I'm sure some of you remember when I was inquiring about a setup for gator hunting and that we were planning a hunt this summer. Well, we just got back from our infamous gator hunt and all I have to say is...WOW, was that fun
!Rob and I spent a bunch of time working on a good setup for this adventure and it and the bow worked flawlessly. TNT Gators the outfitter was very helpful with some adjustments to our setup since they normally hunt alligators with a bow or crossbow.
We of course had to use the Exomax just because Alligators have big teeth and I am very fond of my various appendages. Alligator hunting is a cross between hunting turkeys and big fish with teeth, 4 clawed feet . The boat was a little bass boat outfitted with a plywood deck up front where you stand to shoot the gators, less than reassuring to me.
Anyhow the process to hunt alligators goes like this, wait until its dark then motor out into the swamp/lake and search for glowing alligator eyes with your flashlight. Once you spot one of these little dinosaurs you turn off the motor and call it to the boat, that's right call it. The outfitter made these gulping noises to immitate a young alligator in distress and I guess the males think its chow time and the females want to protect the little guy in trouble. Once the alligator is in shooting range which was typicaly 5-10 feet out you shoot it and hook it with your barbed fishing arrow. When you have tagged it the next trick is to haul the alligator to the boat. These guys, as you can imagine put up a pretty good fight and if you don't have gloves on they could tear your hand open with the rope.
One thing about alligators is they don't handle stress well and tire quickly. They told us that an alligator can not get rid of the built up lactic acid so they just lose energy. Once the beast is beside the boat it puts up a pretty good fight with jaws snapping and tails thrashing. Most of these guys start into thier death roll once they are almost caught and wind up the line and bend the heck out of arrows. At this point our guides took over by taping the mouth shut and binding thier little legs behind thier backs. The arrow typically does not kill them so they just lay there on the bottom of the boat until you return.
Rob and I got ourselves 4 alligators in total, none were monsters but two were over 7 ft. and the little guys were about 6 ft.. It is a very interesting way to hunt and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to try something different. The Exomax turned out actually to be overkill and the outfitters were amazed that the arrows would zap right through them. I think a Vixen or Phoenix would be the perfect gator hunters since they would be easier to cock in the boat which is an adventure all on its own.
Anyhow, sorry for the long post but I thought you might enjoy the short version of the story. Here is one of the many pictures I have from this adventure. If any of you have any question regarding crossbow setup for this let me know.
Peter
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Nice pictures and glad you all had fun.... 
