What do you think?

[BOGSTER]

A friend of mine is a guide with an alligator hunting/bowfishing outfitter.
They run a charter almost every night and are on the water from Horry to Jasper county.
I have long wondered what the effects on big alligators would be since the season was just an idea.
How many 12ft+ alligators do we have in SC?
How many have been killed since the season was set in motion?

How many this size will survive the next decade?

I was speaking to this friend (Dixie Deer Slaya, you know him well)
and he was saying how scarce the bigger alligators were becoming.
He wonders how long they will continue to be able to produce 12ft+ alligators to their clients.
I wonder if the days of seeing these monsters sunning along sandy islands of the lake, or along the banks of the Santee will soon be a thing of the past.
I am not really against the alligator season, but I do admit to feeling a sense of respect and awe towards an animal that has probably witnessed the creation of the Santee lakes, and could be close to 100 years old. I wonder if we will kill them(the big ones)all?
If 1000 tags are issued and we host somewhere around 100k in this state, and let's say 5-600+ are killed (legally mind you) per year, How long before we stop seeing them?
I know that I have started seeing a decline in the big ones on areas of marion/moultrie where they were quite common.
Have you seen a decline in the big boys?