Some days I truly dislike my friends.......

bswiv · September 22, 2011, 07:59 PM

When Mike called early on Wednesday morning to say that we needed to run down the lake about 5 miles and help him get a "big" gator in his boat he let slip that while he had two harpoons in it he had not gotten it banged and taped yet.

Hearing this we decided that as we had nearly 1 1/2 hours of legal hunting time left......and no gator of our own!......we'd hunt a while and then go help him. Besides that he's old like we are and was hunting with a girl so what he was calling "big" most likely was just one that his old wore out butt could not haul into the boat.....not something that was truly "big".

About as soon as the decision had been made that we would hunt a while longer Yul spied the one you see in the first picture ( 10' 8" ). Took us about 45 minutes to get it banged, taped and into the boat.

Then it was time to go help Mike........ And truth be we figured that when we got to him we'd find that ours was bigger than his, giving us a good excuse to make fun of him.

When we finally got where we could see him he was just sitting in the boat with two harpoon lines trailing over the side. He said he'd banged it but had not taped it because he could not get its head far enough out of the water to do so.

That's when we knew he had us............

Took 3 of us to haul it up into the boat........12' 7"........BIG......Mike stands vindicated.......

**Brian Pfleuger** · September 23, 2011, 11:19 PM

Wow! What a beast!

They should make a tv show about gator hunting...

BIGR · September 24, 2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Wow! What a beast!

They should make a tv show about gator hunting...

They do, it is about some guys in the swamp, down south. Heck I can't think of the name of it, but I have watched it before. Swampmen maybe?

ice9_us · September 24, 2011, 09:39 AM

that is funny.

dahermit · September 24, 2011, 09:40 AM

Being a Michigander, we have few and only very small 'gators. Please explain just how 'gators are hunted. Are they shot at distance? Are they just harpooned? If shot, do they always float? Please explain the process.

**Brian Pfleuger** · September 24, 2011, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIGR

They do, it is about some guys in the swamp, down south. Heck I can't think of the name of it, but I have watched it before. Swampmen maybe?

I should have put a

in there or something.

You should be on SwampMen.... I wonder how you apply?

Dave P · September 24, 2011, 10:04 AM

Nice catch! Where?

hooligan1 · September 24, 2011, 12:44 PM

You fellas be sure to keep those suckers out of Missouri please!!!

bswiv · September 24, 2011, 02:37 PM

It's called "Swamp People".......and they should not be confused with.......well.......mom used to say "if you don't have anything nice to say......"

Let's just say that not much of what you see them doing is legal in Florida and that many of the behaviors they exibit are foreign to me, Louann and our friends.

jgcoastie · September 25, 2011, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bswiv

Let's just say that not much of what you see them doing is legal in Florida...

Good thing they're in Louisiana then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bswiv

and that many of the behaviors they exibit are foreign to me, Louann and our friends.

They're from the swamps of Louisiana, pretty much everything about that region is foreign to just about everyone else...

Congrats to Mike. (And you too

)

BIGR · September 25, 2011, 11:27 AM

Quote:

I should have put a in there or something.

You should be on SwampMen.... I wonder how you apply?

Nope I will stick to being a mountain man. I don't care about gators, snakes and hot weather. Where I live you have to be like a mountain goat

to get around some of the most unforgiving terrain you could imagine.

**Brian Pfleuger** · September 25, 2011, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bswiv

It's called "Swamp People".......and they should not be confused with.......well.......mom used to say "if you don't have anything nice to say......"

Let's just say that not much of what you see them doing is legal in Florida and that many of the behaviors they exibit are foreign to me, Louann and our friends.

Really? What do they do wrong? I know nothing of the "right" or "wrong" methods, never having seen a gator, or even a real swamp for that matter.

**hogdogs** · September 25, 2011, 07:25 PM

peetza, I don't know the "right & wrong" in great detail but when you are ready to see a gator, a real swamp, wild hogs and mad southern beavers... You know yer invited!

BTW!!! You will see all of the above and more all at the same time as you wade nipples deep in the aforementioned "real swamp"

Don't worry about gettin' cold... Fear driven adrenaline is a better body warmer than liquor ever was...

Brent

**Brian Pfleuger** · September 25, 2011, 07:28 PM

Thanks Brent... I'm going to take you up on that, one day.

bswiv · September 25, 2011, 09:16 PM

The short answer to the question of right or wrong ( and mind you I said "ILLEGAL" in my post ) comes down exactly to the illegal of it if we did it in FL.

What they do in LA is legal there........but not here.

We are not allowed to set free floating baits or to set hooks on lines attached to trees or whatever.

During the public hunts in Fl. if you use bait you must have the line the bait is on under your control at all times. And you can not use hooks in the bait.

I am not passing judgement on how they do it......having been a commercial fisherman I understand how hard what they are doing is, making a living off nature. So if it's legal they need to get at it as best they can.

None of that changes the fact that from what few minutes of the show I have been able to stomach.............well.........maybe I should let it drop as we are suposed to be discussing hunting.

September 22, 2011, 07:59 PM	#1
bswiv Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Posts: 1,031	Some days I truly dislike my friends....... When Mike called early on Wednesday morning to say that we needed to run down the lake about 5 miles and help him get a "big" gator in his boat he let slip that while he had two harpoons in it he had not gotten it banged and taped yet. Hearing this we decided that as we had nearly 1 1/2 hours of legal hunting time left......and no gator of our own!......we'd hunt a while and then go help him. Besides that he's old like we are and was hunting with a girl so what he was calling "big" most likely was just one that his old wore out butt could not haul into the boat.....not something that was truly "big". About as soon as the decision had been made that we would hunt a while longer Yul spied the one you see in the first picture ( 10' 8" ). Took us about 45 minutes to get it banged, taped and into the boat. Then it was time to go help Mike........ And truth be we figured that when we got to him we'd find that ours was bigger than his, giving us a good excuse to make fun of him. When we finally got where we could see him he was just sitting in the boat with two harpoon lines trailing over the side. He said he'd banged it but had not taped it because he could not get its head far enough out of the water to do so. That's when we knew he had us............ Took 3 of us to haul it up into the boat........12' 7"........BIG......Mike stands vindicated.......

September 24, 2011, 09:39 AM	#4
ice9_us Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2008 Posts: 101	great story.. :?) that is funny.

September 24, 2011, 10:04 AM	#7
Dave P Senior Member Join Date: August 17, 1999 Location: North Florida Posts: 1,041	Nice catch! Where? __________________ ... still waiting for that stimulus to kick in ...

September 24, 2011, 12:44 PM	#8
hooligan1 Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2010 Location: Independence Missouri Posts: 2,837	You fellas be sure to keep those suckers out of Missouri please!!! __________________ Thanks for coming!

September 25, 2011, 07:25 PM	#13
hogdogs Staff Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 10,691	peetza, I don't know the "right & wrong" in great detail but when you are ready to see a gator, a real swamp, wild hogs and mad southern beavers... You know yer invited! BTW!!! You will see all of the above and more all at the same time as you wade nipples deep in the aforementioned "real swamp" Don't worry about gettin' cold... Fear driven adrenaline is a better body warmer than liquor ever was... Brent __________________ Finally have designs going up in the Hogdogs Outdoor Apparel online store. http://www.cafepress.com/hogdogsoutdoorapparel Thanks for lookin'...

September 23, 2011, 11:19 PM	#2
Brian Pfleuger Staff Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Central, Southern NY, USA Posts: 14,511	Wow! What a beast! They should make a tv show about gator hunting...

September 24, 2011, 09:40 AM	#5
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Ohio, Indiana. Posts: 2,618	Being a Michigander, we have few and only very small 'gators. Please explain just how 'gators are hunted. Are they shot at distance? Are they just harpooned? If shot, do they always float? Please explain the process.

September 24, 2011, 02:37 PM	#9
bswiv Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Posts: 1,031	It's called "Swamp People".......and they should not be confused with.......well.......mom used to say "if you don't have anything nice to say......" Let's just say that not much of what you see them doing is legal in Florida and that many of the behaviors they exibit are foreign to me, Louann and our friends.

September 25, 2011, 07:28 PM	#14
Brian Pfleuger Staff Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Central, Southern NY, USA Posts: 14,511	Thanks Brent... I'm going to take you up on that, one day.

September 25, 2011, 09:16 PM	#15
bswiv Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Posts: 1,031	The short answer to the question of right or wrong ( and mind you I said "ILLEGAL" in my post ) comes down exactly to the illegal of it if we did it in FL. What they do in LA is legal there........but not here. We are not allowed to set free floating baits or to set hooks on lines attached to trees or whatever. During the public hunts in Fl. if you use bait you must have the line the bait is on under your control at all times. And you can not use hooks in the bait. I am not passing judgement on how they do it......having been a commercial fisherman I understand how hard what they are doing is, making a living off nature. So if it's legal they need to get at it as best they can. None of that changes the fact that from what few minutes of the show I have been able to stomach.............well.........maybe I should let it drop as we are suposed to be discussing hunting.