Gator

[Cone]

Just had some luck! I don't know how to post pictures so here is a link: 
http://www.pensacolafishingforum.com/f48/third-day-gator-128685/
Bob

[Dominick]

Just had some luck! I don't know how to post pictures so here is a link: 
http://www.pensacolafishingforum.com/f48/third-day-gator-128685/
Bob

Hey Bob:  congratulations, how did you kill it?  Shoot it or jump in the water with a knife in your teeth like Tarzan?   I never ate Alligator, does it taste like chicken or is that an old adage?  Also post a recipe for alligator, I want to live vicariously through you.  Dominick

[Danhans]

congrats Bob..

[wailesb]

Yep, I also took mine from Lake Eufaula, Alabama.  Water was dangerously low.  Broke a prop, killed a trolling battery and lost about 6 large #12 weighted treble hooks to stumps.  You talking about excitement it was crazy.  We had a small gator trying to attach us in the boat.  In fact my son did not see him till the last moment when the gator launched itself up trying to take a bit out of his arm as he was reeling in a lily pad.   Yes gators here are smart the don't let you just troll up to them like on TV and you just shot them.  First they have to be hunted only at night between 8 till 6 in the morning.  Hopefully you land him before 6 or risk getting a fine. We cannot use a rifle or pistol.  The shotgun shell has to #4 thru 8 shot.  We cannot just shoot them with a bow and float them. The arrow has to be attached to the bow or boat. When we did find the gator we suspected was the taking size which here is 6 feet or larger we hooked it with a penn fierce 8000 with 80 lb power pro slick 8 with #12 weighted hook with a short piece of wire cable about 30 yards from the boat. When we got it close enough put an arrow into him with 200 lb test attached to bow. Then when we got him closer we harpooned him with rope again attached to the boat and then snared his jaws with a wire steel cable attached to rope which is attached to the boat and once subduded which is the requirement before you can dispatched him shot the gator with 20 gauge # 5 heavy shot in the spine.  We still had to tape its mouth once we got him in the boat he just did not want to give up. We finally finished him off with a large bowie knife by completly cutting his spine into.  Oh and I forgot to mention some how in the excitment the line on the pole got reeled up to close to the gator and he bit the end of the pole off.  To bad you have to enter a lotto here and you only can get one tag if selected.  Some poor individual entered 100 times at 6 dollars a pop and never got selected.  So its wait till next year and hope you get selected again.  Another thing the game wardens here in Eufaula are real pains.  The class you have to attend starts off with treats of how they are going to caught you doing something wrong which you may not be aware of which results in a heavy fine.  The lake is divided between Alabama & Georgia and I don't mean down the middle.  Some places Georgia waters run up to the high water mark on the Alabama sideand are not marked anywhere.  The map provided is incorrect and the GPS will not help.  We were checked about 5 times in the two nights before we got ours and even when we were in the process of trying to caught one and they knew we were in pursuit legally (they have night vision googles).  I was told by an insider they do not want people hunting gator because that means they have to work, go figure.  Not once were we greeted with a smile or felt welcomed.  I also hear that it was already a record year for fines and its only half way over.  I did talk to some who hunt in the delta and was told they were much more friendly. 

[Cone]

     In Fla you are not allowed to use firearms. Hours are 5pm to 10am. You can snatch the gator or use a baited wooden peg less than two inches  in length. the bait has to be tended. They are very shy. Big gators move away and go down when approached. We spotted this one and tossed it and waited. when he ate we pulled him in and threw a snatch hook. Man these guys are strong. At the boat we killed him with a 357 powerhead to the brain and taped his jaws and severed his spine. This was a river gator so we hunted slews full of snags.
     Hey Dom I'd love to see the Tarzan thing done come down next year and you can demonstrate. Nope, chicken tates like gator.  

[Nessie Hunter]

DANG !!!
Thanks.....  Very interesting...

[Steve-O]

Nice one, Cone!

Some good eating there.  And I see some boots, a pair of shoes, a belt , arm and wrist bands, tooth necklace, plus some killer back scratchers!

Steve-o

[Cone]

Well I tagged out last night. I took a little 6 1/2 footer. My friend Tim shot her with a bow. We didn't know how big she was at the time.We could just see her on the bottom. I put a harpoon in her back and we fought her to the boat. She left a few scars on the boat, when she bit it. These were my first gators though.I wish I had taken the smaller first. We did a much better job skinning her.Of course there was a lot less real estate to skin. 3 feet makes a huge difference. Lots of meat between the two. I hope it lasts till next year.

        Dom, Gator is really much more like fish than chicken. Bob