One of my mentors

[Terry Cross]

Richard, one of two key people that took me under their wing when I was in my teens and gave me a taste of organized shooting sports. He and Edwin were and still are my role models for striving for excellence and conduct around others at competitions.

He is sorta retired and enjoying himself most days.

 

[DaveV]

Re: One of my mentors

Now we know how you got to the top of the game, Terry...

shootin' gators!!

 

[patsim]

Re: One of my mentors

Cool pic. Is it real? (No disrespect meant--I know who you are) Just askin'?

 

[High Binder]

Re: One of my mentors

!!!!

 

[ArcticLight]

Re: One of my mentors

Love to have a steak out of one of those tails...

 

[E3C3H3O3]

Re: One of my mentors

Those are some big ass gators, nice kills

 

[Terry Cross]

Re: One of my mentors

Yes, they are very real.

About 3 years ago, he got one monster that was a little over 16 feet. Both of those are in the mid 12'.

If I can dig up the images and make time to upload them to a host, I will post the big one.

 

[Terry Cross]

Re: One of my mentors

Ok, found them.
Photo one. He knocked the brains out of a large one 3 years ago and it sank. Most do not. They run down the side of the oxbow (small lake off of the river) and throw a weighted bouy (seen as an orange block at right in the first image) at as close to the spot as they can and then go out in the boat. They use a long poll and pretty sure they feel him on the bottom in about 14 feet of water. Gaff and hooks don't get it.

He goes down and finds a leg with the small loop on a rope.

Gets him to the boat, drags to shore and ultimately reel the bitch up on a small boat trailer. Here he is back at the camp.

This one was over 16' and 750lb cotton scales wouldn't handle it.

 

[NOMAD]

Re: One of my mentors

HOLY SHIT thats unreal as all unreal!!! Them some big bitches!!

I would love to shoot one but i highly doubt i would be going down to tie the loop around his leg!!!

Cool pics thanks for sharing with me buddy!

 

[Jeepin_Lawyer]

Re: One of my mentors

WOW! Those are crazy! Hunting those suckers would be a blast!

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: One of my mentors

Boots.

All I see is Boots. Lots and lots of boots. Maybe a wallet or two. How much for a head-mount? They any good eating?



Seriously though, great pics, great thread, and you Sir have an awesome mentor. 'Lo, if we were all so lucky....

 

[BOLTRIPPER]

Re: One of my mentors

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sean the Nailer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Boots.

All I see is Boots. Lots and lots of boots. Maybe a wallet or two. How much for a head-mount? They any good eating?



Seriously though, great pics, great thread, and you Sir have an awesome mentor. 'Lo, if we were all so lucky....</div></div>


sean...i was just in winnipeg last week.....you could be quite the hero with a set of "gator boots'....i'm just sayin

 

[ranger1183]

Re: One of my mentors

Terry,

What caliber(s) is Richard using - recommending for close up gator shooting?

 

[smokshwn]

Re: One of my mentors

From watching Swamp People they are all using a 22RF.

Pretty badass !

 

[MLC]

Re: One of my mentors

From an outsiders standpoint, a question.
What are the odds that he might run into another gator fishing the first one off the bottom?
Or are they territorial enough that it wouldn't be a concern?
In any event those are some impressive harvests.

 

[samuraiwarrior23]

Re: One of my mentors

Like to know what they feed on to get that big!

 

[kbrady]

Re: One of my mentors

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SAMURAIWARRIOR23</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Like to know what they feed on to get that big!</div></div>

Anything they want! That fucker is huge. Thanks for the pics Terry.

Kelly

 

[Mo_Zam_Beek]

Re: One of my mentors

How old is a 12 - 16 specimen?

What do you do with them once you kill them? (We don't have such things here in the PacNW) I assume they are good to eat? "Tastes like chicken"? Then what? There is a market for the skin - how do you prep it? Do folks make mounts out of the heads or are there certain portions of the scales (right term?) that grow in proportion to the size and age that people keep as trophies?


Thanks for the pics


Good luck

 

[USMCj]

Re: One of my mentors

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sean the Nailer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Boots.

All I see is Boots. Lots and lots of boots. Maybe a wallet or two. How much for a head-mount? They any good eating?



Seriously though, great pics, great thread, and you Sir have an awesome mentor. 'Lo, if we were all so lucky.... </div></div>

Took the words right out of my mouth! What about a nice gator skin rigle case?

 

[Terry Cross]

Re: One of my mentors

Ranger,

The big one from 08' was taken with a 45-70 at about 110 yards after stalking him for 3 days.

The two from this month were taken with a .308 Win. One at about 95yards and the other at about 180yds.

You can just about cut them in half and they could care less. Only stop and drop is to brain them. Really small target totally encased with several inches of bone. Most angles will reward you with a ricochet and just another scar on their head.

 

[Terry Cross]

Re: One of my mentors

I'm no expert but Richard spends half his time on that property. He thinks that the large ones are very territorial and the only time any movement takes place from one area to another is during their mating season.

Anything over 8-10 feet leave a wake like a Trident submarine.

I would have been concerned and you would have been concerned. I would like to think that he would never put himself at risk for no reason.

I have also seen him skin down to his birthday suit and go into the water to retrieve a fucking arrow during a January bow hunt. He had just arrowed a decent buck standing in the edge of a swampy area and the shaft kept going. He figured he would get his damn Easton 2217 back while the buck bled out down the trail. He found the arrow, put his shit back on and trailed the blood about 50 yards through a thicket to where the buck was down and out.

 

[Terry Cross]

Re: One of my mentors

The area that these were taken has an abundance of everything you can think of. I would think just about anything that comes to the water to drink and most anything that swims would be possible.

I know for sure that they find an ass load of fish (large bass and white perch) when they open them up.

That area is not infested with them like some swamps and rivers but they have not been hunted or controlled in years if ever. So the ones that are there have less competition for food and dens. The population has finally gotten too large and is negatively impacting everything around them from the fish to the mammals. Fish and Game allows a couple to be culled each year for now.

 

[KNIGHT11B4]

Re: One of my mentors

I have a feeling that he doesnt always drink beer but when he does... he prefers Dos Equis.

 

[Terry Cross]

Re: One of my mentors

I don't know how old they are at that size. I will ask how they determine that. He is a pretty good amateur biologist.

Some of the tail meat is still good but at that size, the meat is not as good as the smaller animals.

The hides and meat are worth a pretty good bit of money. There is a processing plant that can handle alligator around Tallulah, LA. That is about 40 minutes from their camp. They take the gators there to be processed and sold. All money goes to the Children's Home in Monroe as a donation.

Richard is just happy with the pictures and one less garbage disposal eating all of his damn white perch.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: One of my mentors

Very interesting AND informative series of post Terry. Thanks.

 

[USMCj]

Re: One of my mentors

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KNIGHT11B4</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a feeling that he doesnt always drink beer but when he does... he prefers Dos Equis. </div></div>


LOL!!!! Classic!

 

[E3C3H3O3]

Re: One of my mentors

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BillPrudden</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nomination for post of the year.

Bill </div></div>

+1 for that nomination

 

[cmh2007]

Re: One of my mentors

You shot Fideaux

 

[km71107]

Re: One of my mentors

Looks like a helluva lot of fun. I'll gladly volunteer to help kill 'em

 

[Grand]

Re: One of my mentors

Terry: That's bad ass. Can you recommend a guide service for a gator hunt? I need a new pair of boots.