# Survived the gator, idiot in bass boat almost killed us.



## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

My buddy had one last gator tag to fill and we wanted to get it out of the way before bow season so we headed to Escambia River Saturday evening. We checked a few places and nothing until right at dark we saw a nice one. Ended up getting her just after dark and started the trek up river. We were hunting out of a 12ft aluminum boat so with the two of us, a 9ft gator, and all our gear we were only making about 15 or 16mph. We saw a light coming from down river and the boat turned the corner at lighting speed and we slowed down he also slowed down and was looking at the bank with a Q beam. We gave him a minute to come on by us and he never did so we continued up river. A few moments later he hammers down, still running the spot light, and comes flying by us so close I could have gave the driver a high 5. Once again we are in a 12ft boat loaded down and the wake almost flips and swamps us. The wake came over the entire boat soaking both of us and throwing alot of water inside. We got the the water out and made sure everything was alright and eventually made it back to the ramp. This was one of the more scary moments I have had on the water, and I have spent A TON of time on it. This occured at the split South of Quintette and we were coming up the eastern river when he ran by and he turned down the western river at the split and headed south. He never checked up depsite our yells to him. It was a Blue and White/Silver Ranger bass boat. If anyone knows this guy or was on the boat I would sure love an explanation


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## saltbomb (Feb 15, 2010)

Sounds like just about every bassboat you will see on the water hauling butt with no respect for others. I see stuff like that all the time on the apalachicola and chipola rivers. I hope you find out who it was.


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## bchadcherry (Mar 11, 2009)

It's amazing how some people have no waterway educate to them at all. Thank goodness you all were ok. And congrats on a nice gator.


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## a (Oct 2, 2007)

like im going up that river in 12 ft jon boat...at nite???
after gators....(not)! Sounds like a you enjoy taking risks...so wats the problem?


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## huntnflorida (May 24, 2008)

a said:


> like im going up that river in 12 ft jon boat...at nite???
> after gators....(not)! Sounds like a you enjoy taking risks...so wats the problem?


Why does the problem have to be spun on the guys doing the right thing? A 12ft boat is adequate for hunting our rivers, day or night doesnt matter as long as it lighted properly. The problem is the asshole doing the wrong thing and almost killing two guys out hunting for the evening. I don't understand this train of thought.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

a said:


> like im going up that river in 12 ft jon boat...at nite???
> After gators....(not)! Sounds like a you enjoy taking risks...so wats the problem?


Are you for real?? Geez!!
The problem is that most people dont care about others, we learned it from watching more and more TV and going to church and reading the bible less and less......BAM!


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## Dragsmoker (Aug 15, 2011)

I have always had a feeling while on the water that the guys in bass boats feel like they own the water with there sparkly water craft. No disrespect intended to the considerate bass boat owners.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

Freespool said:


> My buddy had one last gator tag to fill and we wanted to get it out of the way before bow season so we headed to Escambia River Saturday evening. We checked a few places and nothing until right at dark we saw a nice one. Ended up getting her just after dark and started the trek up river. We were hunting out of a 12ft aluminum boat so with the two of us, a 9ft gator, and all our gear we were only making about 15 or 16mph. We saw a light coming from down river and the boat turned the corner at lighting speed and we slowed down he also slowed down and was looking at the bank with a Q beam. We gave him a minute to come on by us and he never did so we continued up river. A few moments later he hammers down, still running the spot light, and comes flying by us so close I could have gave the driver a high 5. Once again we are in a 12ft boat loaded down and the wake almost flips and swamps us. The wake came over the entire boat soaking both of us and throwing alot of water inside. We got the the water out and made sure everything was alright and eventually made it back to the ramp. This was one of the more scary moments I have had on the water, and I have spent A TON of time on it. This occured at the split South of Quintette and we were coming up the eastern river when he ran by and he turned down the western river at the split and headed south. He never checked up depsite our yells to him. It was a Blue and White/Silver Ranger bass boat. If anyone knows this guy or was on the boat I would sure love an explanation


Any pictures of the Gator?


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

if you think going on escambia at night in a jon boat is a risk youd never make it hanging out with me and my friends. good job on the gator glad yall made it back.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Realtor said:


> Any pictures of the Gator?


That is NOT said 12' boat to the right there...

Gator was right at 9'. I wasn't there, just helped clean it the next morning. 









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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

nice, is that a bullet wound on its head?


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Realtor said:


> nice, is that a bullet wound on its head?


.357 bangstick.

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## bowdiddly (Jan 6, 2010)

I have been bout run over on Yellow river several times and it is not nearly as wide as Escambia. They are goin so fast they can not hear nor care. One day a stump or log will be in the right place at the right time.


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## fla_scout (Sep 28, 2007)

a said:


> like im going up that river in 12 ft jon boat...at nite???
> after gators....(not)! Sounds like a you enjoy taking risks...so wats the problem?


Wow what an ignorant statement from a "captain" none the less! As long as he was lighted properly I don't care if he was in a blow up raft, you still have a responsibility to be safe when in close proximity to others on the waterway.


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## imkilroy (Oct 27, 2007)

Congrats on a great gator! Glad it worked out, ur lucky it didn't sink you there. Just curious, but did you use a frickin axe on that thing??? LOL!!


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## Gnwdad (Oct 14, 2007)

Wirelessly posted (My Phone)



Try'n Hard said:


> a said:
> 
> 
> > like im going up that river in 12 ft jon boat...at nite???
> ...


No doubt from the story the guy in the bass boat was being careless but there's no way I would be caught dead in a 12' jon boat on Escambia at night.


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## baldona523 (Mar 2, 2008)

Awesome gator. I have to disagree also though, I agree he was being ignorant but if you were not in a no wake zone he was not doing anything wrong. I hunt out of small boats all the time even on the Choctaw bay where the dang cigar boats fly by right next to us. The guy in the bass boat was not being nice, but that doesn't mean he was doing anything wrong.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

baldona523 said:


> Awesome gator. I have to disagree also though, I agree he was being ignorant but if you were not in a no wake zone he was not doing anything wrong. I hunt out of small boats all the time even on the Choctaw bay where the dang cigar boats fly by right next to us. The guy in the bass boat was not being nice, but that doesn't mean he was doing anything wrong.


Are you serious? You are responsible for your wake no matter where you are. The dude swamped their boat and damn near ran them over!

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## whome (Oct 2, 2007)

John B. said:


> Are you serious? You are responsible for your wake no matter where you are. The dude swamped their boat and damn near ran them over!
> 
> Sent from my LG G2X using Forum Runner


If he was in a Kayak this would be a 20 pager with a lynch mob ready to hang the driver of the bass boat


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## Blake R. (Mar 17, 2009)

Capt. Jon Pinney said:


> If he was in a Kayak this would be a 20 pager with a lynch mob ready to hang the driver of the bass boat


If he was gator hunting in a kayak we would just chalk it up as natural selection.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

Some of the responses are disturbing.... not about what you think others should or shouldn't be doing, not about Legal or not legal, what we are talking about is right and wrong and treatment of your fellow man. I remember going up the river with my dad when I was six or seven and hating how he would slow down the boat to an idle for 300 yards because of another fisherman anchored or tied up - Every Time!. I wanted to get to fishing and sometimes it would take us an hour to go two miles. Sometimes after we got anchored the same people would fly past us and make our anchors lose their hold, but he would never return the favor. I learned later that it was called being considerate of others - no matter if they were considerate to you or not. Just the way I was raised and Im sure that most others will think its stupid.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Try'n Hard said:


> Some of the responses are disturbing.... not about what you think others should or shouldn't be doing, not about Legal or not legal, what we are talking about is right and wrong and treatment of your fellow man. I remember going up the river with my dad when I was six or seven and hating how he would slow down the boat to an idle for 300 yards because of another fisherman anchored or tied up - Every Time!. I wanted to get to fishing and sometimes it would take us an hour to go two miles. Sometimes after we got anchored the same people would fly past us and make our anchors lose their hold, but he would never return the favor. I learned later that it was called being considerate of others - no matter if they were considerate to you or not. Just the way I was raised and Im sure that most others will think its stupid.


X2

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## joebuck (Oct 1, 2007)

Try'n Hard said:


> Some of the responses are disturbing.... not about what you think others should or shouldn't be doing, not about Legal or not legal, what we are talking about is right and wrong and treatment of your fellow man. I remember going up the river with my dad when I was six or seven and hating how he would slow down the boat to an idle for 300 yards because of another fisherman anchored or tied up - Every Time!. I wanted to get to fishing and sometimes it would take us an hour to go two miles. Sometimes after we got anchored the same people would fly past us and make our anchors lose their hold, but he would never return the favor. I learned later that it was called being considerate of others - no matter if they were considerate to you or not. Just the way I was raised and Im sure that most others will think its stupid.


x100 ... and BTW, this is not stupid at all. 

I was raised the same way and I am doing my dang best to raise my two sons in the same manner ... I just hope that I am successful. I feel like if more people were considerate of others and not so dang worried about only themselves, this world would be a much better place to live ... just my $0.02.

Sorry to de-rail the thread. Congrats, very nice gator. Glad that ya'll got back to the landing safe. That .357 bang stick did a number on him for sure!!!!


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## a (Oct 2, 2007)

I never said i wouldnt slow for an undersized vessel. I just cant see myself making the same decision....to take a 12 ft Jon Boat up escambia river at Night!....after gators!!
I would guess that decision was made after reading about all the wake problems in that area ....on this forum??? 

They certainly have a right to be there... ..Dat aint da kine a bote dey use on da TV


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## K-Bill (May 14, 2009)

a said:


> I never said i wouldnt slow for an undersized vessel. I just cant see myself making the same decision....to take a 12 ft Jon Boat up escambia river at Night!....after gators!!
> I would guess that decision was made after reading about all the wake problems in that area ....on this forum???
> 
> They certainly have a right to be there... ..Dat aint da kine a bote dey use on da TV


are you confusing the river with escambia bay?? the spot where this happened - a 12' alum river boat is plenty. don't be so scared!


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

throw a Kayak in the mix somewhere -- Sorry, couldnt help it......:thumbup::2guns::tt2::boxing::starwars:


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## a (Oct 2, 2007)

i went up escambia river at night ..in canoe...when i was 14....last time 43 years ago


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Lance, It may seem a bit crazy, but it's not nearly as bad as you would think. Legally in Florida we can't do it like " dem boys of on da udda side da bayou", we have to catch them on rod and reel. And unless you snatch a gator square in the asshole, the fight isn't much worse than your average sized cobia. Also, the advantage of a smaller boat is you can get back in some of the smaller slews that don't get the pressure from bigger boats. So in my opinion I think the truck ride to the boat ramp is far more dangerous than being on the river in a 12' boat.

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## GatorUSN (Jan 17, 2012)

Try'n Hard said:


> Some of the responses are disturbing.... not about what you think others should or shouldn't be doing, not about Legal or not legal, what we are talking about is right and wrong and treatment of your fellow man. I remember going up the river with my dad when I was six or seven and hating how he would slow down the boat to an idle for 300 yards because of another fisherman anchored or tied up - Every Time!. I wanted to get to fishing and sometimes it would take us an hour to go two miles. Sometimes after we got anchored the same people would fly past us and make our anchors lose their hold, but he would never return the favor. I learned later that it was called being considerate of others - no matter if they were considerate to you or not. Just the way I was raised and Im sure that most others will think its stupid.


Yessir!


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## BBob (Sep 27, 2007)

My 2 cents....First I agree that the bass boat did not exercise good judgements. This is assuming that since you saw him he "could have seen you"; Of course you said he was Q-beaming the bank which makes one think his attention was not on the waterway. Second you could have used a "noise maker" to give a loud warning that you are there. 
Second, you were in a 12 foot jon boat with another person and a 9' gator, engine, fuel, batteries lights etc. I am assuming if your boat was not overloaded it was close to it. Which means it would have been sitting low in the water. I have been the passenger in an overloaded boat before, which became swamped by the driver simply stopping the boat quickly and water flooding in over the stern. Thankfully you acted quickly and saved the day. From only what I've read and "Assume" you also helped to contribute to the danger of the situation. One of the beauties in life is that from mistakes we gain experience. If we recall our experiences and use them as lessons learned then we cut down on our mistakes. 
Now I give you kudos on a nice gator. I wish you luck in finding out who drove the bass boat. He is responsible for knowing the rules and doing what is legally as well as morally correct. But then again so are we all. By the way this is just an old fart opinion and in no way is meant to point a finger at anyone. Just my opinion from what I have read and "Ass of me".


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

Every 12' boat sits low in the water... I assure you the boat wasn't overloaded. This wasn't jimbob and cletus going lizard hunting in a canoe, this was two 100ton licensed captains who have probably spent more time on the water than on land the last 10 years.

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## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

We had proper lighting as well as head lamps we were using to run the river. I don't know how many of you have been on this part of the river but it is not very wide and there is absolutely no chance that he didn't see us. Just because you don't want to go out in a 12ft boat doesn't mean those of us who do don't deserve any common courtesy. I wouldn't go in the gulf in a lot of boats I see people on here go in but that's there choice. This was not some sort of oh hey he's got gator tags and there is an old 12ft Jon boat we could go in. We have 2 boats set up to gator hunt this one and a big one and both are decked out for it. I prefer the small boat for many reasons. I guess next time I see a kyak in the pass I should just keep on running right by him cause he is asking for it


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## baldona523 (Mar 2, 2008)

Freespool said:


> We had proper lighting as well as head lamps we were using to run the river. I don't know how many of you have been on this part of the river but it is not very wide and there is absolutely no chance that he didn't see us. Just because you don't want to go out in a 12ft boat doesn't mean those of us who do don't deserve any common courtesy. I wouldn't go in the gulf in a lot of boats I see people on here go in but that's there choice. This was not some sort of oh hey he's got gator tags and there is an old 12ft Jon boat we could go in. We have 2 boats set up to gator hunt this one and a big one and both are decked out for it. I prefer the small boat for many reasons. I guess next time I see a kyak in the pass I should just keep on running right by him cause he is asking for it


I agree with you 100% on the gator hunting with a small boat, and honestly as a kayaker I don't mind when a boat hauls butt by me. I would prefer they don't, but as I said if you are not in a no wake zone in my mind everyone has every right to go as fast as they want. 

I fish around the middle of the mid bay bridge all the time, every time I fish all kinds of boats haul butt sometimes less than 50 ft from me. I wish they would slow down, but I am fishing in a boating lane so I don't expect them to and certainly don't get mad if they don't.

If you are in a boat too small to handle wakes, then you are taking a risk that is your fault and not everyone else's fault on the water. I understand it sucks, but that is life and you gotta protect yourself from the idiots out there.


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## whitetail187 (Mar 3, 2012)

Blake R. said:


> If he was gator hunting in a kayak we would just chalk it up as natural selection.


this sounds like a challenge lol, going to need a new "gator hunting with kayaks" section in the forum next year!:beer:


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## chad403 (Apr 20, 2008)

Weight capacity for a 12' alumicraft is 500lbs? How much did the motor weigh? How much do two men weigh. How much did the damn gator weigh. I think the bass fisherman is owed an apology.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

chad403 said:


> Weight capacity for a 12' alumicraft is 500lbs? How much did the motor weigh? How much do two men weigh. How much did the damn gator weigh. I think the bass fisherman is owed an apology.


I think you're a douche, but hey, we all have our opinions

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