The Georgia 2009 Alligator season is here !
Joe McDaniel of TheLodgeman.com headed to Southwestern Georgia this past weekend and with much help from Phil Walters of www.gatorguides.com scores with an impressive 13 foot 5.5 inch monster at midnight.
Also a big thank you goes out to Gale from Wingates Lodge too. I love that place. The folks are great. Everyone is so nice, polite, and makes you feel welcome. I'm going to plan a longer trip next time and just hang out for a while. You can check them out at ... www.wingateslodge.com .
Here, ... Joe poses for a photo at the Wingates photo area.
While Joe and I waited for Phil to ready the boat ... I took the time to snap a few photos. The afternoon soon to give way to a night we'll never forget.
I saw a butterfly on some moss and thought, ... that's pretty cool.
Joe wanted to get a photo of me ... before we took off. I'm ready ... I think ?
Can you see the gator lurking in the waters by the boat dock ?
Before it submerged, ... I got a close up.
Joe, ... all smiles, ... ain't got a clue what's about to happen. ( me either )
We coast out of the marina ...
We're in Capt. Phil's air boat ... with three seats. I'm in the back with the bird's eye view, while Joe is in the front for harpoon throwing. Phil pilots the craft from the middle seat.
The photos above show the scenery from my view. We checked the edges for gators and we checked out in the middle of the lake. As the sun sat, ... some awesome photos were found.
Here, as the last light of the day is giving way, ... Phil starts searching the water for a gator.
With the night upon us ... only one light was used to find the gator we were after. We saw lots of eyes looking back and Phil's experience lead the way.
Here's what Joe get to see before launching a harpoon at the Gator.
Joe and Phil both secure lines in the Gator ... and the struggle soon begins.
We placed a third line in this gator because we knew he was plenty big. With three lines, and the gator fighting to free himself, ... the ropes and weeds tangled up into a huge ball. It was quite the mess.
Here it is ... one huge gator that missed the Georgia State Record by a mere 1.5 inches. Little did we know what the night held in store for us.
It's 3am on Sept. 6th and Phil and Joe placed the first line about 11PM Sept. 5th. We got back to Wingates around 2:30 am. Yeah, ... nearly 4 hours of fighting this beast.
Joe shows off the huge jaws this monster had ! WOW
Phil ... or better known as ... Gator-Man ... knows his stuff. That was one awesome night on Lake Seminole hunting out of Wingates Lodge.
Joe is no small guy ... He's 6' 2" and 200 pounds ... that gator is huge.
Phil's boat is a 14 footer ... and this big boy ... nearly took all of the space !
Phil tapes the gator and we conclude, it measured a awesome 13' and 5.5".
Thanks PHIL ... " You Da Man "
Here, ... for comparison ... is young Jacob Donovan with last year's 9' 8" gator skull and Joe's 13" 5.5" gator skull. That's a BIG Difference.
That's unbelievable !
If you have any comments ... let me hear them