Who is putting in for gator permits this year?

H20dad

Not me, just curious. 

Missed

I'm considering it - haven't applied before - ever.

Big Mak

I'm not, but I plan on getting a few. 

H20dad

Big Mak said:

I'm not, but I plan on getting a few. 

I thought that was a given. Sorry, didn’t want to upset the fwc. 

altuck

Permit? What Permit?

Big Mak

In my humble opinion,  the state should relax the limits and the allotment of alligator permits.... just a little.  Then again, I think there should be a little bit of bear hunting too.

conchydong

While I think our governor is doing a great job and I’ll vote for him again whether it’s for the state or for the presidency he hasn’t been involved enough in hunting and fishery issues. But maybe he hasn’t been pushed hard enough and that would fall on us.

Turner River Terror

I was down at the Neighbors just yesterday and he starts pointing... Got another Gator in my pond...  Soo , No

joelunchbucket

conchydong said:

While I think our governor is doing a great job and I’ll vote for him again whether it’s for the state or for the presidency he hasn’t been involved enough in hunting and fishery issues. But maybe he hasn’t been pushed hard enough and that would fall on us.

Good luck getting a Governor who has political ambitions beyond the Governor’s Mansion to weigh in on anything having to do with hunting.

If we ever have a Governor who is an avid outdoorsman and is in their second term with no plans to stay in politics after their governorship is over, you might stand a good chance. 

Nobody else is going to pick up that hot potato.

hoggator

NuthinFancy said:

With 1.5 million of the dang things in the state, you would think there would simply be an over the counter tag system. Ridiculous. But this is coming from the same people that still claim Goliath grouper are endangered. 

$$$
$270 commercial tags that you might sell for $300 for 2 good gator.  Heck of a commercial enterprise.  They should at least call it what it is and disguise it for what’s it’s not. & yes, I am applying. 

Turner River Terror

Actually I grew up right at the edge of the Glades back in the Day.
I don't even mess with them anymore. Got a fair amount way back then...I'm done.
Bet I'm the only guy here that ever Snorkeled Alligator Alley canals. 
Did you know Bass have no idea what a Speargun is...

bowhunter4life

TRT is one bad dude!..😂

swampdog

TRT I bet you snorkeled a lot of interesting places…

lilwoody

Well this is devolving quickly.

Hollywoodcorolla

Always do. And we get a few tags. 

mattb78

Pulled a permit last season for the county I grew up in and was surprised by the fewer number of gators than I saw years ago.  Either we have less gators than we used to or they get smart and disappear as soon as they hear the airboats. Pulled up to areas that used to have tons of gators and didn't see them.

Floridahunt

I want to apply just for a preference point. Not hunting gators this year 

H20dad

mattb78 said:

Pulled a permit last season for the county I grew up in and was surprised by the fewer number of gators than I saw years ago.  Either we have less gators than we used to or they get smart and disappear as soon as they hear the airboats. Pulled up to areas that used to have tons of gators and didn't see them.

Fwc wasn’t harvesting eggs back in the day like they are now. Then you factor in the corruption involved with that and there you have a greatly reduced gator population. 

H20dad

Floridahunt said:

I want to apply just for a preference point. Not hunting gators this year 

I wasn’t aware the fwc started that this year. 

joelunchbucket

H20dad said:

mattb78 said:

Pulled a permit last season for the county I grew up in and was surprised by the fewer number of gators than I saw years ago.  Either we have less gators than we used to or they get smart and disappear as soon as they hear the airboats. Pulled up to areas that used to have tons of gators and didn't see them.

Fwc wasn’t harvesting eggs back in the day like they are now. Then you factor in the corruption involved with that and there you have a greatly reduced gator population. 

By that logic, there shouldn’t be many gators on a bunch of lakes that get 100% collections year in and year out. Oddly though, most of them have a lot of gators.

Pressured gators get pretty good at avoiding people pretty quickly.

H20dad

joelunchbucket said:

H20dad said:

mattb78 said:

Pulled a permit last season for the county I grew up in and was surprised by the fewer number of gators than I saw years ago.  Either we have less gators than we used to or they get smart and disappear as soon as they hear the airboats. Pulled up to areas that used to have tons of gators and didn't see them.

Fwc wasn’t harvesting eggs back in the day like they are now. Then you factor in the corruption involved with that and there you have a greatly reduced gator population. 

By that logic, there shouldn’t be many gators on a bunch of lakes that get 100% collections year in and year out. Oddly though, most of them have a lot of gators.

Pressured gators get pretty good at avoiding people pretty quickly.

Throw around less and a lot and people can go round and round for days. Look at the fwc harvest data from lake okeechobee and tell me there are just as many gators today as there once were. It’s laughable you would defend it, but I get a good laugh from most of the things you guys defend related to the fwc. 

swampdog

Well common sense tells those that have it, that the harvests will go down when game gets a little trained to avoid hunters, boaters and even bird watchers. That’s why a lot of ecotourism “guides” feed critters to keep them around for the photo op. 

There are plenty of WMAs that when first opened, the harvesting was relatively easy. After a few years folks were upset that it wasn’t as easy as years past. Deer numbers are still consistent. 

Pinman

mattb78 said:

Pulled a permit last season for the county I grew up in and was surprised by the fewer number of gators than I saw years ago.  Either we have less gators than we used to or they get smart and disappear as soon as they hear the airboats. Pulled up to areas that used to have tons of gators and didn't see them.

I dont Gator hunt but Id bet "airboat" is they key word in addressing your problem.

gottheitch22

there should be no one harvesting gator eggs off public land 

joelunchbucket

So you really think there aren’t enough gators on lake Okeechobee?

Interesting.

How many would you need there to be to make you happy?

Go to the Taylor Creek structure on the lake and count the gators as the sun sets and then tell us what you come up with.

If you still think they’re in short supply, I think we’ll know where the problem is.

zimmy4209

Been to Okeechobee one time in my life. It was '87 or '88. Their were spots in the canals you could literally cross the water walking on their heads. Most of them were 7 or 8 footers but their were also plenty of big boys to go around.  They were the highlight of my trip other than hanging out on the dock with Roland Martin like I was one of the guys at 9 years old was pretty sweet. 

Andrewlonghi

I put in for rodman.. crescent lake and putnam County tags.. been watching a big boy in rodman for the last month. 

H20dad

Andrewlonghi said:

I put in for rodman.. crescent lake and putnam County tags.. been watching a big boy in rodman for the last month. 

The gator trappers will be out there august 14th to get him. 

Andrewlonghi

H20dad said:

Andrewlonghi said:

I put in for rodman.. crescent lake and putnam County tags.. been watching a big boy in rodman for the last month. 

The gator trappers will be out there august 14th to get him. 

It's possible but I highly doubt it. Because he's were u have to walk to get to. Any kind of boat even a airboat is useless to try him. 

JohnnyBandit

I saw this really cool one way up in North East North Carolina