800 lb alligator kill

[Five-O]

I read that a 12' 6" 800 pounder was killed by a 5-year old using a .410 shotgun somewhere in East Texas. He fired from 5 feet killing the monster and a second shot by another member of the hunting party was fired for good measure. This happened yesterday and if anyone is interested, I'll provide the link to the story.
My question, is a .410 good enough to kill an 800 alligator? 410's are generally the lightest weight shotguns and kick the least. So I would imagine that gun fitted well to a 5-year old child.
But is it powerful enough to dispatch a dinosaur this big?
Or is there a weak spot on the body that a well-placed shot could prove fatal?
I'm still amazed a 5-year old could do this. Hell, when I was five years old I was playing with toy cars and plastic cowboy guns!
Comments?

 

[mptrimshop]

i think in Texas kids get there first shot gun at there baptism

 

[tribbles]

That's not true, I didn't get my first shotgun until I was 12.

 

[jordan1948]

13 for me lol but yeah as with any other prey shot placement is key.

 

[TomADC]

Heard he was using #6 birdshot....
Gutsy kid for sure...

 

[deacon8]

5' with a shotgun (any shotgun) is close enough to do some real damage. By the way, 5 years old IS really young for this kind of thing. haha! It is hard to say whether or not the story is entirely true, given the kid's age. However, I do believe an alligator can be killed with a .410 at that range.

I got my first .22 when I was 5 and my first .410 when I was 9. And I have been told THAT is young.

 

[eastbank]

i didn,t have my own gun at 5,but we lived on a farm and we had a small gun room and i had access to them with my father or older brother,mostly cleaning them. but it me it was heaven just being able to handle them, seeing the glint of oiled blued metal and smelling the cleaning fluids. even today 61 years later i still get a warm fuzzy feeling when setting in my rather large gun room admiring the blued steel and dark walnet wood sitting in the racks. oh what i would give to go back to thoses day to visit that little room with my father and brother. eastbank.

 

[John Parker]

I wouldn't get that close to a gator.

 

[Quoheleth]

Kid's name is Amos Moses, Jr.

Q

 

[sanerkeki]

Thank god they do not have gators in va

 

[sbarkowski]

I was watching bow hunting for gators the other day and to finish them off when they were at the boat they were using the H&R Tamer in a .410. But it was point blank to the top of the head and perhaps using slugs?

 

[dom1104]

all shotguns have tremendous power, but I wouldnt be suprised to hear someone killed a gator with a 22lr at 5 FEET.

 

[Ron James]

Poachers in Florida { When Gators were still protected } used to Jacklight Gators and then use a 22 LR to kill them. For those who don''t know, a Gator's eyes will glow under a spotlight { like a cat's }. you can spot the eyes just above the water and you aim between them. The reason a .22 was used? to keep the noise level down. The only thing remarkable with the story is the child's age.

 

[oneounceload]

Most bang sticks used now for gators are either 357 or 44 and you need to hit them in their brain, otherwise you'll just tick them off

 

[huntsman]

Kid's name is Amos Moses, Jr.

Q

+1 LOL RIP Jerry Reed

 

[huntsman]

Heard he was using #6 birdshot....
Gutsy kid for sure...

Are you sure??? Why I read on this very board that birdshot is worthless for SD and won't penetrate drywall how could it penetrate gator hide? Maybe it worked cause he was hunting and not engaging in SD against drugged up perps.

 

[kentucky_smith]

I've seen .22 short kill an alligator.

 

[j-easy]

i guess there pretty soft on the top of there heads, you shoot them like between the eyes

 

[TimM]

A little off topic but.... what kind of an idiot parent would let his five year old get within five feet of an alligator???? FFS!

 

[Kindrox]

Why I read on this very board that birdshot is worthless for SD and won't penetrate drywall how could it penetrate gator hide?

Gators can't read so he didn't know.

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

Why I read on this very board that birdshot is worthless for SD and won't penetrate drywall how could it penetrate gator hide?

The shot also didn't have to travel through a wall, so it was effective. Everyone knows shot cannot go through a wall.

 

[MCgunner]

That's not true, I didn't get my first shotgun until I was 12.

7 years old for me, but I was kinda afraid of it until I was 9. ROFL! I started dove hunting at 9, but didn't actually HIT one until I was 10.

Hey, don't go swimmin' with 'em and a gator won't get ya. However, out in the marsh, I am usually wading with 'em during teal season. One actually got a cripple last Saturday that my son-in-law was chasing. He says, "I think a gator got him, it was big and green!" as he waded fast as he could back to land. ROFL! Their eyes have a weird satanic glow in a red light, too. You can spot 'em with the red light before sun up staring at ya. I've had to pepper 'em with a 12 before, number 1 steel shot from a 3" load. Didn't penetrate, just ran him off. Of course, the range was about 30 yards.

 

[MCgunner]

A little off topic but.... what kind of an idiot parent would let his five year old get within five feet of an alligator???? FFS!

Uh. hmm, a CAJUN, maybe? I married one and she's hell for mean! I wouldn't give a gator a chance against her.

 

[Zach S]

Heard he was using #6 birdshot....
Gutsy kid for sure...

From what Mama says, I had no fear when I was 5.

As I got older, I realized it wasn't a lack of fear, but sense...

 

[RSVP2RIP]

Maybe his ".410" was a 404 Jeffery's.