Alligator Season Starts this Week!
We are having a big family fish fry today, so there won’t be a brand new post for this weekend, however, I’m linking you to the article in the local paper about the opening of alligator season. It’s been raining all weekend, so I hope it stops for the gator hunters.
I’ll be back to expound for you as soon as I can!
Stay tuned for another giveaway contest of something locally made that we have not given away on this site yet to date!
Have a great rest of the weekend!
BW
Enjoy your family gathering and fish fry.
Our gator hunting season appears to be waaaay different from yours.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/alligator/drawhunt.html
Some bizarre regulations there, mate. Until I finally dug up the “methods allowed” it sounded like ye had to call ’em over to the boat and ask if they would hold still while ye shot them!
Alligators must be secured and brought to shore or alongside boat before dispatch. No shooting of free swimming or basking alligators is allowed in this program. No rifles are allowed, but handguns and bangsticks are permitted for dispatch. No bait, baited hooks, set hooks, or pole hunting is allowed
Curious the use o’ “Bangsticks” is permitted – I’m familiar with them for dispatching angry sharks – they come in two sizes, shotgun and .303…awfully big hole in the head either way! Not to mention it should be used underwater. While ye may hit a thrashing Gator with a handgun, a rifle is certainly more humane/effective.
Not to mention ye can’t sell the meat (not much recouping o’ cost for the tags – but plenty o’ food for the family). I’d bet a lot o’ meat is wasted.
I would hazard a guess that there aren’t that many Gators in SC generally…though with the convoluted restrictions, it sounds like they don’t really want ye hunting them at all, so they’ll be certain to have too many soon enough!
Interesting conversation y’all have going on. Gotta scoot right now but be back later to engage! Carry on!
I’d never had any reason to look up the regulations. It was just curiosity yesterday, as I’d never seen much of anything in the local news about our gator season.
I have to admit, I found the whole kit and kaboodle confusing as heck.
That paragraph you quoted caused me envision, jumping out of the boat, wrasslin’ the gater into submission until you could figure out which pocket your handgun was in!
I didn’t even know what a bangstick was.
From what I gather, we’ve got plenty of gators. There’s always something in the news about someone finding a gator in their yard or the golf course. It’s illegal in SC to relocate gators, so the DNR euthanizes all nuisance gators.
There’s probably just not enough gators in SC to have the commercial season LA does. Hunting season was only established in 2008.
That’s what I thought – the SC regs sound like they’re not dealing with nearly as many gators. But my goodness – by the time I got done reading through everything regarding Louisiana and SC, I knew more about gator hunting than I thought possible.
I didn’t have a clue what a bangstick was, either. Interesting, for sure!
“It’s illegal in SC to relocate gators” WTF?!? That tops the stupid list…how disrespectful to one o’ the world’s oldest creatures – and one that reached it’s perfect form o’ evolution before we pesky humans crawled around. O’ course I’m sure the DNR has no problem collecting on the hide, parts, etc. – and likely selling the meat out o’ state, too.
Read it here: http://srelherp.uga.edu/alligators/allmis.htm.
There’s been two found on the beach at either Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island this year. They’d apparently been sucked out of the marsh behind the island by tides. They were euthanized, too. That really disgusted me.
Relocated gators will attempt to find their way back home. Kind of like a lost dog.
Enjoy that fish fry! Have a bite for me too.
I had a bite for you, Cammy, with some “chow chow” made by my friend Susan from north Louisiana!
For the record “big family fish fries” are not on the list of legitimate reasons for a failure to post.
The list as you well know is as follows:
1] Armegeddon
2] Cat 4 and higher hurricanes
3] Zombie Apocolypses real or imagined.
4] A verified Chupacabra and/or Sasquatch capture.
5]Opening day of Turkey season.
Enjoy the fish fry but in the future please abide by the rules.
LOL!
Sir, yes sir!
@George Kelly – Ahoy mate, FYI in Louisiana, #3 tends to be “Rougarou capture” – the Zombie Apocalypse is confined to Bourbon Street Karaoke Bars (real Zombies are better trained).
…and #6 – not enough Rum.
Capt.John,
Thanks for the FYI….was unfamiliar with Rougarous..Googled it and a 20 yr.old mystery may have been solved…after a night on Bourbon St.and a few too many #6 and Cokes I awoke in a cheap motel with something eerily similar to a Rougarou…my empty wallet suggested money may have changed hands..a scary thought at best..
As for that pitiful band of Bourbon St.Zombies..they pale in comparison to the large herds found on Duval St.in Key West..
OMG, I am laughing so hard at you two, but I MUST get away from this desk and drive to town to mail a grant application in order to get it postmarked today, which is OF COURSE, the deadline. Be back later!
I think I just peed me knickers! lol
Now that’s funny, right there!
Just popping in to check on y’all to make sure you’re behaving yourselves! Lil Sis surprised me with a visit yesterday, so I’m AWOL with her the rest of the week.
Dear Warden George Kelly: Does this count as a reason for not blogging this week? Sincerely, BW.
If it’s the Sister who can’t tie a Palomar knot or back up a boat trailer then I’m afraid it will not count as a legitimater reason..
You’ll blog and like it.
Sir, I fear to tell you that it is, indeed, the sister you describe. After multiple lessons on tying the Palomar, and at my wits end, I gave her reprieve to swab the deck and scrub the bilge. Still, alas, no blog post forthcoming. Tomorrow’s class on how to back up boat trailer! (Today, we visited Big Sis 45 miles away and had a grand afternoon of it. Savvy?)
I’d be remiss in my duties if I were to state,in open forum,that it was acceptable to not blog again this week…Let your conscience be your guide..
Now..let’s talk about “Big Sis”..Can she pole a flats boat? Is she between the ages of 50 and 100? Does she possess the dexterity to tie a clouser minnow in a moving boat?
Just a word of advice..you skip these blog posts at your own peril..
You’re not the only female licensed captain,fisherwoman,tour guide,outdoors writer,fish camp owner and radio personality on the web you know..
Should have thought that one out first..
OK..We’ll just watch old vhs tapes of Bill Dance falling out of his boat in your absence.
OR you can watch re-runs of Louisiana Outdoor Adventures with Capt. Bayou Woman! Btw, I’m NOT the only one? : )
Sounds good..getting tired of watching Bill chase a bass all around the boat..
Enjoy the visit with your sister.