Hunting Fish

Desert Rat · 04-15-2011, 11:36 AM

Huh? What did I say?

Yep, few things I loved more than hunting fish (GAR) with a rifle. And I lived in the perfect place for it when I was growing up. The Pecos River was infested with these devils.

Problem was the Pecos is a mighty murky river in most places. Me and my pistolero hunting partner in those days would sit on the bank and flick wood ants that rained down on us out of our hair and off our pants. Shots were usually slow in coming and over in an instant as gar nipped a minnow off surface and dove back into the gloom. You shot fast or you didn't shoot.

Then one day I had an epiphany how to spice things up. We would walk along the bank until we spotted a big school of minnows messing around on surface. (Probably carp)

Anyway, we would shoot right in the middle of them with our 30/06. Yes, you need a big gun to hunt where we hunted. We killed as many by concussion as we hit.

The shot would kill or wound almost the whole school of minnows. Soon after the "fluttering" started, here came the gar. They were like shark drawn to blood.

After that started things got crazy. I would take a GI ammo can along with us and we wouldn't come home till all 250 rounds were gone. (And the brass collected)

The more we shot, it seemed like the more gar took an interest in the spot. You couldn't get them all and you couldn't run them off. Sometimes the /06 would blow a 3 footer completely out of the water. (Extra points for that.

)

If the day was crazy hot, Dave and I would jump in when the ammo ran out and swim in the shit...now and then pitching a dead gar out of the way.

The worst burn I think I ever got was after such a hunt. My 06 was so hot it was literally smoking. I picked up the ammo can with one hand and did a right shoulder arms with my /06. This worked for a minute until we came to an embankment we had to cross. When I made my jump, my rifle bounced off my shoulder and rotated enough in my one hand that the barrel came down on my neck.

Santa Maria! I took pain to a new dimension that afternoon. And I damn sure never made THAT mistake again.

10 Bears · 04-15-2011, 11:51 AM

Gar Gitter Gun! Yep, sounds like fun!

Used to do that with Carp and a 12 gauge.
Be far enough out or use a sawed off or cylinder bore so the shot would spread good.
Using the dbl bbl front stuffer 12 ga. was a lot of fun too.
But all that reloading, down the barrel, got a bit tiresome, after a while.

Desert Rat · 04-15-2011, 12:14 PM

We used to watch the real shallow stretches of the Pecos and when a carp would transit that zone...........it wasn't pretty.

But the gar was our favorite prey and made for a more lively hunt. You would have loved it, 10B.

Gus · 04-15-2011, 03:55 PM

Gar hunting was always on tap when we fished for Reds in the bayous.

Lots of good memories from a days work dispatching gar.

Desert Rat · 04-15-2011, 09:22 PM

Gus, I've always believed that some critters are just so ugly that they deserve to die. Gar fit nicely into that category.

cdhknives · 04-17-2011, 09:26 PM

I never knew my pellet rifle was not enough gun for gar growing up...it killed many a one. Some parts of the year (spawning?) they would run the shoreline in groups of 2-5 in front of my house. You had to head shoot them or they just took off.

Then I graduated to a 22. Oh baby it was ON then!

They stink a few days later.

04-15-2011, 11:36 AM	#1
Desert Rat Junior Woodchuck Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 4,592	Hunting Fish Huh? What did I say? Yep, few things I loved more than hunting fish (GAR) with a rifle. And I lived in the perfect place for it when I was growing up. The Pecos River was infested with these devils. Problem was the Pecos is a mighty murky river in most places. Me and my pistolero hunting partner in those days would sit on the bank and flick wood ants that rained down on us out of our hair and off our pants. Shots were usually slow in coming and over in an instant as gar nipped a minnow off surface and dove back into the gloom. You shot fast or you didn't shoot. Then one day I had an epiphany how to spice things up. We would walk along the bank until we spotted a big school of minnows messing around on surface. (Probably carp) Anyway, we would shoot right in the middle of them with our 30/06. Yes, you need a big gun to hunt where we hunted. We killed as many by concussion as we hit. The shot would kill or wound almost the whole school of minnows. Soon after the "fluttering" started, here came the gar. They were like shark drawn to blood. After that started things got crazy. I would take a GI ammo can along with us and we wouldn't come home till all 250 rounds were gone. (And the brass collected) The more we shot, it seemed like the more gar took an interest in the spot. You couldn't get them all and you couldn't run them off. Sometimes the /06 would blow a 3 footer completely out of the water. (Extra points for that. ) If the day was crazy hot, Dave and I would jump in when the ammo ran out and swim in the shit...now and then pitching a dead gar out of the way. The worst burn I think I ever got was after such a hunt. My 06 was so hot it was literally smoking. I picked up the ammo can with one hand and did a right shoulder arms with my /06. This worked for a minute until we came to an embankment we had to cross. When I made my jump, my rifle bounced off my shoulder and rotated enough in my one hand that the barrel came down on my neck. Santa Maria! I took pain to a new dimension that afternoon. And I damn sure never made THAT mistake again.

04-17-2011, 09:26 PM	#6
cdhknives S. Texas Redneck Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: South Texas Posts: 173	I never knew my pellet rifle was not enough gun for gar growing up...it killed many a one. Some parts of the year (spawning?) they would run the shoreline in groups of 2-5 in front of my house. You had to head shoot them or they just took off. Then I graduated to a 22. Oh baby it was ON then! They stink a few days later. __________________ I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.

04-15-2011, 11:51 AM	#2
10 Bears Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: E-Da-How Posts: 137,846	Gar Gitter Gun! Yep, sounds like fun! Used to do that with Carp and a 12 gauge. Be far enough out or use a sawed off or cylinder bore so the shot would spread good. Using the dbl bbl front stuffer 12 ga. was a lot of fun too. But all that reloading, down the barrel, got a bit tiresome, after a while.

04-15-2011, 12:14 PM	#3
Desert Rat Junior Woodchuck Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 4,592	We used to watch the real shallow stretches of the Pecos and when a carp would transit that zone...........it wasn't pretty. But the gar was our favorite prey and made for a more lively hunt. You would have loved it, 10B.

04-15-2011, 03:55 PM	#4
Gus Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arizona Posts: 66,849	Gar hunting was always on tap when we fished for Reds in the bayous. Lots of good memories from a days work dispatching gar.

04-15-2011, 09:22 PM	#5
Desert Rat Junior Woodchuck Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 4,592	Gus, I've always believed that some critters are just so ugly that they deserve to die. Gar fit nicely into that category.