Amy's Gator - Florida
Amy and Hoppy with her gator.
Joe, Hoppy and Amy
Hunter: Amy Rush
Camera Person: Joe Rush / Ralph Cianciarulo
In the late 1990’s I began to hunt with my husband Joe. I hunted small game such as dove, pheasant, duck, quail and squirrel. Though I enjoyed hunting and especially with my husband, I put it off for several years when we started our family. Our girls are now 6 and 3 and also very interested in hunting.
For the past two years, I have heard and watched the stories of Joe’s hunts with Archer’s Choice and The Choice. The hunts are exciting and very intriguing. As I see the excitement with Danielle (6) and Adelia (3) when they talk about hunting themselves, I am even more excited to get back into the game myself.
Ralph and Vicki gave me an opportunity that I just could not pass up. Boy was I glad I didn’t. I had the experience of a lifetime mid summer 2008.
We had been in Florida for a few days now with Osceola Outfitters and had done some spotting and stalking of hogs with some encounters but no perfect opportunities. This particular evening, we were going to try it again. I was feeling lucky and I was pumped! We took a minor detour to drop off a boat for the Alligator hunt that would take place later that night. I too would be hunting alligator, but later in the week. While we were in the area to drop off the boat, it was decided to check the spot that was cleared of debris the previous day. As we were driving around, I spotted an alligator on the opposite bank. I said “Hey, there’s an alligator over there!” I was asked if I would like to take it. It sure looked like a good one so I said, “You bet!” We all got out of the truck and prepared ourselves for my first big game kill.
Our guide, Hoppy Kempfer, was instructing me what to do and where to place the shot on this beautiful animal. Ralph and Joe had let me know that the cameras were ready and I could shoot when I was comfortable. Although there wasn’t much time that passed, it seemed like forever to me. I was trying to get my heart rate down so that I could hold the gun steady. I even tried to hold my breath so that my heavy breathing wouldn’t cause me to miss or make a bad shot. As I finally felt steady, I pulled the trigger. It was a good shot and I still can’t believe I did it!
Once we were able to load this amazing beast in the truck, we took it back to camp so that our wonderful girls could see what their Mommy had accomplished.