2005 Gator harvest

[Valigator]

This years gator harvest was hard fought...normally I try and break last years record for me...but it wasnt happening this year...winds were high and they were layin low....couldnt get them to hold and the ones that did were small...small ones are nice to use as hornback hides...but not much of a hunt in my book...got what I think was a 10 footer last night but he ran into some nasty stuff and I was in no mood to dig him out, so we slowly backed out ...but he pulled the harpoon out about 20 minutes into that..I spent another twenty just cleaning the rope to the harpoon off...nasty...after about 4 more hours and not seeing too much finally landed a eight footer, perfect speciman and in clear water....he is great for product..but I was really dejected not being able to brag about a big one....this year was expensive with the gas prices...and the limits...I forgot the exact number, but I was told the state really screwed up with the tags this year...somewhere around 500 unsold permits...and not enough permits further north in the state...hey whatya gonna do? Plus the state wont let you purchase more than one...figure that crap out? So if the state of Florida knows whats good for it..they will keep the price per tag and increase the limit to 5 like they did a few years ago....otherwise the numbers just dont come out for most people.....