Post by staysharp on Aug 22, 2019 5:55:40 GMT -6
Ive always wanted to take an alligator with a bow so In feb. 2019, I drove to the Sunshine state to hunt gators my bow.
I set up an old compound bow for the gator hunt and collected up all the gear I needed. The first step was putting an arrow rest on the bow that will support the 1400 grain solid fiberglass arrow. I had an old NAP Quicktune 360 rest that I could use but the arrow support (launcher) was a bit too narrow and I could envision the arrow falling off the support during the rigors hunting of so I needed to modify it to fit my needs.
The factory launcher needs to be narrow to clear fletching for typical bowhunting but because my gator hunting arrows didnt have any fletching, I could tolerate (and wanted) a wider launcher with more support to make sure the arrow did not fall off the rest.
The standard launcher shown below.
I designed a new launcher and fired up my 3D printer and made a wider launcher. Here you can see the original and the replacement I made.
The newly installed launcher.
Next up was mounting the bowfishing reel with the line that will connect the arrow (and hopefully the alligator) to the bow.
Ive had the gator bow setup for a while and have been shooting it. The gator bow is an old Oregon brand bow I added a big game reel to. Its set to 55 pounds draw. I also designed and 3D printed a mount for my Ultimate Predator Adventure cam (like a GO Pro but better)
Ive been experimenting with metal arrow slides rather than the Plastic ones and a variety of fish points.
I like to couple my traveling winter hunts (to escape the WI winter) with a vacation so the wife and I drove to clearwater FL the week prior to the hunt to soak up a little sun so as to acclimate to the environment in Florida. The week before departing WI we had temps with wind chills around -50F and 10 inches of snow so I thought it proper to slowly get used to the local conditions.
I set up an old compound bow for the gator hunt and collected up all the gear I needed. The first step was putting an arrow rest on the bow that will support the 1400 grain solid fiberglass arrow. I had an old NAP Quicktune 360 rest that I could use but the arrow support (launcher) was a bit too narrow and I could envision the arrow falling off the support during the rigors hunting of so I needed to modify it to fit my needs.
The factory launcher needs to be narrow to clear fletching for typical bowhunting but because my gator hunting arrows didnt have any fletching, I could tolerate (and wanted) a wider launcher with more support to make sure the arrow did not fall off the rest.
The standard launcher shown below.
I designed a new launcher and fired up my 3D printer and made a wider launcher. Here you can see the original and the replacement I made.
The newly installed launcher.
Next up was mounting the bowfishing reel with the line that will connect the arrow (and hopefully the alligator) to the bow.
Ive had the gator bow setup for a while and have been shooting it. The gator bow is an old Oregon brand bow I added a big game reel to. Its set to 55 pounds draw. I also designed and 3D printed a mount for my Ultimate Predator Adventure cam (like a GO Pro but better)
Ive been experimenting with metal arrow slides rather than the Plastic ones and a variety of fish points.
I like to couple my traveling winter hunts (to escape the WI winter) with a vacation so the wife and I drove to clearwater FL the week prior to the hunt to soak up a little sun so as to acclimate to the environment in Florida. The week before departing WI we had temps with wind chills around -50F and 10 inches of snow so I thought it proper to slowly get used to the local conditions.