Hunting In A Triathlon Jim Mize
A
lligator hunting opened again in South Carolina in 2008 af-
ter being closed for forty years. The population has grown to approximately 100,000 gators that roam the lower half of the state. Hunting alligators isn’t like hunting most varmints; it’s more like a triathlon. But instead of swimming, running and biking, you’ll be fi shing, shooting and whaling. Kevin Davis guides customers
lucky enough to draw a tag and be- came well-known in South Carolina gator-hunting circles when he and his client, Mary Ellen Christian, brought in a 13 foot, 4½ inch ’gator weighing 1,025 pounds. Needless to say, she was hunt- ing above her weight class. Kevin guides out of Blacks Camp in
Cross, SC, which is located in the middle of the Santee Cooper Country and Lakes Marion and Moultrie. This is the section of the lakes known not only for monster catfi sh, but also an accident involving a ’gator and a swimmer. Taking a breather from his guide
work, Kevin walked me through the process in a typical ’gator hunt, if such a thing can ever be typical. It starts with the fi shing part of the triathlon. He began with where to fi nd a big
alligator. “I’ll look for the big ’gators in
backwater ponds,” Kevin said. “You’ll fi nd them in weedy places and out-of- the-way fi ngers off the lake. They like to get up and sun on the bank and they need places where they can hunt.” According to DNR biologists,
alligators eat a wide range of foods including fish, turtles, snakes, water birds, raccoons, beavers, otters, goats and pigs. Unfortunately, they also have been known to eat pets, such as small dogs and ’coon hounds. In his book, Ramblings of a Lowcoun-
try Game Warden, Ben Moise tells about getting complaints from a crabber con- cerning someone stealing his crab pots. So Ben spent an afternoon watching the string of Styrofoam fl oats marking the pots to see who was tampering with them. He discovered that “someone” to be “an enormous alligator swimming back and forth” until it swam up and bit a chunk off the Styrofoam fl oat. So it’s no stretch to say the typical gator’s diet is diverse.
Page 154 Spring 2012 Kevin adds that since alligator
hunting has resumed, their habits have changed. “They have become wilder,” he says. This is surely one of the side benefi ts of hunting, since many of the problem alligators the DNR has to deal with are unafraid of humans. Each year, agent trappers have to remove 250-300 problem alligators in South Carolina. “No doubt they’ve gotten wily,”
Kevin said. “So accurately casting a 10-0 weighted treble hook on a big rod for some distance becomes a problem.” That’s because the cast has to cross the gator’s back and then the hook has to fi nd a spot soft enough to set when jerked. Once the fi rst line is in, it’s generally good to add a couple more. The reason for this step is the South
Carolina regulations require the alligator to be secured and brought alongside the boat or onshore before being dispatched. Some hunters prefer to use a bow fi shing rig for securing the alligator. Once on the line, you never know
how long the fi ght will last. “Every hunt is different,” Kevin said. “They don’t give up and it takes a while. Usually, it’s two or three hours but it can go on all day.” The next part of the hunt is where
the whaling phase comes in. When the alligator comes alongside the boat, it is then harpooned. This tends to be a lively part of the hunt. “They get nasty and mad,” Kevin
said, talking about alligators alongside the boat. “I once had one on three rods with 100-lb. test braid lines. He threw his head sideways and bit all three lines at once. Of course, he was gone.” Placing a harpoon is part luck,
part skill. “You have to hit them right and if you don’t, you can bend a driver. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong on a ’gator hunt.” The harpoon tip comes off the
handle at this point, but is connected to a wire used to play the ’gator once it’s placed. If successful at this step, your odds begin to improve. The third part of the alligator
triathlon is the shooting. The South Carolina regulations allow the alligator to be dispatched with either a handgun or a bangstick. Kevin prefers to use a 44 caliber bangstick with the ’gator about a foot under water. Just when you would think you’re
done, there’s one more step in the hunt. Kevin said, “You want to use a knife to sever the vertebrae in the neck.” The reason for this is it’s not unusual to knock the ’gator unconscious and have him wake up later. There is just no scenario that you can imagine where this is a good thing. In case anyone needs to be told,
South Carolina regulations do specify the following: “Alligators may not be transported in a boat or vehicle alive.” Once the ’gator is harvested, Kevin
takes it back to Blacks Camp where he uses a backhoe to lift it either onto a boat trailer or a pickup bed. Maneuvering up to 800 pounds of ’gator takes some equipment. The ’gator is then processed for the meat and most of his clients will do a head mount and have the hide tanned, and a few have had full body mounts. Kevin recommends his clients use 301 Taxidermy in Florence, SC, as they regularly work with ’gators. In South Carolina, the regulations
require that the meat cannot be sold, but with certain restrictions, hides and parts may be sold subject to the regulations. Should you decide to try a South
Carolina ’gator hunt, the first step is applying for a tag. Applications must be submitted between May 1 and June 15. You can do this online at the DNR website. Hunting permits are issued by lottery, and since 2008, the Department of Natural Resources has issued anywhere from 1,000 to 1,200 tags each year. The number varies annually depending upon harvest and population estimates. This site also has tips for ’gator hunters and the DNR offers classes for those selected. The season usually runs from the second Saturday in September through the sec- ond Saturday in October. All application and license fees are used to support the Alligator Management Program. The success rates on alligator hunts
have been about 45% since 2008. Al- though some ’gators are taken annually in the 13-foot range, the average length in most years is about 9 feet. So if you’re up for a hunting tri-
athlon, you might want to consider a South Carolina alligator hunt. At least you won’t have to run, bike, and swim, unless you have an alligator wake up in your boat. Then you might do all three.
Useful contacts include: SC DNR:
www.dnr.sc.gov Kevin Davis at Blacks Camp, call 843-753-2231.
Blacks Camp:
www.blackscamp.com
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