpoon to put some pressure on. He didn't like that...the fight was on!  We fought him again for a long time and I had Bill rig another harpoon line, because this was a big strong gator and we wanted some lines on him before we tried to grab him and pithe him. I got him to the top and Bill sunk another harpoon line in him. We now had lots of leverage and were able to pull him up.  Both of these gators were very unhappy with us and since they were so large we decided that they needed some air taken out of them and both Bill and Bob had kill arrows rigged to do the job. A big Grizzly took care of Bill's and a Snuffer did the job on Bob's. This didn't kill them immediately and we still had to do the pithing.  Both of these gators were hard and mean fighters.

We finally got Bob's gator ready to pull into the boat, but that wasn't going to be easy. I'm 52, Bill's 72, and Bob's 68. A 300-400# gator is a big task for three less than young fellows. You can probably see the strain on Bob's face.

This gator was a beastly 10 footer.



And of course the hero photos.

What a great night for two great friends and hunters. Unfortunately, we were only able to draw one tag this year for the two gators, so we are done gator hunting...guess whose going bass fishing in the morning.  

Two very happy gator hunters.

Outstanding!

That's awesome Terry!!  I had a huge grin the entire time I was reading the story!!  Tell Bill I'm going to give him a call next week.

Great Stuff Terry.

Congrats Guys!!!

Awesome.  Looks like so much fun.  One of these days....

Wow very cool hunt! Thanks for sharing guys!

Terry,

Can you enlightening me on the "pithing" what is it exactly and hows it done?

I'm sitting here reading this and really enjoying the pics of your hunts.......and I have talked with my wife about doing this for months..... And she wants to go to     that would get one marked off my bucket list....

QuoteOriginally posted by South MS Bowhunter:
Terry,

Can you enlightening me on the "pithing" what is it exactly and hows it done?

To Pithe is to stick a long pokey thing into the spinal column and wiggle it around.

I know Terry can give a better explanations but its the same thing you did in science class with frogs. Besides he's Bass fishing right now.

Charlie,

I have never messed with frogs in science class.But as the Team Captain and Supreme leader of the F.R.O.G team I understand sticking pokey things into the spinal columns of frogs    Thanks

Awesome story guys! I'm glad you guys got on them so quickly!

Great story and pictures. Job well done!!!!