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Thread: What do you think?

  1. #1
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    Default What do you think?

    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?
    Last edited by BOGSTER; 10-04-2010 at 10:23 PM.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

  2. #2
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    ask folks from FL. tons of folks from fl are coming here trying to get our tags because there are no more big gators there. i think it is a shame. if you want to eat gator great. i like it too but the 12' 60+ year old gators taste like a plate of shitty mud. get a 6-8' gator.problem is no one wants to have there picture made holding a 6' gator?
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  3. #3
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    Yep they are declining! They need to have a slot limit like fish! There have been more dog attacks on people than alligators.

    They could close it down and I wouldnt care. After this season I think our group will hold off on the bigguns.
    If it ain't broke it ain't mine!

  4. #4
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    Declining for sure! The first two seasons we held out for bigguns. This year we were pressed for time since my wife is about to pop with boy number 2 and my buddy was going out of town for work for 2 weeks.

    We decided to get the first gator over 6 feet and call it a day. We harpooned a retarded 8 footer and had him to the house and cleaned before 10 pm on opening day. The meat was much better.

  5. #5
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    Hunting is being used as a management practice....not as a goal to wipe out big gators!

    I would love to see gator farming in SC. Harvest eggs, hatch em and raise them to 3 or 4 feet and release them into the wild. Higher survivability and a way to put back into the resource.

    We don't need to be talking on here about a "decline"....that's the first nail in the coffin for a statewide closure.
    Listen to your elders. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.

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  6. #6
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    Maybe put a lifetime limit per person on the big ones. Allow one over ten feet and after that you have to shoot smaller ones. Just an idea.

    I got drawn for a tag for the first time this year. My goal was to stick the first one over 8 feet I got the chance at. Just happened that the first one was over 11 feet. I didn’t go with that in mind and I won’t ever shoot another one that big. If I do get the chance, I’ll pass in hopes of getting a smaller one for several reasons. It seems kind of a shame to shoot something that old and they are a giant pain in the ass to clean and process. I didn’t want to waste anything on an animal that old so it made the whole cleaning process harder than it had to be, but I or someone I know utilized everything from the head to the tail that could be used for something.
    I had a lot of fun hunting with my son and my buddy who got drawn for tags as well, but I am ready for it to be over with and right now I am leaning towards not putting in for a tag next year. Between doves and deer, September is already to busy for me to keep up with.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by cajunwannabe View Post
    I would love to see gator farming in SC. Harvest eggs, hatch em and raise them to 3 or 4 feet and release them into the wild. Higher survivability and a way to put back into the resource.

    We don't need to be talking on here about a "decline"....that's the first nail in the coffin for a statewide closure.

    Nor do we need to see stocking as a panacea. If gators can't handle hunting pressure then we need to issue less tags or have a revolving season, open some years, closed the next couple. Even if we are using wild eggs, stocking is not the answer, nor will it ever be for any sustainable population of any species. Once you open that door it is a slippery slope...
    Last edited by duckcrazed; 10-05-2010 at 07:23 AM.

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    slot limit
    If it ain't broke it ain't mine!

  9. #9
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    I would like for my kids to be able to see those big gators alive one day while fishing or riding around.
    If it ain't broke it ain't mine!

  10. #10
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    wouldnt hurt my feelings at all if they closed the season for 5 years or so........ once you kill a monster, it kinda gets boring....

    i still love takin people that havent been before....but, if it wasnt for that.... i wouldnt even go.

  11. #11
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    I think you all worry too much about a critter that has survived more than a bunch of dunder heads with arrows can throw at 'em (myself included).

    You can't kill 'em all if you tried and if you think all the big ones are gone then think again. They respond to pressure and move to where they can't be hunted I'm sure.

  12. #12
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    Ride through the hatchery and tell me the big ones are all gone.
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  13. #13
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    Yall try to make more laws and regulations than democrats..
    Last edited by PBiz; 10-05-2010 at 08:10 AM.
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  14. #14
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    What PBiz said.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by PBiz View Post
    Yall try to make more laws and regulations than democrats..
    I am sure some consideration was put forth before allowing the harvest of such creatures


    tell em Biz
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  16. #16
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    Good. The big dog eating bastards are the ones that need to go. I hope I never see another 10+ sitting in my yard.

  17. #17
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    We have a sustainable hunting population.

    Let the bio's do their damned job and recommend the rule changes. Citizen "advisement" is how we got into the mess we are in now with our migratory bird rules. I am sick and tired of inmates running the asylum.
    "Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration" -Izaak Walton

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by duckduckdog View Post
    Ride through the hatchery and tell me the big ones are all gone.
    cosigned. or ride in certain areas of the Cooper.

  19. #19
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    Fuck a dog eating dino. My marsh is just a nice to look at without them as it is when they are there.
    Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.


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  20. #20
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    Let's talk about Ducks!

    Gators eat ducks. WIS likes showing dead Gators on TV so they are doomed! Get them to stop putting the big dead ones on TV then all will be saved.

    Now to the ducks.............
    You've got one life. Blaze on!

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