Alligator Season 2022

[Mike70560]

I received 66 tags this year and filled all the tags in six days. We caught some good gators this year.











This was a boat load.

 

[Sarg]

Wow well done, would love a nice big Gator over 12ft to go with my other Croc skulls.

How do you catch & kill them in your area, how long is your season ?

 

[Tra3]

Do these get eaten? This amid a lot of gator!

 

[gillettehunter]

Lots of gators there. Looks like a lot of fun as well as a bit of work.
Bruce

 

[RLL]

Well done. We pulled a few out from Anahuac to Port Arthur, great weather to fill tags this year. What’s the gator market like for wild skins and meat currently?

 

[Mike70560]

Wow well done, would love a nice big Gator over 12ft to go with my other Croc skulls.

How do you catch & kill them in your area, how long is your season ?

The season lasts around two months, starting the first Wednesday after Labor Day.

In general alligators are fished more than hunted. We hang a piece of chicken or beef melt on a 12-0 hook about 18” out of the water. There is about 15 feet of line coiled that free falls when the gator grabs the bait. The end of the line is tied to a tree or pole. They are hooked as they swallow it swimming away. We run the lines every morning.

 

[Mike70560]

Do these get eaten? This amid a lot of gator!

The alligators are now sold primarily for the meat. Once caught we cover them with a tarp and get them on ice as soon as possible. All sales are to markets that are approved to skin and sell the meat.

 

[Mike70560]

Well done. We pulled a few out from Anahuac to Port Arthur, great weather to fill tags this year. What’s the gator market like for wild skins and meat currently?

The skins are practically worthless. Between the alligator farms, the current bias against skins, and the ban on importation to California the future is not good for the skin market. Meat is still worth something.

 

[Deleted member 40394]

SC has lots of gators in the lowcountry.

 

[Green Chile]

Excellent! I just took my first gator today near Abbeville, LA. There wasn't a lot of movement after the cold front this week. This 7 footer that I head shot with a pistol was my only opportunity but I did see some 9-11' gators moving and one that was even bigger running across the mud flats. Cool hunt.

 

[Mike70560]

Hunting late season can be a little dicey. At times you can get really close to some big gators sunning after a cool front.

Congratulations on the alligator.

I took this picture 12-04-2021. Sunny cool day.

 

[Green Chile]

Next time I would hunt earlier in the season for sure. I did see some larger ones sunning in the afternoon. I could have killed them with a rifle but who knows on the recovery.

 

[PARA45]

Congratulations on your hunt and filling all the tags. I did some gator hunting in FL about 20 years ago. Lots of fun. These were my two biggest gators 10' 9" & 10' 4".

Back then you couldn't use a firearm in FL, only a bow or bang stick. You also had to gig the gator. Very sporty and close and personal.

 

[Mike70560]

Thinking about raffling an alligator hunt to raise money for one of our shooters association to fund the junior program. If I do I will contact Jerome to see if we can put it in here to raise money.