Spike In Gator Hunters Expected

TAMPA - Florida wildlife officials plan to issue more permits than ever for the state's public alligator hunting season, now in its 20th year.

The state expects the minimum number to rise from last year's 4,500 permits to 4,600 this year, said Steve Stiegler, biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The number could go even higher by the time people start applying for permits June 3. Wildlife officials still are surveying alligator populations in some of the hunting areas to determine how many can be killed.

Experts advise hunters to be prepared before they join the hunt, such as knowing how to discern that the prey is actually dead.

"You don't want to have him come back from gator heaven in your boat," said Phil Walters of Gator Guides, a company that takes clients on hunts.

For 11 weeks starting in August, alligator hunters, most of them amateurs, will ply the lakes and rivers of Florida in search of hides, meat and the thrill of landing the state's signature reptile.

The hunters will use harpoons, spear guns, bows and fishing poles to haul alligators into a boat.

Only A Small Bite

At two gators each, the 4,600 permits mean 9,200 alligators, though not every hunter will get the limit. Last year, the 4,500 permits netted 5,942 alligators.

That's not likely to put a dent in a statewide population estimated at 1.25 million alligators.

The first step for new gator hunters is becoming familiar with state rules on when and where to hunt, equipment and safety, said Walters, the guide.

This year hunting will be allowed an hour before sunset and hour after sunrise, an increase of 30 minutes over last year. The hunt remains largely a nocturnal pursuit.

One doesn't hunt alligators with a gun. The state requires hunters to have some kind of line or rope on the reptile. That's usually done with a harpoon, though spear guns can work. So can large treble hooks and heavy-duty fishing rig.

Once a gator is pulled to a boat, most people dispatch the reptile with a bang stick, a pole that discharges a bullet or shotgun pellets upon sharp contact with the target.

Three thousand permits are expected to be issued through June 9, said Tony Young, a game commission spokesman. That leaves 1,500 or more by the first deadline, but they'll probably disappear by noon June 10 when the application period reopens with no limit on how many an individual can obtain.

Season Runs In 2 Cycles

The hunting season is broken into four one-week periods starting Aug. 15. If hunters don't get their two alligators during the allotted week, they can try again from Sept. 12 to Nov. 1.

Hunters also can rank their first through fourth choice for one of the areas the game commission opens to hunting. The commission also issues permits for individual counties, but with strict limits on where in the county one can hunt.

Hillsborough County has no designated hunting area, but one countywide permit will be issued and whoever gets it can hunt wherever it is legal here. This includes private land with the owner's permission.

The nearest designated public hunting areas are in Polk County.

Permits for Lake Okeechobee and the upper St. Johns River are highly sought.

"Lake Okeechobee is always a hotbed for gators," Stiegler said.

Because the lake is at record low water levels, the state will issue fewer permits there. The lack of water also means alligators will be concentrated in a smaller area.

Permits for the most popular hunting areas probably will go fast, Walters said.

Hunters To Pony Up Money

Getting a brace of alligators won't come cheaply. Florida residents must pay $272 for each permit. Nonresidents must fork over $1,022, and those costs cover just one hunter. Unless he or she wants to catch, kill and wrestle the alligator aboard alone, a helper has to get a permit for $52.

There's no permit required for someone to tag along and just watch.

Of course, most people try to recover the cost by selling the meat and hides.

When it comes to hunting alligators, size does matter.

Last year hides were selling at about $40 to $45 a foot, Young said. The price rose because Hurricane Katrina trashed Louisiana alligator farms in 2005, where up to 90 percent of the alligator hides in the nation come from, Young said.

Stiegler doesn't expect the hides to fetch quite as much this year because a lot of the farms are back in operation.

The meat is another source of money, though hunters have to take it to a commercial processor to sell it. Alligator meat fetches about $4 a pound wholesale.

An alligator that's 8 feet 6 inches long, the average size of the alligators killed last year, would have 30 to 40 pounds of meat.

The best comes from the tail, though the jowls produce a good cut, Stiegler said.