Message #562819

[bigo]

I'll tell one more about Gus. I went hunting one morning in heat advisory weather. I decided on a place that had a big long lake in the middle  with woods around three quarters of it. That way I could hunt lots of ground and stay close to water. I turned Gus and a couple of young dogs loose and sat and waited on them. It wasn't long and Gus bayed down the lake a ways. I waited for the young dogs to get there and see if the hog would hold. It did, so I headed that way. When I got there they were bayed in the edge of the lake with thick saw grass all around. I sent the catch dog blind and he had no more than hit when I saw him get tossed over the top of the saw grass. The hog broke and made a loop in that thick stuff the hit the lake swimming and the dogs made a loop out in the woods trying to pick him up. I figured it was over because they didn't see him in the water and the young dogs came in around me still looking, then I saw Gus swimming, smelling lilly pads and grass, then lined out the same path the hog took. About that time a gator popped up and started toward my dog. He just cruised up beside him and his body raised up as he reached and grabbed Gus and rolled under with him. I felt sick to my stomach and I just knew he was gone. I turned away and sat down on a stump and the guy that was with me said he's up. I couldn't believe my eyes, he didn't check up or try to come back, he just kept swimming hard the way the hog went. The gator popped up and turned back to cruising the bank. I watched Gus 'till I lost sight of him in some trees and stumps near the other side about three hundred yards. About 5 or 10 minutes after I lost sight of him, I heard him bay, what a relieve. It took awhile to get around to him but we got there and caught the hog. He had some cuts on his neck and shoulder where the gator grabbed him but that was it. I thought that was pretty neat, survive a gator attack, trail a hog across open water and have the meat on the other side.