@BanjoBen well you still have all your fingers, so they must have liked you (not in a “snack” sort of way).
Gator Hunting
Nope, I hope I have more sense than the gator boys on TV…
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Alrighty then, here it is.
The alligator will see you later and the crocodile will see you in a while.
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Of course you did…
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This thread has had Jerry Reed’s tune stuck in my head all day.
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Okay, one gator story. One gator I named Chomp, and he ended up sticking around longer than any other. Most would take off into the bottom once they got big enough to get a girl or boyfriend. (We lived in Texas, but you should imagine Duck Dynasty instead of tumbleweeds…we’re only an hour or so away from those guys in Louisiana.)
Chomp got bigger and more friendly. I would feed him all the time and he immediately came to the shore when I’d walk down to fish, etc. We’d swim off the dock and Chomp would just float around us, his eyes above water. We were more concerned with the Water Moccasins that would drop off the dock supports than the gator, and we weren’t too concerned about them.
Anyway, Chomp and I had an act where I would dangle a fish that I’d caught and he would open his mouth and I’d throw it in his mouth. I’d flyfish for panfish/bass and he’d just follow me along the bank for a delicious meal.
One time, an old man from church asked if he could bring his grandson out to the house fishing. Dad told him sure, and to just flip the flatbottom boat right side up, look for snakes, then push it out and fish in it. They did, and were fishing for crappie.
We weren’t home, and unfortunately dad forgot to tell Mr. Herman about Chomp. They got out to the middle of the pond and got their first crappie on the line. They reeled it up and was dangling it above water, admiring the first catch the little boy had ever witnessed. I don’t think I have to tell you what happened, but I will.
Like a scene out of Jaws, Chomp comes charging out of the water and engulfs the crappie. Mr. Herman about has a heart attack and, according to him, does not know how the boat did not capsize. The little boy was crying and apparently took a couple years to ever get near open water again. I wasn’t there for the conversation, but I think my dad acted like he had never heard of a gator in our pond before.
The ending wasn’t good for Chomp. He took off to the bottoms as well, and I bid him farewell. But the next year, he came BACK! I know it was him, but he was not the boy he used to be, if you know what I mean. He came up to me and barked (all I know how to describe it). I barked back at him trying to imitate him, and he lunged for me. That is where this story ends, good day.
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good story, I too would feign incredulity if something like that happened in my pond.
I heard y’all were in east Texas, were you in south east Texas or just east?
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Kilgore, Texas
Ok the middle east 
that ain’t too far from Beaumont where I was born
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That’s pretty funny! I wonder what happened to Ol Chomp:roll_eyes:… Alligators are very interesting, but you sure have to be careful with dogs and kids around. I will have to say that we used to swim in the river with them every summer, but they never got near us. These days I’m much more cautious with my own kids, seems like my parents never worried about it. How did we ever survive???
Lots of water traps? Like swamp golf?
Tye,
The one I just got back is the biggest. He was 11’ 2”. Here is another picture to give you an idea. L to R, my dad, me, one of my best friends.
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@Bcaves and just HOW big is the boat you’re in?.. If that’s 11’2" I can’t imagine a 15 to an 18-foot gator. Even those West Nile crocs get HUGE too…I don’t want to be near anything that can eat a small battleship in one bite 
, without some kind of weaponry…i.e. a howitzer or something to that effect… What do you do with them? use the meat or make shoes or a suitcase or napkin holder or something?
Yeah they’re good for napkin holders:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:. The meat on a wild gator over 8 feet is terrible, you can hardly chew it. I was able to get rid of it by grinding it all up, mixing with bread crumbs and seasoning, deep frying it, and serving it to all of our church members at the wild game supper. 
Southern Baptists will eat anything.
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@Bcaves when I lived in Cali, a friend of mine used to go to a “Wild Game Cookout” every year. He tells me one day “you should go,” I said, " I don’t think so… if it does cluck, moo or oink I’m not eating it".
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I made coon casserole one year…the Baptists ate it up.
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That’s hilarious! An old man I know always tells the story about feeding the preacher an armadillo, and and after he ate it, told him it was possum on the half shell. His wife is the type that has always cooked whatever he brought home. She cooked that armadillo up pretty good they said!