Gator hunting

[skeeter@ccia.com]

Val, I just read in the NRA American Hunter that Florida alligator permits were sold out in 4 hours. and only issued 4,406 tags. Is this the total tags sold in the state and were you able to buy all your 60 some tags at the same time or only able to buy a certain number (2) tags at first then later purchase any remaining tags left up for grabs?.....is there a limit for the number of tags you can purchase at one time?

[Valigator]

oh what a cluster you know what, that was...we had 4 guys in place at the house and one at Bass Pro shops, you could buy them there also...people on their cell phones and computers...the online purchasing was a mess, so techically you are only suppose to buy one tag and one additional per person per phone call. But each year there is always some clitch and the phone people know that so they cut you alot of slack...when and if you can get through....so my guy has been doing this for so long...he has all his paperwork and phases picked out so its smooth on our end...we got all tags and additional tags at the same time...that morning....

[grayghost]

Cool pics Val. I'm gonna have to try that someday. I come down twice a year to fish in the gulf, but never tried gator fishin'. Good hunting, grayghost

[Valigator]

Left Lauderdale at 6PM last night....got to Belle Glade around 8, had dinner at one of those hole in the wall catfish places....it was good...but the weather was horrible here in Lauderdale all the way there...we got to the ramp around 8:30 and walked around waiting for the rain to let up, I did notice there were about 5 other trucks and trailers parked, so some people were weathering it...right about 9:15 the heavens cleared and we left the ramp....rode into the shallows where we have been lucky lately...all we could find were little boys, everywhere,....came up on another boat after we heard the bang stick and he was pullin a 7 footer in...this was about 11PM ...we took off and came up on a nine footer, but I wouldnt throw...turned the airboat off, watched the stars for a while and listened to the animals, it turned into a gorgeous night...we started up again cruised for an hour, shut down and debated..I said the big boys dont come out till later, "lets keep looking" finally around 3am "I" spot something good size make him turn around, and get up closer it was so shallow we could see he was a monster..I throw and get him square in the back, now he's nothin but pissed, he's running and snorting, I had never quite heard that much noise from one like that..I grab another harpoon and hit him again, good thing cause the first one pulled out of him early on, My guy is mumbling now, Honey get ready, this one is mad and I dont want him eating my paint job!! too late he surfaces and comes right at the boat full force with his mouth open, chomp, chomp, chomp a good three feet...I hit him one more time with a harpoon and start pullin in closer, it was perfect, he grabbed the bang stick and hit him, I go to pull again and he starts fighting again and pulls us about 50 yards into this thick mud, no way, start the boat and pull him out..finally after 5 44's to the head, he gave up the ghost. Big deal, it took us another three hours and one winch and 4 ropes to just get him balancing on the side, we made our way back to the launch and two guys in another boat helped us straighten him across the bow just so we could get into the trailer..finally brought him to the freezer at 7 am, filled out the paperwork and now I am home writing this...9:26 am, I too tired to spell check, pics later, he was 11 feet and somewhere around 600 pounds.....

[Valigator]

Huge Gator Caught in Hancock

By Matthew Pleasant
The Ledger

WINTER HAVEN -- Bubbles have never been more ominous.

When seen on top of a lake, they're a sign of something lurking below. And in the case of many Florida lakes, they're probably coming from the snout of a large reptile.

With alligator hunting season under way, hunters are keeping their eyes peeled for the telltale bubbles, and gators of monstrous proportions are already being reported.

Jack Selet of Winter Haven has been hunting the gator-teeming waters of Lake Hancock since Aug. 15, when the hunting season officially began. With the limit set at two alligators per hunting permit, he's been waiting for the big one.

"We've caught eight-, nine-, 10foot ones, but they were too small so we let them go," he said.

The night of Aug. 19, Selet killed a gator he says measures 12 feet 6 inches long. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Web site, that's one inch longer than the largest alligator caught in Lake Hancock during last year's hunting season.

Gators from Lake Hancock have measured up to 13 feet 4 inches in past years. The record for the largest alligator in Florida was more than 14 feet, caught in Lake Monroe in Seminole County. The largest alligator caught in Polk County was 13 feet 111/4 inches, captured just outside Bartow in 2001. Louisiana claims the record for the largest alligator ever caught, measuring 19 feet 2 inches.

Still, the 12 1/2 footer is the largest Selet has ever caught. With the help of his 14-year-old grandson, Josh Raymond of Oviedo, and several other boys, the crew caught the alligator about 11:45 p.m.

"It isn't scary. You have to use sense," he said. "But if they ever get ahold of you you can kiss that limb goodbye."

His grandson said the hunters kept their cool as they pulled the gator from the water just enough to crack it on the head with a "boom stick" -- a rod with a .44-caliber Magnum bullet on the end.

"I do it for fun. It isn't something you are supposed to be afraid of," Raymond said.

Last year hunters killed 3,345 alligators. Since 2000, hunt participants have killed 16,377 of the reptiles.

This year FWC officials issued 4,406 permits on a first-come, first-served basis. Each person who gets a license for the hunt will be allowed to kill two alligators 18 inches or longer.

The permits are good for harvesting alligators in designated areas until Nov. 1.

The areas designated in Polk County are lakes Arbuckle, Hancock, Parker, Pierce and Walk-in-the-Water as well as Tenoroc Fish Management Area and the Peace River. Adjacent water bodies include lakes Kissimmee and Hatchineha and the Kissimmee River.

Contrary to recent news stories about dangerous alligators that killed three people earlier this year, Selet said they are one of the least aggressive animals he's hunted.

"I've stumbled across them while skin diving and they'll try to get away from you. They aren't like crocodiles -- those are maneaters," he said. "It's a lot of fun to get ahold of something that big. If you've ever done it you'll want to do it again."

Here's my 12'4"

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL11/...0/35225885.jpg

[skeeter@ccia.com]

Val.....YTD total...more pix if have..wife is amazed...oh...me too..

[Nulle]

Looks like your weather is going to get a little stormy so be careful. Sent ya a pm on yahoo this AM also.

[Valigator]

Wild Pig Hunting in Florida.......heeeeeeehaw

[Nulle]

In looking at your pictures I am going to send you a new cap and you will be the talk of Florida lmao

[Valigator]

Here is my nephews gator he got last night in Georgia, we believe it to be a record at 13'4"

[Valigator]

Here is another pic of him...

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL11/.../185850880.jpg

[Valigator]

and one more, I dont have the story on him yet, but when I do I'll pass it on..

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL11/.../185856807.jpg

[Lilred]

Val gal....them's some big ole gators!! I tell ya..that sounds like fun...I always wondered how you hunt a gator. Ya know..sounds like to me ya'll got ALOT of gators...does alot of people git their arm chomped off swimmin and such?

So...obviously you gotta know yer territory..er where the big boys hide..but do you bait em er anything? Like a trollin bait?
Doin that must be a blast...anybody that hunts any dangerous game deserves a pat on the back as fer as I'm concerned.

Another question...is they good eatin? Do they taste like fish?

Dern...sorry gal hun...I'm loadin you up with all kinda questions this evenin....but it sure is interestin to say the least.

[Valigator]

Hey girl, no some people bait them, but I find that a hard way to hunt....I use a harpoon but most of the guys use a bow, either way is attached to a bouy, then they get mad and run on you, you fight with them like you would a fish, only much bigger, try and wear them down and get them close enough to the boat to bangstick them, then you try and get them in....they are good eatin, you run them thru a tenderizer and bread them and deep fry them...it is very good.....on your application, they ask you where is your first choice to hunt and give you a list to choose from...then when you get your tags, they tell you when (what phase of the hunt) and where...we usually choose the south end of the Lake out of Belle Glade, we have gotten some very nice gators out of there and the launch is protected....sometimes we go out of Clewiston.....either way is a long trip for us....couple few hours round trip...

[rubicon]

Hey LilRed, Glad you asked Val. And Val glad you answered. That gator hunting is just SO INTERESTING, especially for us hillbillies .After moving to the Md Chesapeake bay I have found myself totally fascinated by the marshes and waterways and get out in them at least once a week each week. But then we have nothing to compare to what is in your backyard.