What do you think?

[cajunwannabe]

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...

Bro, we ain't talking a "GRP" Gator Release Program. Stocking (wild harvested eggs) in Louisiana has increased the gator population because of survivability and has been done for years. How is it a panacea, it's about managing the resource. I'd rather see 200,000 gators in this state vs. the current 100,000 and 2000 tags each year rather than a shut down and let 'em grow to 12 feet because we need bigger gators. It's about "putting back" rather than just being a "consumer". I'd like to think that most of us would prefer to see our wildlife resources increase rather than this talk of a decrease after being open to hunting.

Bog, as far as big gators being "scarce", if you or I were being chased and hunted we'd get pretty scarce ourselves.

[dixiedeerslaya]

haha, funny.....

the same "guide" bog was referring to in the original post just sent me this text..

13'1"

[NO FLY ZONE]

I think something that has been on this Earth since before the age of dinosaurs can take a 500-600 harvest a year and make it. People have been killing those big ones long before this season was created.

[NO FLY ZONE]

slot limit

How many has your crew killed over 11'? Don't put restrictions on people who haven't had the opportunity to harvest a giant. I have a point and when I get drawn I want a big one.

[jwilliams]

I just think they should have a pocket knife only season.

[jwilliams]

catch and release program?

[dixiedeerslaya]

Duckmasters crew certainly likes it more than i do....... If i had to deal with as many of them big bastards as they do every year, i would sell my boat.

[dixiedeerslaya]

Im goin home to hook the boat up for a hunt tonight.... Takin hazrdous1 out to try to get his tag filled.... He aint picky... So hopefully it will be an early night with a 8-10 footer.

[DUCK MASTER]

No fly - 15 over 11ft

[BOGSTER]

[QUOTE=dixiedeerslaya;684391]haha, funny.....

the same "guide" bog was referring to in the original post just sent me this text..

13'1"

I got the same text.

[BOGSTER]

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.

I believe you know as well as I, that "citizens" are on South Carolina's waterways far more than any bio working in this state.

My whole point was to question IF we will continue to see big alligators on a regular basis, or will we be faced with a "Visit Bull Island to see 12ft+ alligators in the wild."
You know how long it takes alligators to reach these great sizes.
It's a little naive to think that we can't put a serious dent in the over 10ft population.
Bull alligators are territorial, They really don't leave their home range once they reach a certain size.
8ft males show up in retention ponds behind wal-mart.......not 12fters.

My sole arguement is not against the alligator season.
I don't apply for tags, but sure enjoy a few ziploc bags from friends that do.

I have been on the water pretty regularly since the summer, I immediately noticed a decline in big alligators in the Stumphole swamp. It has never been uncommon to encounter several fully grown alligators in there in one outing.
I've noticed the same for other areas of the upper lake as well as the lower lake.
Poplar creek is and probably has been a breeding area for large alligators for centuries.
The banks are littered with gator mounds all the way past Harry Shuler's pond on the State Park road. I was in there a few weeks back. I saw 4 small alligators where normally I would see 6-10 monsters.
I enjoy seeing the really big ones.
They give a sense of wilderness and awe in a world of ever increasing in development.
I just hope that we don't find ourselves riding the waters talking about how big they used to be here.

It's your choice to take whatever size alligator you like, I am not passing judgement or trying to tell you what to do with your own tag.
But if you have killed one this size, just think about it...

[NO FLY ZONE]

No fly - 15 over 11ft

Thats getting it done.

[duckcrazed]

Bro, we ain't talking a "GRP" Gator Release Program. Stocking (wild harvested eggs) in Louisiana has increased the gator population because of survivability and has been done for years. How is it a panacea, it's about managing the resource. I'd rather see 200,000 gators in this state vs. the current 100,000 and 2000 tags each year rather than a shut down and let 'em grow to 12 feet because we need bigger gators. It's about "putting back" rather than just being a "consumer". I'd like to think that most of us would prefer to see our wildlife resources increase rather than this talk of a decrease after being open to hunting.

Bog, as far as big gators being "scarce", if you or I were being chased and hunted we'd get pretty scarce ourselves.

It's about managing the resource??? How is artificially increasing survivability proper resource management? Proper resource management is having a target threshold and setting limits that will not decrease the population below that threshold. It's obvious that harvesting 600 or so gators per year will not affect the population szie, however it is obvious that harvesting the largest of a slow growing species like alligators will affect the average size encountered. Adding 100,000 more gators still won't change that, at least not for the next thirty to fifty years.

[BugBuster]

They need to open the refuges up by way of navigable water and let us kill the ones that are showing up on the wrong side of the lake for supper.

[bohica]

A bush hog makes a hell of a racket when you hit a gator nest.

[BOGSTER]

A bush hog makes a hell of a racket when you hit a gator nest.

That is 100% illegal.
Smooth move posting it on the www.

[baydog]

They've been around for a billion years. The old big ones will wise up and figure out that spotlight=my ass is about to get caught, shot, chopped, snared, tied up and shot again. (obviously I have never been gator hunting) If not they are stupid.