shooting crocs?

[skeeterbait]

I believe I have read of hunting crocs in parts of Africa. If not, please excuse my ignorance and take no personal offense.

If some have experience with hunting crocs:

Recent issues in Florida regarding gator attacks and the possibility of an open season on alligators in Alabama in the near future has me curious regarding what it would take to instantly dispatch say a ten to twelve foot gator. That is about the largest gators I have encountered in Alabama. A recent article from Florida indicated a police officer shot a medium size gator in the head with a 223 and it "only made him mad". While I realize crocs get much larger, there seems to be some similar characteristics of design between the two critters. Not to mention that there isn't an abundance of people who will at least admit to pulling the trigger on a gator since they have been protected for so long.

So for hopefully some reasonable comparison, what caliber, bullet, shot placement would it take to reliably and instantly dispatch a croc of similar size?

 

[Warren123]

Hi there, I would imagine they are pretty similar. I have never shot a croc myself but know several people who have shot many. the brain is a pretty small target so placement is vital. The brain also anchors the croc if on land so it does not get back into the water and possibly end up lost as it would with a heart/lung shot. They head straight into the water if disturbed and being shot they seem to find somewhat disturbing. Any reasonable calibre from about a .243 up seems to be suitable and I know of many taken with the .308. A well placed .308 or 30-06 will do far better than a misplaced .458

 

[416Rem]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (skeeterbait @ May 19 2006, 06:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I believe I have read of hunting crocs in parts of Africa. If not, please excuse my ignorance and take no personal offense.

A recent article from Florida indicated a police officer shot a medium size gator in the head with a 223 and it "only made him mad".

So for hopefully some reasonable comparison, what caliber, bullet, shot placement would it take to reliably and instantly dispatch a croc of similar size?[/b]

Although crocs do get larger than gators, they die as easily with accurate shot placement. The police officer's .223 should have been enough gun for the gator provided he had shot it in the brain - not the "head". On croc farms in SA, a .22 rimfire is used to kill crocs that are destined to end up in frying pans or on someone's feet. Granted, shooting distance is point blank...

Bigger bullets of course gives one a larger margin of error and as Warren said; the first place a wounded croc goes to after being hit is straight back into the water so it would be advisable to use a caliber that would (at least) stun the animal and possibly give you a second chance. I would therefore recommend a .30 / 7mm caliber loaded with bonded bullets although 6mm's would be equally up to the task.

 

[Nic Barca]

I recal aligator hunting happening in the US with bowfishing gear. They shoot the gator with an arrow trying to get a good shot. The line has a buoy on the end and they pull the gator up and if needed, place a shot with this time, a broadhead tipped arrow either in the spine behind the brain or in the brain it'self.

Another time on TV, I think it was on bushnells secrets of the hunt years ago, they showed guys shooting at gators with just a regular hunting arrow. They shoot for the brain when the gator's head is on the water's surface. Small target yeah? The guide then uses a grappling hook to rake the bottom and snagges the gator. If my memory serves me right, they didn't get an ideal shot and the guide snagged it but when they got it up, more follow up shots were needed. They didn't show this; Dave told us afterwords and some people were mad about it. All they showed was the shot, the gator flip out and splash, and the guide snag it. Then it cut out to when they had it on land. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen b ut some people were offended.

Those are the methods that I know of for hunting gators. To get them on the spot, a vertebrae or brain shot is needed. There's no reason why a vital organ shot wouldn't do the trick too. But the brain is very small.

 

[Warren123]

True, a vital organ will kill them, but wont anchor them. They thrash and get back into the water. In the water they sink almost immediately and in rivers this can be a problem as the current carries them away and so potentially lost. I dont know of anyone shooting a croc with a bow, I imagine it could make for some interesting sport.

 

[skeeterbait]

I found a good document on the subject.

humane treatment of captive and wild Australian Crocodiles

 

[Monkeyman]

I've killed a few with full-choked shotguns and OO/OOO buckshot. At 25yds the pattern is about 6" and covers the brain area well. It is difficult to shoot them from far away because the angle you are after is as much from above as possible. Ideally you want to be hunting from a high riverbank shooting down on the head, it is very easy to lose game shooting from the side. It is also easy to lose game on the sides of canals where the banks are steep, sometimes the animal is stone-dead but slips into the canal anyway; I have never heard anyone volunteer to go swimming after one that slipped into the depths.

 

[Sasquatch619]

Hit him behind the front shoulder with a 40 mm grenade. I guarantee you that he wont be scurrying back in to the water.