Battle of Dominance - Florida
Chet and his seven footer.
Hunter: Chet Barber
Cameraman: Lonnie Turnbeaugh
On June 25, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. my phone rings "Chet, hey bud are you sitting down?" Lonnie said on the other end of the line. “Why?”, as my heart rate went through the roof with anticipation! "We’ve had a cancellation in our gator/hog hunt to Florida and I know you already have plans, but we would really like you to consider coming with us, it’s gonna be a blast!" Immediately the thought comes to mind there is no way this is going to be possible!!
Here lies the problem, my wife’s brother and his girlfriend have all planned for months to go to Table Rock lake for the 4th of July. All of our reservations have been made. Man, I thought to myself there is no way that I am going to be able to get out of all of this, not to mention that I had been really looking forward to spending some quality time with my family. So I told Lonnie that I really need to think about it. Lonnie needed an answer by noon, so I had to make some calls. I made the first call to my wife and explained the situation, as always she told me that I am crazy if I let this trip pass me by. Then I made the call to my brother and he tells me "Why are you even asking me, call them and tell them you’re in!" Within minutes my wife had my flight booked and I was going to Florida!
I arrived in Orlando Wednesday July 1 and Lonnie and Joe Rush are there to pick me up from the airport. We arrive at Hoppy's and greetings from everyone made me feel right at home. With Lonnie as cameraman and Ralph as the guide, they took me out to gator hunt.
We took our time getting over to the edge of the water and started to glass for the beady little eyes. Sure enough, we spot one and he is a good one! We slowly maneuver ourselves into position. There was a battle of dominance between the gator we wanted (which was fairly close) and another gator that had swam nearby. As we took our position, the girls, (Dusty and Meegan), headed to the edge of the water to try to call and splash down from where we tried to lure the dominate gator past us to get a close shot. As the calling began, the two alligators started to display dominance by showing their tails; however, it seemed as if neither was willing to come any closer. As the girls kept playing the calls and splashing to imitate a baby gator, Ralph told me "If you think you can get a shot, then take it!"
I waited on the wind to stop blowing and when Lonnie confirms that he is on him, I had his eyes in my sights and I slowly squeezed the trigger of the T. C. 223. The shot rang out and I missed!! Everything felt good, I must have pulled and shot under him. The disappointment was overwhelming to say the least. Ralph reassured me that it’s okay and we can try somewhere else. He told me not to worry about it, but I was very worried and upset because I had missed an alligator!! But that wasn’t the end, the gator I shot at quickly popped back up and I reloaded and we tried to relocate for a better shot, but as we moved, so did the gator. We ended up on a mound hidden by tall reed grass, we could see the gator, but the wind had picked up tremendously. When I would have him in my sights, Lonnie couldn’t see him with the camera and visa versa. The longer we waited, the closer the gator drifted to the bank, which was bad because it is very thick. After a few minutes of trying to get it right with the hunter and camera, Ralph stepped to the edge of the water and said he thought he could film the gator pretty good from where he was standing. So Ralph took the camera and let me know that he had him in his sight, and to go ahead and shoot when I was ready. The problem was, I was still contending with the wind blowing, tall grass, and brush. The timing had to be perfect!
As we waited, my moment came. "Are you on him Ralph?" I asked, and he responded that he was, so as I glared at the gator’s eye through the scope, I squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out and his arm went up in the air (a tall tell sign of a kill) YES, I NAILED HIM!! ARM IN THE AIR BABY!! Finally, the dream of killing a gator had been fulfilled. High fives and cheers from all around. What a thrill to have all your friends experience the joy of a hunt with you.
Now we had to fish him out. The shot was 15 to 20 yards in the middle of the swampy marsh. Lonnie manned the hook and was trying to fish out the seven foot swamp lizard!!
You have to know this was a task in itself due to the lily weeds in the water. As Lonnie threw the huge treble hook, it got tangled in some lilies and immediately Meegan got in the water and waded out in the neck high water to get the hook undone. The next throw from Lonnie hooks the gator and we pulled the dead seven foot gator to the bank and the real celebration began!! What could be more fun than shooting alligators in the head with all of your friends there to enjoy the excitement with you!