AL: Rare gator hunting season to open this year

[Desertdog]

Rare gator hunting season to open this year
http://www.thethomasvilletimes.com/news/2006/0713/Sports/066.html

Governor Bob Riley recently announced Alabama's first-ever regulated alligator hunting season, which will take place August 18-24, 2006.

"The Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (ADCNR) took action nearly 70 years ago that saved alligators from possible extinction and led to its full recovery," said Riley. "Today, alligators are so numerous in certain areas that it is necessary to control their populations through a regulated alligator hunting season."

The story of the American alligator is one of both drastic decline and complete recovery, it is a story of Alabama and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and it is one of the more prominent success stories of the nation's endangered species program.

In the early 20th century, the American alligator was threatened to become extinct due in large part to unregulated alligator harvesting throughout the South. In 1938, it is believed that Alabama was the first state to protect alligators by outlawing these harvests. Other states soon followed and in 1967 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed the American alligator on the Endangered Species list. By 1987, the species was removed from the Endangered Species list and the alligator has continued to grow in population.

According to ADCNR Commissioner Barnett Lawley, news of Alabama's first alligator hunting season has generated positive feedback across the state. "Alabama's alligator population has grown by leaps and bounds and they have become a nuisance," said Lawley. "Implementing a regulated alligator hunt on a small scale is an important step toward controlling populations and better managing this unique reptile."

Fifty hunters will be randomly chosen by computer for an Alligator Possession Tag. Applications will be accepted online from June 15 at 8 a.m. until August 7 at 7 a.m. The cost is $6 to apply and individuals may register only once.

Only Alabama residents age 16 years or older may apply for an Alligator Possession Tag. Only licensed hunters may apply for the hunt. Alabama residents who do not possess a 2005-06 hunting license must purchase a 2006-07 license on or after August 1 and then apply online for the hunt.

Permits are non-transferable. All successful applicants must complete the Alligator Training Course provided by Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division staff. The course will be held twice on August 18 in the Mobile area. Drawn applicants will be eligible for an Alligator Possession Tag upon completion of the course.

Each person receiving an Alligator Possession Tag will be allowed to harvest one alligator six feet in length or longer. Hunting hours will be from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. each day. All Alabama hunting and boating regulations must be followed. Additional details can be found here.

The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is the largest reptile in North America. A fully mature alligator may grow to 14' in length and weigh as much as 1,000 lbs. Known for its prized meat and leather, the species was threatened with extinction due to unregulated harvest during the 1920s, 30s and 40s. No regulations existed in those days to limit the number of alligators harvested.

 

[CSA 357]

i dont think i would like gater hunting, but the meat aint too bad! *csa*

 

[Desertdog]

The skins should bring a good price, too.

 

[swampdog]

Hunting hours will be from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. each day.

That sounds interesting. Kind of like gigging BIG frogs. I wonder what the actual rules of engagement will be. Method of taking, legal equipment, etc.

I've read about commercial crocodile hunting. Any gator hunters out there? How's it done? I've seen references to baiting with shark hooks on a limbline, firelighting with firearms, and I once saw a show where they took one with a bow, in TX, I think.

 

[trueblue1776]

"I wonder what the actual rules of engagement will be. Method of taking, legal equipment, etc. "

Gator must be landed BEFORE shot, better have a nice boat, better have a boat that is too nice to drive around the delta with.

 

[cyanide]

I HAVE hunted gator

it was a blast.

used a spear TIPPED with a barbed hook that came off of the spear once it was inside the gator.

Killed it by cutting it just behind the eyes with a smallish knife while it was held with its mouth closed.

Saw some bigger than the air boat I was on.


They taste great.

 

[trueblue1776]

yeah, our buddies have an air boat, we just dont want to mess it up when the gator goes down to the bottom after being hooked. Plus like I mentioned, the AL laws for this hunt is it must be landed. which in the delta means you've got to pull it on your boat, since there is no dry land.

 

[DMiculek]

For several yrs. I had tags for 125 gators. On private land, tags are issued to the landowners who usually enter into a contractual agreement with the trapper for a percentage of the take. On public land, tags bid on by hunters with the tags going to the highest bidder.
We have a 30 day season (usually the month of Sept). In La. it is illegal to take them at night. Most trappers would fish them with a hook and line. Sort of like a trotline or bush line, except the baited hook is hung a couple of feet above the water. Gator takes bait and has approx. 20-30 ft of line to swim with while he swallows the bait. It was/is legal to take gators here during the season with a bow, spear or firearm during the daylight hrs.
It is hot dirty work........but somebody has to do it
When I was trapping, the hides brought as much as $75 ft and as low as $28 ft. I think price this yr is going to be near $50 ft. As Katrina devastated a lot of freshwater swamp/marsh with saltwater.

 

[BIGJACK]

When I was a youngster growing up in south Mississippi the way we did it was shine their eye at night, ease up beside them in a "jon" boat, stick a 20ga shot gun barrel just behind the eye and pull the trigger. Gator would be paralized and we would "roll" him into the boat. Some times he would start thrashing around and almost wreck the boat. Usually they never moved.
Also, we almost always kept a 22 rifle with us when fishing or just riding on the river and any gator we saw, regardless of size, we shot him. They usually sank and would never be seen again or would be found a few days later, floating belly up and that is part of the reason why a ban was put on them in later years.
AS for the gator season in Alabama, it is an experiment in the lower delta that if succesful, will be extended to other parts of the state that have high populations of gators. THere is no question the numbers need to be controlled before we in Alabama start having the problems they are having in Florida.

 

[trueblue1776]

we got a 7 foot nusance gator with the big treble hook hanging 6 inch above the pond last year. The problem with doing it that way in the delta is that there is nothing to hang it from or tie it to.

 

[DMiculek]

Trueblue,
In the marsh we use precut 12-14 ft poles (a small willow tree works great)
about 3-5 inches in dia. around the base.
If the bottom is soft enough, shove it in the mud (25-35 degree angle) till you have about 4-5 feet (or until it stops going in) above the water line. Tie your gator line off to the pole at the water line. This will hold the largest of gators. You want to use 20-25 ft of line on the hook. This will allow the gator enough time to swallow the bait and get hooked in the stomach. Gators don't chew their food, they tilt their heads to the rear and open their throats and let drop into their stomachs. Too short a line and it will often get taut and the gator will feel the hook in his mouth which will cause him to locks his jaws and thrash around wildly often leading to a bend and straighten the hook causing a miss.
You can either use slip knot or a seperate string with a clothes pin to regulate the height of the bait over the water.
I use a bait about the size of large chicken leg quarter (I like chicken for bait) readily available gets to smelling bad quickly and cheap. If a small gator should get the bait they sometimes have trouble getting the large bait down their throats and give up on it.
I have raised lines and found smaller gators that had gotten hooked only to be eaten by a larger gator. (we got the bigger one a few days later).
No need for expensive treble hooks either a standard one is fine.

 

[trueblue1776]

good idea, I can't see a gator not thrashing around though, and pulling over an arm size timber. I've always just gone straight to the tree trunk, like I said, I've never gone after them on the delta.

 

[DMiculek]

Trueblue,
The pole method may looks/sounds flimsy, but you have a couple of things working for you. First his that hook is in his gut, which I imagine is not very comfortable when he pulls against it. With the line tied low, the gator has no leverage. With 8-10' of pole in the mud, it forms a suction around the pole and we often times cannot remove them when we're finished.
That method has been used for many decades here. I never lost a gator on a pole setup.

 

[trueblue1776]

If I'm lucky enough to get a tag in the drawing I'll give it a whirl, thanks