St Judes Gator Hunt 2013

[chris 1968]

Rob Tattoo will be here in about 6 hrs. We will enjoy some curry and adult beverages this evening then off to the Kissimmee river in central Florida in the am. We will be picking Charles, the auction winner, up in Orlando on tuesday morning. Should be a week of airboatin`, gator sticking, fellowship and maybe a pig or two will get unlucky.
Wish us luck. We`ll need it.
As an aside since we`ve started doing these hunts my Dad and I have been honored to be part of raising over 20K. I also think we have been the longest running hunt having only missed 1 year in 10. I don`t say this to get pats on the back but I believe it to be a testament to the folk that yearly dig in their pockets and bid on the auctions. We`ve met some great people and be come friends with more than a few.
THIS ONES FOR YOU AND THE BASSARD, LARRY

[elkken]

         

Good Luck to ya and take lots of pictures

[Whip]

This trip with you and your Dad is one of my fondest memories and a great St Jude hunt. Adding Rob  and hogs is frosting on an already very sweet cake. This one will be good!
Good luck!

[IndianaBowman]

Good luck Chris! My daughter, son, daughter-in-law, and buddy's son Daniel all got nice gators this year in the area. We also hunted the Kissimmee a little and had some nice gators up close. Take lots of pictures! I'd post some of the 4 gators we got, but haven't had any luck with Photobucket for a year now.

[gregg dudley]

Good luck, Chris and Rob!

[JDeanP]

←chopped liver, Christopher?

[IndianaBowman]

Any luck?

[FerretWYO]

Rob needs to come tell his story I believe.

[charles suttles]

Got back last night, brought this home with me, umm, umm gator fritters

[charles suttles]

  Here's Chris and Rob discussing the evening hog hunt at Starvation Slough.
  Words and pictures could not express the excitement of hunting gators with people like Rob, Josh,Shane,Chris and Peter Horsman. I told Chris I felt like I was bowhunting on the nose of a roller coaster. I had never been gator hunting nor had I ever ridden on an airboat and within a minute after launch red eyes were spotted and Chris had laid the hammer down,my first thoughts were I need a helmet and a seat belt!

[Duckbutt]

Good stuff Charles!

Looking forward to more!

[charles suttles]

    When we had time to eat we just followed Chris and seemed we almost always ended up at the Golden Corral. Chris had planned to hunt the lower river near Okichobee but made a last minute change at the dinner table and said the river was too high and fast, that we were heading north to kissemee lake. Rob and Josh headed out for an evening of hog hunting which almost turned into a night of hog hunting, Rob said something about not being good with directions but they had made it back to the motel when we got there around 2:30 AM.

[charles suttles]

  When we got to the launch site at Lake Kissemee,Chris was backing the boat up to the ramp and I heard a big thug and the boat had fallen off the trailer and was sitting in the parking lot. Shane assured me that this was the way an airboat was launched. I'm learning fast!

[beachbowhunter]

Looks like that crew could have used a bigger boat..  

[chris 1968]

What a pleasure to meet Mr Charles. A fine southern gentleman and a hoot to boot. We hunted hard all over Lake Kissimee before Charles gaffed a nice 7`er. He didn`t stomp around with Rob and Josh so we rode the river and sight saw. Florida is so much more than Disney and beach`s. But don`t tell anyone

[FerretWYO]

Always enjoy these stories

[robtattoo]

Just uploading photos.......I'll be back with tales of derring-do, adventure, dragons & hogs a bit later.

[tarponnut]

Chris, I wish we could have hooked up for the swine. Sounds like you guys had a blast anyway.
Did you guys stop in at Cowboys in Okee? There's some interesting decor in there.

[Matty]

Nice. I tried real hard to win this auction. But I was severely out bid! Haha glad to see it come to life!

[robtattoo]

Well, I got Charles up from Orlando airport, bang on the dot of just-a-bit-after-11am on Tuesday.
We had a pleasant drive down to Okeechobee, getting to know each other along the way. I think my admission of being the tidy, clean-cut & polite member of the group gave him pause for thought, but he'd soon find out...

We met up with Chris, Josh, Pete & Shane at the motel on the outskirts of town & on the very edge of Lake Okeechobee. Introductions were made, hands shaken & business gotten down to.
Charles would go right out the first night with Pete, Chris & Shane & try to bag a gator, right off the bat. Things were a little more hurried than any of us would've liked but Shane, the guy providing the tags & who had to come along, had just had some major surgery due to a separated bicep & wasn't really fit for duty. He needed to be back home convalescing ASAP. Any jarring of his arm would result in total loss of use & possible amputation. Yep, THAT bad.

Whilst the guys were out on Lake Kissimmee, Josh & I would drive ourselves to Starvation Slough & try to track down one of Florida's numerous Sus Scrofas (Wild Hog, to you unedumacated types)
Unfortunately, navigation is absolutely NOT my strongest skill (Seriously, I can get lost in a glass shower cubicle) & Central Florida, in failing light is NOT the best place to try & learn.
We didn't find any hogs. We DID find a lot of mosquitos, banana spiders, Saw grass & a canal. Somehow in a 1 mile saunter, we managed to cover about 5 miles (65% was in knee-deep, stagnant water) the last 4 of which I had to do barefooted, due to having literally walked the boots off my feet. Yeah, it pretty much sucked all round. We got back into the motel at around midnight, 4½ hours after dark. Tired, extremely sore, sweaty & thankful for cellphone GPS!

Charles & the guys arrived back at around 2am (IIRC) toting a very nice 7 foot gator & grins that'd shame said reptile! To say Charles was excited would require the reclassification of the word 'Understatement!' Seemed that the ol' feller'd really, reeeally got a kick from hitting silly speeds in a 400hp airboat, gator or not!
The next day was spent lounging, relaxing & butchering Charlie's catch. That night would be my turn.....