Ive wanted to take an alligator with a bow so In feb. 2019, I will drive to the Sunshine state to hunt gators and hogs with a bow. Im including hogs because Ive taken hogs in 3 states already and they are a fun bow hunt and good to eat. The only issue with bowhunting these two species is that I will need 2 different bows because the bow I use to do all my bowhunting is not set up for bowfishing or for gator hunting.
I will use an old compound bow for the gator bow and set it up with all the gear I need. The first step putting arrow rest on the bow that will support the 1000+ grain solid fiberglass arrow. I have an old NAP Quicktune 360 rest that I can use but the arrow support (launcher) is a bit too narrow and I can envision the arrow falling off the support during the rigors hunting of so I will need to modify it to fit my needs.
![](https://i.imgur.com/S0IUgud.jpg)
The factory launcher needs to be narrow to clear fletching for typical bowhunting and using arrows with fletching but because my gator hunting arrows wont have any fletching, I can tolerate (and want) a wider launcher with more support to make sure the arrow does not fall off the rest.
The standard launcher shown below.
![](https://i.imgur.com/LP6Bj6b.jpg)
I designed a new launcher and fired up my 3D printer and made a wider launcher. Here you can see the original and the replacement I made.
![](https://i.imgur.com/hp2i9ZX.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/VSo6bUv.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/wQCnCgm.jpg)
The newly installed launcher.
![](https://i.imgur.com/7y4184X.jpg)
Next up is mounting the bowfishing reel with the line that will connect the arrow (and hopefully the alligator) to the bow.