Crazy Question - Does FL have Alligator hunting?

[Kestrel]

Did Florida start allowing alligator hunting a few years ago?

Steve

 

[Guyon]

Don't know about FL, but Georgia just started allowing it this year. Permit is $50.

 

[Guyon]

Must be legal in FL. These guys offer paid hunts (quite pricey and interestingly scaled by the length of the gator).

http://www.dannysantangelo.com/Florida_alligator_hunts.htm

 

[benEzra]

As a former Florida resident, I think gators who have lost their fear of humans or who have otherwise become a problem are captured/trapped by professional state-licensed gator hunters (a 13-foot, 650-lb gator was captured less than 200 yards from where we used to live on Perdido Bay), who sell the gator for its hide, IIRC. It is possible that some gator hunters realized there is a market for people who want to tag along on a legal gator expedition, making it a hunter/guide type of thing.

 

[hillbilly]

I saw a hunting show featuring bow hunting for gators in Florida.

At night, with lights, off airboats.

hillbilly

 

[benEzra]

Do they use arrows with ropes attached? Could lead to a Nantucket sleighride through the bayou!

Another 13-footer the trappers got out of Perdido Bay--I saw in the paper the trappers were working from a 13-foot john boat. Brave souls . . .

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Yep, Florida does have alligator hunting.

It costs $250 resident/$1000 non-resident and you cannot use firearms. You send in your application and they hold a random drawing to fill all available slots. If you are chosen, you are assigned one of four 1-week periods to hunt and may take 2 alligators.

You also get to hunt alone unless your buddies buy a $50 "assistant" license to help you.

 

[Kestrel]

Hk,

If you cannot use firearms, what can you use? Bow? Muzzleloader?

Steve

 

[Guyon]

Bowie knife? Now that's what I call a "sporting chance."

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Participants may take alligators using hand held snares, harpoons, gigs, and snatch hooks; manually-operated spears, spearguns, crossbows and bows with projectiles attached to a restraining line; and baited, wooden pegs less than two (2) inches in length attached to a hand-held restraining line. The use of baited hooks, gig-equipped bang sticks, or firearms for taking alligators is prohibited except that bang sticks are permitted for taking alligators attached to a restraining line

 

[Werewolf]

FWIW - $50 bucks for a gator hunt is well worth it.

The meat from the tail is quite tasty - in fact it's real tasty and that alone would make a gator hunt worth the effort.

Then there's the hide. If you can get it tanned there's at least one good pair of boots in there and may 2 along with a wallet and maybe a ladies handbag.

You'll get your $50 back easy.

 

[Sunray]

Werewolf it's $1000 for a non-resident. $50 is for a hunting assistant.