He took about three steps and dropped dead. We stood there for a few seconds and both of us were shaking like a leaf. It was as good as a deer hunt can get. |
I positioned with my rifle on a tripod and waited. Marc told me that two deer were about to come by a small opening in the brush. The second buck was the one we were after. |
Marc is an expert at scoring racks on the hoof. We were passing up bucks that he scored at 155, 160 and more. But Marc was after a particular buck, one that he estimated to score in the 170-class. |
We started pulling on the line, and this huge gator pops up on the surface. Martin was armed with a .22 magnum pistol. He shot it a few times in the head, but the gator kept submerging and resurfacing. Then the main line snapped and the gator was free-lined. It took about 21/2 hours for us to subdue it. |