The REAL Crocodile Dundee

The REAL Crocodile Dundee: The second-generation croc hunter who has killed more than 20,000 of the beasts in a 37-year career

• Crocodile Mick has killed over 20,000 crocodiles in his 37-year career
• The 57-year-old talks about his biggest and most terrifying conquests 
• One of closest calls was with a 3.8 metre croc who launched over the boat
• His biggest kill was just over 4.9 metres long but he came out unscathed

By Sarah Carty for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 21:00 EST, 22 July 2015 | Updated: 01:43 EST, 23 July 2015

He may have killed over 20,000 crocodiles in his 37 years as a hunter but Mick Pitman - known as Crocodile Mick - admits that even he can still be rattled by the beasts.

The 57-year-old, from Darwin in the Northern Territory, was taught all he knows by his stepfather and mentor German Jack, who was famous for catching four of the largest crocodiles ever held in captivity.

While Mick has yet to beat German Jack's record, he has notched up a pretty impressive haul of crocodiles himself, and recently took down a 4.9m long beast in a billabong with two gun shots to the back of the neck, after spending four weeks staking it out in the dead of the night.

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Crocodile Mick (pictured) stares down the mouth of a giant 4.9m crocodile he has just captured in a billabong

The crocodile had to be killed as it was massacring cattle from a nearby station. The owners were at their wit's end, with the crocodile preying on up to two animals each day. 

It was very late at night Crocodile Mick spotted the beast on the bank of a billabong, eating yet another of the scores of cows he had already devoured. He pounced gun in hand - and found the crocodile surrounded by the bones of dozens of dead animals.

'I sat in a bit of a 'hide' there for nearly four weeks. I waited close enough that he couldn’t smell me and I actually witnessed him taking down a beast,' Crocodile Mick told Daily Mail Australia.

'I waited for my opportunity and kept going until the time was right because it’s like everything - if you’re going to shoot something, don’t shoot it unless you’re going to do the job right.'

While that kill went off without any drama, Mick found five crocodile tags in crocodile's stomach when he slashed it open - proof the beast was killing more animals than he needed to. 

Mick, who admits to being an adrenaline junkie, said one out of every ten crocodiles he has tried to kill has put up a pretty terrifying fight.

'We’ve had crocodiles zoom straight past,' he said.  

'Not long ago a four metre zoomed straight past. He would have been half a metre away and just missed our cameraman by a couple of millimeters and he came out of the bush, out of nowhere.'

'It happens quite regularly when you’re walking along the river bank, you’re in their world.'

'I’ve had lots of close calls, you’ll be put in a position where it’s you or them.

'I always look at it at the end of the day and have a bit of a laugh about it or else it’s like that Mick Fanning and the shark you won’t go back in.'

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The massive crocodile was caught eating cattle at a nearby station and Mick watched it for four weeks beefore shooting it  

He was taught all he knows by his step-father and mentor German Jack (pictured), who was famous for catching massive crocodiles in the wild 

The biggest crocodile he has ever caught was 4.9 metres, but even a couple of inches bigger can add an extra 80kg to size of the animal.

Despite facing monster beasts, Mick only ever bring one offsider to help him, and he can't understand why other hunters need to bring a whole team together when stalking crocodiles.

 'Unlike other people, we don’t jump all over them when we catch them, because it’s like laying an 80- year-old man down on the ground and having his six grankids jumping up and down on him.'  

One of his closest calls happened when Mick was scoping out a creek in his 12 foot dingy.

After setting eyes on a 3.8 metre crocodile, which had been preying on nearby cattle, Mick stuck a harpoon into the animal, but to his surprise it took off like a rocket. 

In an instant it had dragged the tiny dingy up onto a mudbank. After that, the clever animal launched itself over the side of the boat and Mick was forced to use makeshift bamboo sword he keeps on the dingy as a weapon, sticking it on top of the crocodile's nose, before pushing himself off the bank and back into the billabong.

This 4.3 metre crocodile was caught using the trap method, where the hunter can easily tape his jaw together using ropes 

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Mick's favourite way to kill the crocodile is by staking them out in the dead of night and pouncing, so they both are on even playing field

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The crocodile hunter caught two crocs in the same day who were both going after cattle in the area. He hauled them both into his 12 foot boat

How many locals does it take to wrangle a giant croc? (related)

'It probably gave me the biggest fright I’ve had in a long time,' he said.

'That was pretty close that was a scary moment for the last few animals that I’ve caught. 

'These animals that are 3.5 or 3.8 metres act up like you wouldn’t believe.' 

While he admits he was pretty shaken from the encounter, Mick went on to catch another crocodile that day - a smaller but just as fiery animal. 

'The little one was further up and he was trying to grab a cow by the head and it was way out of it’s size range,' he said.

' All it was doing was maiming any cow that went near it so we had to get rid of that one too.'

Crocodile Mick claims he is one of the only people in the world who kill and stuff crocodiles themselves

Mick said he is offended when people ask him if he will ever retire. He says he will keep going until he can't stand on the bow of his boat.

The crocodile hunter uses four methods to catch the animals - harpooning, shooting, hooking and the trap. 

By far, his favourite technique is to get out on the creek in the crocodile's natural habitat on his small dingy and harpoon them, sticking the spike underneath their skin and 'playing them like a trout' until they eventually wear out.

He claims he tries to educate people on crocodile hunting and how the killings can be done in the most humane way possible.

After each kill, Crocodile Mick says he takes a minute to sit down in front of his kill and take a minute's silence.

'I look at the animal because I’ve got full respect for it,' he said. 

'That’s why I’ll only process and treat the animal to the highest quality and that’s giving it some respect,' he said. 

Mick with Dean Weeks (left) who uses a drone to look for any movement as they hunt for crocodiles

Mick and Adrian Phillips (right) discuss tactics for trapping crocodiles

A drone can be seen scouring the water to search for 'misbehaving' crocodiles

After that he will either sell the animal off or take it back home, where he skins it - which can take up to eight hours - and performs his own taxidermy on it. 

'I’m the only bloke in the world who doesn’t send it out as an end bag or a stuffed croc,' he said. 

'I can see a croc and turn it over into a taxidermy mount and it’s probably the highest quality in the world.'

He also tans the skins using an old method from the bark of a tree, which is about 2500-years-old.   

The passionate hunter said he is disappointed and offended when people ask him when he is going to retire.

'It’s an addictive drug adrenaline,' he said. 

'My partner’s hoping I’ll retire but when you’ve been hit by the adrenaline I don’t think I’ll be giving it up until I can’t stand on the bow of the boat.' 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3171459/The-REAL-Crocodile-Dundee-revealed-second-generation-hunter-killed-20-000-beasts-37-year-career.html