Gators: His public land hunting (draw for permit) takes place over three nights. Imagine sliding along on a dark, eerie night in the Florida swamps. The lights fall on glowing eyes. Your guide starts calling (he is a true artist at winding up big gators!). Some gators may curiously slide over your way, but a big bull gator can rush at you quickly and explosively to protect his turf. They might even crash into the boat and knock over trees along the way! At point blank distance, you shoot a crossbow bolt into him and then the real fun begins! You are now connected to a very angry 300- to 700-pound gator, 8 to 12 feet in length that is not happy. You grab the 600-pound line from the bow and for the next 10 to 15 minutes it’s an epic tug of war while the behemoth rolls and thrashes doing his best to pull you out of the boat! Next, you’re handed a bang stick or harpoon, and you carefully lean over and pop him in the head to dispatch him. Watch your arms and legs! The trick is to now wrestle the thrashing beast into the boat!! Tie him up, doing your best calf roping imitation, and you’ve secured your prize! If that does not get your adrenaline pumping, you don’t have a heartbeat! Public land Tags are applied for May 1st,. SO BOOK AND APPLY RIGHT AWAY!! HE TAKES CARE OF THAT FOR YOU. License cost for either the first or second draw is about $1050 for non-residents –and that includes two tags- so if a buddy comes its $525 ea. A third sale -first come first sold sale of tags goes on around June 7- those tags are $65, but selection of the areas is not as prime. But if you want to try and save bucks, he will look over the choices and buy you a cheap tag if anything good is left! TWO PEOPLE CAN SHARE THE COST OF THE LICENSE AND THE HUNT COST!! So $1250 ea, plus ½ of license = $525. Butch and Joan did a tarpon trip with the outfitter in a few years back. The outfitter absolutely put a leash on a giant gator we saw in saltwater, calling and drawing him in on a string to our boat in broad daylight! I was an utterly amazing display of calling ability! This dude knows gator talk!! We caught some fish, but silvery tarpon were rolling all around us, but were not on the bite. We settled for some 15- to 20-pound drum. This guy catches trophy-sized tarpon, reds, snook, king mackerel, black drum and trout. This guide is prepared, motivated and a straight shooter. He also has an excellent Osceola turkey hunt, with extremely high success for those wanting to add an Osceola to your turkey slam. See write-up below. He does bow fishing and hog hunting as well!! You can really keep busy here, and the area is a fun place to visit and explore. On arrival he has a detailed training program you get run through over and over – until he deems you ready for the night’s activities! You should see plenty of gators coming to calls, so lots of action. He concentrates on taking only gators over 8 feet, with some going to10 feet, and they can exceed 12 feet. This guy does about 60 of these hunts per year, has been doing them for many years, and runs 100% consistently! He knows what he is doing- a real Pro. Three nights hunting- two gators per man! He has guys hunting 5 to 8 years straight with him!! It is that exciting. A REAL BONUS: You then head for the processor to arrange for meat processing and any taxidermy work. Typically a hunter can trade the hide from his gator for a trophy head mount and full meat processing and packaging without any cost at all. OR- There are also shoulder mounts available, full skin rugs or even full body mounts. A hunter can spend anywhere from $250 to $2500 in these options or simply get his mounted head and meat back for free, depending on the hide market and what trades the taxidermist is able to work out. So far though the hide market has been good enough to allow his processor to offer the even trade package. Processor keeps the hide, you get the head mount and the meat! PUBLIC LAND PRICE: Three Night Hunt for 2 Alligators: $2500. There are misc. expenses totaling about $55, plus the license cost ($1050) as outlined above. Two hunters can split license and hunt costs!! Hunt is for 3 nights w/ all equipment provided. Lodging is available, but is extra. Hogs can be added on. He also has some great salt water fishing and for a thrill go salt water bow fishing!! A real cast and blast can happen. License application by May 1 — results in June. Almost always 100% draw. DATES FOR PUBLIC LAND HUNTS: Hunt August 15 to Nov. 1 PRIVATE LAND HUNTS: He also has a year around private ranch hunt where the gators are hunted spot and stalk with a rifle. He has access to a huge land mass of many tens of thousands of acres of private land. Recently SCI bought 20 of his 12’ gator hunts , and the NRA bought about a dozen more of those giant hunts! You can hunt day or night. One day is generally enough for this hunt, but we tell everyone to plan on at least two days in case of weather. This is a Motel hunt with you paying for motel and meals. This is easy to tie in with gobblers or hogs or both, if season allows. All of these PRIVATE LAND hunts include licenses, and tags. That is a big savings contrasted to the $1050 public land license. Up to 9 foot : $2,350. Trophy hunt 9 to 11 foot: $3400 Dinosaur hunt : 11 to 13 feet Price on request (North of $10K) FISHING: Butch and Joan did a tarpon trip with the outfitter in May 2012. The outfitter absolutely put a leash on a giant gator we saw in saltwater, calling and drawing him in on a string to our boat in broad daylight! I was an utterly amazing display of calling ability! This dude knows gator talk!! We caught some fish, but silvery tarpon were rolling all around us, but were not on the bite. We settled for some 15- to 20-pound drum. This guy catches trophy-sized tarpon, reds, snook, king mackerel, black drum and trout. This guide is prepared, motivated and a straight shooter. He also has an excellent Osceola turkey hunt, with extremely high success for those wanting to add an Osceola to your turkey slam. See write-up below. He does bow fishing and hog hunting as well!! You can really keep busy here, and the area is a fun place to visit and explore. Now- please realize that you will be well-trained and practiced with his cross bow long before you ever go out in the boat. The outfitter will be sure you are knowledgeable and comfortable in what you need to do and what to expect. So no panic buttons! OUTFITTERS EXPLANATION OF THE TRIP: “ I get asked the question a lot about what goes on before, during, and after one of my guided gator hunts. How you typically get close to the animal and what equipment is used during the hunt. Being a full service outfitter for alligator hunting in Florida and catering to some 60 hunters each season; I’ve put together this detailed explanation for Butch’s clients to read.” We like a hunter to have their 50% deposit in place and be on the hunting schedule before May 1st if possible. We apply for and pull our tags the first week of May and the season is scheduled to begin around mid August. (BUTCH’s NOTE- LEFTOVER TAGS GO ON SALE JUNE 1- AND again about June 7. ) OUTFITTER SAYS: Alligator app time is usually the first of May. I like to have hunters in place, with deposits paid, and have their info before April 25th, so I can get the apps in and dates scheduled. I do typically pull a few extra tags for late joiners so you would just have to ask Butch what is available! Gator hunt is 3 nights, $2500 for 2 gators plus $1050 for 2 non resident tags. Total being $3550 or $1775 per hunter. No lodging included. The gator season usually sells out by May.” “Once the tags are issued, I call all my clients and give them their hunting date options. They get to pick their dates in the order that their deposits were received. There is no best time to come. My hunters harvest just as many big gators on the last day of the season as the hunters do who hunt the first days.” “Once the schedule is set, the guides hit the lakes and rivers at night to start scouting for the biggest and baddest gators we can find. We put in more than 30 nights of pre-season scouting before the season opener to insure we have located trophy sized animals in all our hunting areas. We generally look for 10+ foot alligators but really like to find those old dinosaurs that will measure over 12 feet and can weigh in at more than 700 pounds. But 8 footers are also fair game, especially if the night is a tough one. Your choice of course on when to pull the trigger.” “August 15th is when we usually have the first group of hunters showing up at camp. We begin the afternoon with at least an hour long hands on training session of what’s going to go down for the next several nights. The training starts with an introduction to all the gear that we will use for the harvest of the gators. Also we explain what the hunter will need to know to stay safe while handling a dangerous animal with more than 3000 pounds per square inch of crushing power in its jaws. We will go over the crossbow and how the 600lb test spectra fiber line is stored in the canister that is attached to the bottom of the bow.” “Each hunter gets to fire the crossbow as many times as needed from the bow of the boat into a target on the ground. The bow is aimed with an Eotech halo style sighting system that is very easy to use and deadly accurate in the 5 to 15 yards range we will be shooting from. Once comfortable with the crossbow, we then move on to the harpoon and the proper way to use it to assure the release tip ends up in the gator were it belongs. After that, the .357 caliber powered bang stick is discussed and shot placement in the head is gone over extensively You will be ready!” “Just before dark we head to the hunting area to get started. The night begins with a quick reminder of the location in the boat where I prefer the hunter to stand and how I want the crossbow handled. After making a run to the place we have scouted out for our opening night hunt, we power down the outboard and start the hunt. An electric bow mounted trolling motor is used to get close to the gators. I have a headlight on and once I see a gator of interest, I begin to call to the animal with a grunting sound. When he hears it he quickly turns in our direction. It’s then that I can see the distance between the gators eyes and determine if he is worthy of a closer look. I like to see 6 to 8 inches between the eyes but can really tell his size on closer inspection by the distance between his snout hump and the hump at the eyes. That measurement in inches usually equates to his body length in feet, more or less. I also want to see the mass of the gators head and jaws to determine if it is really a huge animal with a lot of age on it.” “After the animal is determined to be a shooter, it’s game on. Watching the gators body language, I use my calling to draw him closer and closer as I quietly troll into shooting distance. Arrow placement has already been discuss during training so once I feel that he is as close as he will get the hunter is cleared to take the shot. Now, with an animal that has had his territory intruded on by what we feels is a threat and then being struck by a 1200 grain fiberglass filled aluminum arrow, he gets pretty upset in a hurry. It’s hard to say if the gator will explode and leave the area or continue to charge the boat and attack what has bothered him. The arrow impact really sets the scene for what is to come in the next half hour. The great thing about this hunt is that unlike a deer hunt where you pull the trigger and the deer is dead, the excitement has only just begun for the hunters on board who just shot this animal.” “After the shot has struck home, the hunter puts on a pair of tight fitting gloves and gets his hands on the harpoon. The harpoon is equipped with a release tip and a heavy line with a float attached. This tip, similar to the tip on the arrow simply has a stronger line attached as a secondary line encase the arrow was to pull free. Once the hunter is ready with the harpoon, we chase down the float attached to the arrow and fight the gator back to boat side. With pressure, the gator will usually make several hard runs and 10 minutes or so later will begin to tire down. The hunter is instructed to hit the gator with the harpoon as if he were trying to drive it through the planet. Point being, bury it deep to insure a strong connection.” ” Typically after all this — a big alligator is getting pretty worn down and not a lot of fight is left in him. But don’t think its over yet, they can still be very dangerous and the work isn’t quite done. The next step is fighting the gator once again back to boat side. This time a catch pole is used to secure his head for a shot from the .357 power head bang stick. The hunter is given the loaded device and a shot behind the head is placed. Although not always enough, one pop usually works and the hunter can reach into the water and pull the gator by the head up onto the side of the boat. That’s when the hunter is given the hammer and chisel to sever the spine just behind the skull. Once completed, the gator can then be pulled up lengthwise onto the gunnel of the boat and secured with black tape around the mouth and legs. A tag is then put in place in the tip of the tail and measurements can be taken to see what its length is. WE try hard to take gators that will exceed 10 feet or more. Then we take all the trophy pictures!” “The animal is then rolled onto the floor of the boat and into a canvas body bag and zipped up tight. We make the trip back to the launch site and then head for the processor where arrangements are made as to meat processing and any taxidermy work that the hunter may what to have done. Typically a hunter can trade the hide from his gator for a trophy head mount and full meat processing and packaging without cost at all. There are also shoulder mounts available, full rugs or even full body mounts. A hunter can spend anywhere from $250 to $2500 in these options or simply get his mounted head and meat back for free, depending on the hide market and what trades the taxidermist is able to work out. So far though the market has been good enough to allow my processor to offer the even trade package.” “As mentioned before, this is an amazing hunt at an amazing time of year in Florida. In the swamp land at night– you will see and hear things that only folks from Florida ever experience. For a northern hunter, it is the wildest hunt one can ever encounter with huge alligators charging in from their hiding places to defend their turf as I intrude in and challenge call to them. Hundreds of references can attest to the rush you will have – when the monster gets within feet of the boat and sometimes even crashes into the side of the hull with their mouth wide open. There’s truly nothing like it and it’s a must do for any big game hunter. I have several groups of clients that bring 6 to 8 people every year, and they have been returning to do this hunt with me for many years. The adrenaline rush, plus the exploring of wild swamp lands in the dark, is simply too much to resist!” “Taking up to 4 guys on my gator hunting boat is not a problem. If I can pull them Okeechobee area tags —we can do swamp buggy hog hunts during the day. We use dogs and usually everyone gets hogs. We can also do bass fishing charters on Lake Okeechobee during the days between night gator hunts. Plenty to do if they get signed on in time and I can get them the proper tags. • Hog hunt is $300 per person per day or night. Hunts are done from tree stands over feeders. At night the green LED kill lights come on. • 1/2 day bass fishing $350/boat plus bait(shiners)two people can take up to 4 additional $50 each It is almost April 1, and I am pulling tags very soon and need to get all interested hunters on my contact list so I can get them put in for their tags.”
FLORIDA GATOR HUNT, OSCEOLAS & FISHING # 259
FLORIDA GATOR HUNT, OSCEOLAS & FISHING # 259
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