Gators and hogs with a bow
 

I plan to kick off my 2019 bowhunting road trip season in Feb. with Gators and Hogs in Florida. Does anybody have any knowledge or insight into a Florida outfitter that specializes in bowhunting gators and hogs?

After looking at many gator outfitters I went with Ross Hammock Ranch for my "high Fence" gator hunt with a bow. I say "High fence" because to some, any time you hire and outfitter in a diff state for game animals you dont have access to in your home state, some want to pretend you are hunting in a "pen".

Good luck bud I don't know anything about Ross Hammock, but we got a lot of lizards all over this state.

Ive wanted to take an alligator with a bow so In feb. 2019, I will drive to the Sunshine state to hunt gators and hogs with a bow. Im including hogs because Ive taken hogs in 3 states already and they are a fun bow hunt and good to eat. The only issue with bowhunting these two species is that I will need 2 different bows because the bow I use to do all my bowhunting is not set up for bowfishing or for gator hunting.

I will use an old compound bow for the gator bow and set it up with all the gear I need. The first step putting arrow rest on the bow that will support the 1000+ grain solid fiberglass arrow. I have an old NAP Quicktune 360 rest that I can use but the arrow support (launcher) is a bit too narrow and I can envision the arrow falling off the support during the rigors hunting of so I will need to modify it to fit my needs.



The factory launcher needs to be narrow to clear fletching for typical bowhunting and using arrows with fletching but because my gator hunting arrows wont have any fletching, I can tolerate (and want) a wider launcher with more support to make sure the arrow does not fall off the rest.

The standard launcher shown below.



I designed a new launcher and fired up my 3D printer and made a wider launcher. Here you can see the original and the replacement I made.







The newly installed launcher.



Next up is mounting the bowfishing reel with the line that will connect the arrow (and hopefully the alligator) to the bow.

Good luck.

We depart in about a week for the gator and hog bowhunt. Ive had the gator bow setup for a while and have been shooting it. For the hog portion of this hunt I will use my usual Bowtech. The gator bow is an old Oregon brand bow I added a big game reel to. Its set to 55 pounds draw. I designed and 3D printed a mount for my Ultimate Predator Adventure cam (like a GO Pro but better)










Ive been experimenting with metal arrow slides rather than the tip. Plastic ones and a variety of fish points.



For the hog portion of the hunt Im falling back on a tried and tru Woodsman. Ie taken hogs and deer with them in the past with great results. All of these have passed through one species or another and have been re-hones and ready for service. With the adapter, they are 150 grain.

Good luck I'm excited to see the results of the hunt

-Jake

The first leg of the gator and hog hunt is under way. I need to acclimate to the environment in Florida. The week before departing WI we had temps with wind chills around -50F and 10 inches of snow last week so I thought it proper to slowly get used to the local conditions.

Florida can be a real shock to the system for us northern boys.

Best to take your time and go slow

-Jake

Looks nice be sure to post photos when you make to the swamps!