Thanks everyone, yes he is huge, had no idea he was that big until after I shot him. We figured he was over 10 but his body is just unreal. We normally try and tape and hog tie them to keep them alive until we get them processed, kinda hard to ice down a big gator, but when I saw how big his body was I put 2 more arrows and line in 'em and with my 1st arrow in his L lung and my 2nd arrow in his R lung, he drowned on us when we tried to tow him back down to a ramp and figure out how to load it in the boat.
I got him opening night of GA's gator season on Lake Eufaula, I had a buddy with me along with my friend and guide/nuisance trapper for the state of FL, Tate Morrell. I had scouted out these gators the week before and knew they were good, but not this good! Jason was up 1st and 40mins into legal time we had an arrow in his, 2 hours later when we finally got his in the boat it measured out at 11' 4" and about 500#. Now off to find mine! Looked at about 4 more but not quite big enough, so it was all I could stand and I told them to sit down and get ready for a long boat ride. Had to run all way up river to where I had seen the big one the week before. As soon as we got up there we located him and then spent a while trying to get close to him, after 5 tries he finally let me get within 10yds or so and put one in him right thru the ribs, he tore out of there, popping my bouy off and taking it under. I rigged up another arrow while Tate grabbed the line and pulled along. He had no problem towing my 20ft boat and then went down to the bottom in 32ft of water and sat there for over 20 mins not moving. We pulled all we could be he would not budge. Finally he shot to the surface and stayed on top and we could get an idea about how big he was, oh my! I got ready and we pulled the boat to him and got my 2nd arrow in, then fought him awhile and got my 3rd arrow in the neck. Now to figure out how to get him in the boat. It was all we could do to pull the head up and get the jaws taped. There was no way we were going to be able to load this thing. It took all we had to get Jason's in the boat. Fortunately there was a ramp just down the river and 4 guy's were pulling out after shooting their gator and they helped us, but we barely got him in. Now off to the processor. Nobody there had seen anything that big and we though he might be a state record, but I later found out that GA does not recognize weight and only goes by length, but he is a true trophy to me and I am sure I will never be able to top this one, so the pressure is off to even try. He measured out 12' 6" and we took circumference measurements and used a formula they had to figure his weight between 720-739#. He had a 53in neck, 6ft around the belly and over 50in around the base of the tail, he was a giant! The nxt night we took Jason's wife down to Seminole and within an hour got her one right at 10ft. Awesome trip and great time with some great friends. Now I just feel like I have been playing tackle football with the college team, I am sure, but happy! I never thought I would say it but he is actually too big to mount so I am getting the head done in euro, keeping the feet for the claws and getting the meat and selling the hide. Just gotta figure out where I can find a mantel big enought to set this skull on?? Thanks, Mark
Topic: This Trad Gang Member Knows his Stuff...the Gator Terminator (Read 829 times)
