Nice alligator

Great story!

Awesome!

You, sir, are a real outdoorsman. That is an amazing story and great pictures to boot.

A tidbit of info on the bait we used. I have always used beef heart. I keep if fresh frozen or on ice. Blood is usually dripping from it for a very long time after placed on the hook.

Most everyone else these days use chicken and will spoil it for a day or two before a hunt so it has a lot of smell. I was unable to find beef heart just before the hunt, so we went with chicken quarters and left them sealed in a bucket in the back of my truck. They got good and smelly. Not one gator ever touched the chicken.

Earlier I had killed a greylag goose while hunting with Blaze.
http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4592453/
It is not on the migratory bird treaty list, not a game animal in the US, so just a domestic bird no different than a Chicken. I took the breast of that goose with us in case I wanted to try it for bait. The two gators were caught on the last night on the two halves of the goose breast. It is a dark meat and tough like beef heart.

That last night we set two lines on the hole that we ultimately caught the big gator in. One with chicken and one with goose. The one with chicken was not touched. I doubt I will ever see and shoot another feral graylag escapee hanging out with resident canada geese again that I can kill for bait, so next time I am going back to fresh beef heart. It is what was recommended to me several years ago by "Bayou Bill" when he found me in the marsh "setting my lines all wrong" and I know it works for my hunting strategy.

So for this hunt, I do have to give some credit to Ms Blaze who helped out with the bait that worked for us.

Congrats! Awesome pics, awesome write up! Sorry she took that spill.
I'm actually writing this at Gus Engeling while sitting in a tree stand! Ain't technology cool?

Good luck on the hunt Palehorse.
Ask Tucker if he had fun helping us with that alligator.

Gotta say, that looks like an awesome hunt, the pics of that huge gator are gonna make me a little nervous next time I'm out there.

Congrats on the massive gator !! You are the man on swamp lizards for sure. Glad I had the chance to meet up with you guys last year down at Murphree, just not sure how you can get lucky enough to draw gator hunts all the time.... usually takes me about 8years to draw em!!

Thanks, I don't necessarily get drawn all the time, it has been spread over a long time. I started putting in for alligator hunts I think in 1984 and drew my first hunt the year or two after that. I have had stretches where I was drawn up to 5 years in a row, and one stretch where I was not drawn for 5 years. I don't remember exactly how many hunts I have been on in the 29 years, but including youth hunts for both of my sons, it is over 15 for sure, but may be closer to 20. The early years the odds to draw Murphree usually ran better than 50% and there were several hunt dates, so to better the odds even more we always put in for "any" date. I don't get drawn as often now, but it is becuase I like to hunt new places as they come up, like being on the first hunt at Sea Rim state park and the recent one at Gus Engeling. What is lucky is the fact I have never done a hunt where I did not get my gator.

Loved that story and write up except the accident part, a real life adventure shared with your family and now shared with us. I think THF got the easy part, I wasn't sweating at all when I finished reading.

i wish my dog would stay that still hunting... he has some learning to do. great pictures! i hope to get my son involved soon

great story but ...

... next time use alligator tape instead of duck tape.

Your son will be talking that story to his grandkids....... you have built a life time of memories in one hunt.

Great write up and congrats to everyone involved. Glad the better half is ok after that nasty little cut but the smiles said it was all worth it.

Great story thanks for sharing

Plus 10. Wow what cool pics!

Sniper John,

When you get drawn for a public gator hunt like this one, how do they determine how many lines you get to place? Did you have to enter your wife and son in the public draw, for instance, or are you allowed a line for everyone in your "hunting party" once you get drawn?

It is not the kind of draw where you draw and can bring guests if that is what your asking and hunters can't be substituted. Each hunter can only set one line and the line is tagged with that hunters name and license number. Most hunt applications can be done as a party with anywhere from two to four hunters on one application. Most of the alligator hunts are limited to three hunters on an application.

Note that a lot is changing with the public draw hunts. It is going to an online application system and some of the ways they do things will be different. My understanding is it will be online at the TPWD website next month.

Great story!

SJ you are living proof that you can have some amazing hunts that are super economical if you simply do your homework.