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Suggestions on equipment for croc in Moz

HI I'm new on the site and hunted several croc in our area in Cahora Bassa Mozambique with rifle. So i'm interested to offer it to bow hunters but not sure what the setup should be?

Any help will be appreciated.

I've taken or helped take over 20 gators up to 12' and I recommend shooting the heaviest bow they can shoot accurately. Will the gator hunting be like bowfishing with fish arrows with a line attached or are you planning to shoot them with broadheads and hope to find them after they die?

Crocks are generally (to my knowledge) shot over bait with standard equipment. Their lungs are huge and long. I've been told just shoot them anywhere in the lungs. They will go for the water, but they are smart enough to know when their lungs are filling with water and they are drowning. They will then get back up on the riverbanks and die.

I've never done it, so take it for what it is worth. But I was under the impression any DG setup would be sufficient.

--Jim

I will be interested to read more about this. When I was hoping to bowhunt for elephant, hippo and croc were two secondary species that we could consider. I was of the impression that my first arrow should be a lung shot with a jug tied to the arrow. I REALLY wanted to try a head shot. I know that the brain shot is a very small target on a croc, and I know that their skulls are thick.....but with a heavy duty arrow, a two blade German Kinetic broadhead, and a boatload of poundage to push my shaft, I wanted to see what the arrow would have done.

The alternative strategy was to lungshoot the animal, and when we recovered him, do the brain shot post mortem.....

I also wondered if I needed to turn my poundage down, to make sure that the string attached to the arrow, (used to pull the jug) could withstand the strain of the shot?

Jake I would venture a guess that yes it would handle the strain as more than likly someone is going to be pulling on it to retrieve said croc. Would love to see that part of the hunt LOL

I read this on a african form. the outfitter had taken several clients to bow hunt croc,said he recomended heavy fishing rig with jug atached to line. shoot the croc,then pull him up and shoot again with a good coc broadhead& heavy arrow,about 800grains. Forrest

I Fully agree, never done it but a fishing rig with a jug attached to line and pull it up later and take a shot with broadhead is the idea...

I used my Bowtech 360 at 70#s to hunt this Florida 12'5" gator -- the outfitter rigged my bow with a 600# line on a regular bow fishing set up attached to my bow--he took my bow fishing arrow and attached his fishing broad head he fevered--,that head penetrated this large gator easily and the barbs on the bhead were tough because we used a lot of pressure to bring this gator up to finish him with a regular hunting set up -- I included a few pics of the equipment used---PM me if you want this Florida outfitters number to get better info-- good luck

This is how I rigged up my practice arrow to shoot with out the string before the trip-- notice the fletching set up--this help stabilize the bow fishing arrow flight during practice-- I set up two pins at 10 and 20 yards-- after the outfitter set up my bow and we practice shooting with the string my pins were dead on--

Mbuyu There have been a few articles on croc hunting in various South African publications. One seems to be the "fishing rig & float" idea where the animal is arrowed and the line is used to pull it in. This involves small boats and would appear to be a risky proposal. Once the animal is close enough it can be despatched. I think Adriaan DeVilliers did one this way. The other method proposed by Steve Kobrine is the lung shot (normally over bait or from a nearby blind). As JTreeman mentions above, the lungs are large and when they start to fill, the reptile wants to get out of the water. At Kariba where the shoreline can be fairly bare it would be easy to spot it getting out but from what I have seen of Cahora Bassa on film, there are large papyrus beds which might make finding the animal difficult. Like Medicineman, I too would find a croc hunt with archery gear a fascinating prospect. I would prefer the lung shot method as long as I could be sure of recovering the animal. A croc is one of the most crafty, intelligent predators out there. I don't think arrowing one would be a slam-dunk.

JCHB

Clutch, I can see why the outfitter favored his fishing broadhead, best looking fishing broadhead I have seen. Forrest

A buddy and I designed a fish reel to be detacheable so we could hunt the gators and use pretty thin diameter line. It allows you to shoot with minimal drag on your arrow from the line. The reel holder screws right into your stabilizer or limb bolt. We use 250# PowerPro and the stuff is TOUGH and cuts through weeds like butter. We used it on many gators and have had no problem pulling them up. You do have to be sure to wear heavy gloves and make sure you do not have the line wrapped around anything you want to keep if the gator/croc takes off. It will slice your hand or finger right off. Here's a picture of our setup.

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