Swamp People on the history channel.
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rbernie
Contributing Member
I'm moving this thread to Hunting to see if we can get some rational dialog about the show's hunting aspects. Let's not get too wrapped up in the 'reality TV' discussions, or the thread will have to be locked down.
slabuda
Member
Watching it now. Them guys are crazy!!! Not sure Id like to hold one of them gators with that thin cord, especially with bare hands. But at least they shoot them and dont try to wrestle them. Seems like they eat everything they kill too which is nice.
philpost
Member
I liked the show. Living near the Gulf myself, I can relate to the gators (although we're not quite as infested 'round here, the neighbors have spotted one in the backyard lake), and they do make good eating. I had hoped the handgun had a bunch of misfires, because anyone who doesn't make sure his gun is loaded before hunting gators deserves to get pulled under 
Anyone able to ID some of the guns used in the show?
Anyone able to ID some of the guns used in the show?
sam05
Member
i saw a marlin model 60
Purgatory
Member
I agree +10. That was beyond Pathetic.
Goes to show how NOT having a round in the chamber in an 'auto' can get you killed. This was just a gator on a rope and the guy couldn't think clearly enough not to just keep pulling the trigger and hoping the fairy of goodwill would magically load just ONE of the chambers and eliminate the threat.
When people pull the trigger on an auto expecting it to be loaded in a SD situation, often they can't think clearly enough to even rack the slide and so just keep pullin the trigger. Not good when you're being attacked.
ANYways, I was wondering if they were using .22 mag or just LR.
Anyone catch them saying so one way or the other?
I would prefer the .22 mag especially for the shots from the boat at the gators on the bank. Just for that extra penetration.
Thought I saw some casings flying from the gun that looked a little longer than LR.
kd7nqb
Member
Watching it now, seems like really bad gun handling. But hunting gators would be fun. However this does seem to be exactly what a $80 mosin m44 was made for.
Sav .250
Member
All that being said, that`s why it`s called ............Swamp people. They march to a different drum beat............
jimmyraythomason
Member
They have survived in the swamp for 300+ years. They must be doing what it takes to survive. Hard to use asphalt thinking in a weed and water world.
jimmyraythomason
Member
What's to debate? They are STILL there. What more proof is needed?
jimmyraythomason
Member
So you don't aspire to achieve as much?
rbernie
Contributing Member
This is not a thread on cultural differences. This is a thread about hunting, in a hunting forum.
Let's please remember that.
Let's please remember that.
JimKirk
Member
Some people live in an asphalt swamp... but the gators there are of the two legged kind!
Lot of them talk funny too!
Some of their aspirations are very similar to the Swamp People.
I guess we all "live" in some kind of swamp ... Right?
If I hunted gators, I would want something that threw a big piece of lead!
What caliber would you chose??
Lot of them talk funny too!
Some of their aspirations are very similar to the Swamp People.
I guess we all "live" in some kind of swamp ... Right?
If I hunted gators, I would want something that threw a big piece of lead!
What caliber would you chose??
slabuda
Member
Im thinking a cheap SKS would be perfect. A bit more uumphh for those shots they take towards the bank. And Id feel better on one of those big gaters than a .22. But then I guess it would also be pretty darn loud shot off right next to you as I dont see them using/getting ear plugs in while trying to hold onto that rope.
I think they use a 22 due to the sale of the skin, they probably don't want a big entrance/exit hole messing up their gator skin.
plus when they're shooting 200 gators a season, the price of center fire rounds can pile up. 200 .22rf rounds is negligible, but 200 30-30 or '06 rounds is a lot of coin for people, many of whom are dirt poor.
plus when they're shooting 200 gators a season, the price of center fire rounds can pile up. 200 .22rf rounds is negligible, but 200 30-30 or '06 rounds is a lot of coin for people, many of whom are dirt poor.
KodiakBeer
member
I've only seen one episode, but in that the guy shot one of the gators IN the boat after it shook off the effects of the first hit. I suspect that's pretty common and also a good reason to use a rimfire.
Purgatory
Member
Hell Yeah!! If you KNOW you're gonna be blowin HOLES in your boat, rimfire's the way to go!
That was the episode I caught the last 3/4s of.
Very profound.
I could definitely see taking the SKS at least for back-up even if I did favor the .22 lr or mag for most of the work.
But, some of those BIG dab-nab things I wouldn't come within about 25 feet of unless they were very.........dispatched.
So, that SKS would be lookin mighty practical about that time.
jimmyraythomason
Member
At "Gatorland" in Kissimee,Florida there are gator wranglers who tangle with gators daily(for show) and carry no weapon for protection. It is VERY different when the same wranglers go into the crocodile pens. Two men go in with buckets of chicken parts to coax the big critters into the open so the tourist can see them (they like to hide). A third man is ALWAYS present with a semi-auto 12 guage loaded with slugs. As one wrangler said "if something goes wrong,the 12 guage is our only hope of getting out alive".
Joe Demko
Member
Based on a little cursory study of gator skulls, the issue seems to be a tiny brain rather than an armor plated skull. If you can hit the brain, a .22 is enough. If you miss the brain, the larger calibers won't hit anything else that might be quickly lethal. Or lethal at all. Alligators and other large reptiles are notoriously hard to kill quickly other than by destroying the brain or by decapitation.
I've been around people who carelessly handle firearms....but not a second time. All you need is an ND, and (if you've got a stable mind) you SHOULD straighten up and handle that gun like the proper tool it is. You don't go around throwing scissors in the office at your job. I'd be far more careful, being that far out in the boonies, away from hospitals.
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