Hooked into this gator last night

drexal

drexal

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My gator season got off to a bad start. My preferred spot was a limited 3-day only hunt, so if I didn't tag out there, I'd have to search for another area to fill my tag. Unfortunately, on the first night, my boat motor sucked up some coon-tail moss and I couldn't get the water pump to act right. That ended my first night. The next day I got the boat motor running right, but then thunderstorms moved in... 2nd night a no-go. The 3rd night was a Sunday and the tag had to be filled by midnight. I saw a few 8 footers but decided to pass mostly because of their location and the likelihood that anything I hooked would get tangled up in cypress stumps. Day 3 was fun but I still had a tag to fill.

So, a friend who knew I had a tag calls me up and says he knows somebody needing an nuisance gator removed from his pond. No problem, I'm game. I go out there 4 nights in a row and the gator in question is nowhere to be found. There were a few 4 to 8 footers but not the 10+ footer he wanted removed. He showed me a pic and it was a nice gator and I would have loved to fill my tag with it so I told him if it shows up again to give me a call. 2 weeks go by and still no call. I'm leaving for Iowa on Friday and the season will end while I'm gone, so I need to make a move or eat tag soup.

So, last night I hit a few spots from the bank. I fish this area frequently and have never seen a gator there, but I've also never fished there at night and I know they are there. I get to my first spot and right off the bat, I see this 76 in gator and decide to give it a go. He was right up against the opposite bank but I end up getting a good cast right over his back and it's game on time. He gave me a good 15 minute fight before I got him to my side. With the rod and reel in one hand and my .22 Buckmark in the other, I closed the season on the last night I would probably have had to hunt. It's not the monster I could have hooked but it's better than nothing.

So, now I'll head to Iowa and grill up some gator tail for family, then come home and start working on making a gator rug. And look forward to next season...


IMG_1053.jpgIMG_1060.jpg
 
drexal said:
My gator season got off to a bad start. My preferred spot was a limited 3-day only hunt, so if I didn't tag out there, I'd have to search for another area to fill my tag. Unfortunately, on the first night, my boat motor sucked up some coon-tail moss and I couldn't get the water pump to act right. That ended my first night. The next day I got the boat motor running right, but then thunderstorms moved in... 2nd night a no-go. The 3rd night was a Sunday and the tag had to be filled by midnight. I saw a few 8 footers but decided to pass mostly because of their location and the likelihood that anything I hooked would get tangled up in cypress stumps. Day 3 was fun but I still had a tag to fill.

So, a friend who knew I had a tag calls me up and says he knows somebody needing an nuisance gator removed from his pond. No problem, I'm game. I go out there 4 nights in a row and the gator in question is nowhere to be found. There were a few 4 to 8 footers but not the 10+ footer he wanted removed. He showed me a pic and it was a nice gator and I would have loved to fill my tag with it so I told him if it shows up again to give me a call. 2 weeks go by and still no call. I'm leaving for Iowa on Friday and the season will end while I'm gone, so I need to make a move or eat tag soup.

So, last night I hit a few spots from the bank. I fish this area frequently and have never seen a gator there, but I've also never fished there at night and I know they are there. I get to my first spot and right off the bat, I see this 76 in gator and decide to give it a go. He was right up against the opposite bank but I end up getting a good cast right over his back and it's game on time. He gave me a good 15 minute fight before I got him to my side. With the rod and reel in one hand and my .22 Buckmark in the other, I closed the season on the last night I would probably have had to hunt. It's not the monster I could have hooked but it's better than nothing.

So, now I'll head to Iowa and grill up some gator tail for family, then come home and start working on making a gator rug. And look forward to next season...


View attachment 195882View attachment 195884
Click to expand...
Bad A$$
 
Very cool. How is the process of of skinning and making a rug? Is it similar to tanning mammal hides? More difficult?
 
drexal said:
My gator season got off to a bad start. My preferred spot was a limited 3-day only hunt, so if I didn't tag out there, I'd have to search for another area to fill my tag. Unfortunately, on the first night, my boat motor sucked up some coon-tail moss and I couldn't get the water pump to act right. That ended my first night. The next day I got the boat motor running right, but then thunderstorms moved in... 2nd night a no-go. The 3rd night was a Sunday and the tag had to be filled by midnight. I saw a few 8 footers but decided to pass mostly because of their location and the likelihood that anything I hooked would get tangled up in cypress stumps. Day 3 was fun but I still had a tag to fill.

So, a friend who knew I had a tag calls me up and says he knows somebody needing an nuisance gator removed from his pond. No problem, I'm game. I go out there 4 nights in a row and the gator in question is nowhere to be found. There were a few 4 to 8 footers but not the 10+ footer he wanted removed. He showed me a pic and it was a nice gator and I would have loved to fill my tag with it so I told him if it shows up again to give me a call. 2 weeks go by and still no call. I'm leaving for Iowa on Friday and the season will end while I'm gone, so I need to make a move or eat tag soup.

So, last night I hit a few spots from the bank. I fish this area frequently and have never seen a gator there, but I've also never fished there at night and I know they are there. I get to my first spot and right off the bat, I see this 76 in gator and decide to give it a go. He was right up against the opposite bank but I end up getting a good cast right over his back and it's game on time. He gave me a good 15 minute fight before I got him to my side. With the rod and reel in one hand and my .22 Buckmark in the other, I closed the season on the last night I would probably have had to hunt. It's not the monster I could have hooked but it's better than nothing.

So, now I'll head to Iowa and grill up some gator tail for family, then come home and start working on making a gator rug. And look forward to next season...


View attachment 195882View attachment 195884
Click to expand...
That gator rug is fantastic! Well done. Can you fill in some details about your gear and technique? Full disclosure: I have no idea about how alligator hunting (fishing?) is done but it is on my bucket list.
 
trb said:
Very cool. How is the process of of skinning and making a rug? Is it similar to tanning mammal hides? More difficult?
Click to expand...
It's similar but there are some big differences. First thing I learned long ago is to get the gator on ice or in a cooler for at least 12 hours to prevent major muscle movement during skinning. I used to have a video (I can't find it) of a gator still thrashing it's tail while cleaning it 2 hrs after it was killed.

This will be the first rug that I do, but I've skinned a few. The process is similar to most other animals... get all the meat removed, salt and prepare for tan. Some differences are:
1. there is no fur to hide any nicks or cuts so you have to repair with epoxysculp and paint similar to how you would repair a deer nose.
2. the skull is used for gators while generally other rugs are not. So, the skull has to be cut in several places to clean out all the areas that might decay... a sawzall comes in handy.
3. TBD. Since this is my first gator rug, I'm sure I'll run into issues that I currently don't know about. I've only rugged out smaller animals (bobcats, coons) and I'm sure the size will be a factor.
 
JohnBud said:
That gator rug is fantastic! Well done. Can you fill in some details about your gear and technique? Full disclosure: I have no idea about how alligator hunting (fishing?) is done but it is on my bucket list.
Click to expand...
There are many techniques that can be used. Here in Georgia, you are required to have the gator restrained, pulled in close and dispatched by handgun or bangstick. This is to keep people from shooting over open water with a rifle. You can use bowfishing gear, snatch hook, harpoon...

You can find gators day or night, but night time is much easier. All you really need is a good headlamp and a boat. Slowly sweep the light across the water looking for red, glowing eyes. Once you find one, slowly head in the direction of the gator and be prepared to hook him with your preferred method. Most methods require you to be within 20 yards depending on your aim. Using bow equipment has it's limitation and unless you're used to using a bowfishing setup at night, I wouldn't recommend it. Plus a rod and reel lets you got out further in my opinion.

Hunting from the bank is a different story. You're limited to places you can get to which might not have gators. Also, if you do find a gator, he has to be close enough to get to. A trick that is useful especially during the day, is to cast a popping cork on a different line and see if he's curious. If so, you might be able to coax him in close enough to get your snatch hook (or arrow, harpoon) on him.

My method of hooking them by rod and reel is simple. Once he's close enough, you just cast over his back ease the line over him. Once the hook makes contact, set it hard and be prepared for a fight.

On this hunt, I used a 12/0 snatch hook (big weighted treble hook) on 40 lb braid with a medium heavy duty 6 ft catfish rod and an old Abu Garcia Ambassador 6500c4 reel. This setup can be used for much, much larger gators. You could get away with using a lighter setup, but if you hook into something big, you should be prepared to get a second more heavy line as soon as you get it close enough (I use the same size snatch hook on 25 ft of paracord).

I like to let them fight themselves out and don't try to muscled them in unless they're headed toward something they can get snagged on like a tree stump. That way, once you get them close, they won't be moving as much and you can easily place the bullet right behind the skull. That's the sweet spot that severs the spinal cord from the brain and it's not that big. Just aim in the middle right behind the skull.
 
drexal said:
There are many techniques that can be used. Here in Georgia, you are required to have the gator restrained, pulled in close and dispatched by handgun or bangstick. This is to keep people from shooting over open water with a rifle. You can use bowfishing gear, snatch hook, harpoon...

You can find gators day or night, but night time is much easier. All you really need is a good headlamp and a boat. Slowly sweep the light across the water looking for red, glowing eyes. Once you find one, slowly head in the direction of the gator and be prepared to hook him with your preferred method. Most methods require you to be within 20 yards depending on your aim. Using bow equipment has it's limitation and unless you're used to using a bowfishing setup at night, I wouldn't recommend it. Plus a rod and reel lets you got out further in my opinion.

Hunting from the bank is a different story. You're limited to places you can get to which might not have gators. Also, if you do find a gator, he has to be close enough to get to. A trick that is useful especially during the day, is to cast a popping cork on a different line and see if he's curious. If so, you might be able to coax him in close enough to get your snatch hook (or arrow, harpoon) on him.

My method of hooking them by rod and reel is simple. Once he's close enough, you just cast over his back ease the line over him. Once the hook makes contact, set it hard and be prepared for a fight.

On this hunt, I used a 12/0 snatch hook (big weighted treble hook) on 40 lb braid with a medium heavy duty 6 ft catfish rod and an old Abu Garcia Ambassador 6500c4 reel. This setup can be used for much, much larger gators. You could get away with using a lighter setup, but if you hook into something big, you should be prepared to get a second more heavy line as soon as you get it close enough (I use the same size snatch hook on 25 ft of paracord).

I like to let them fight themselves out and don't try to muscled them in unless they're headed toward something they can get snagged on like a tree stump. That way, once you get them close, they won't be moving as much and you can easily place the bullet right behind the skull. That's the sweet spot that severs the spinal cord from the brain and it's not that big. Just aim in the middle right behind the skull.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing. This is very helpful information. Hope you will share some pictures of your finished rug.
 
CPAjeff said:
Simply awesome - congrats! What's your favorite way to cook gator?
Click to expand...
Fried gator tail is awesome, but I preferred blackened on the grill. The legs in a sauce piquante is a favorite of mine. Also, I'm going to try smoking the ribs.
 
drexal said:
Fried gator tail is awesome, but I preferred blackened on the grill. The legs in a sauce piquante is a favorite of mine. Also, I'm going to try smoking the ribs.
Click to expand...

Man, you've got to post some pics of that up when you're cooking! Some of the best gator I've had was breaded and dipped in jalapeno cream sauce . . . 🤤
 
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