DAY TIME GATOR SAFARI EXCITING & CHALLENGING by Bob Foulkrod "The remarkable return of the American alligator has opened a rarely experienced type of hunting." It was cool weather in north-central Pennsylvania when I deplaned in Florida that evening before a scheduled hunt for the American alligator the following day. My guide is Don Hampton, a well-known Sunshine State outfitter whom I believe is the number one gator hunting expert in the world. At seven o'clock the next morning he arrived, having let us sleep in under the pretense that northeastern boys forget to reset their clocks to Central Time. To his surprise I was wiping down my Browning Short Mag with one of my Inhibitor cloth to prevent the humid Florida air from impacting the functions of my firearms. Out of the water we say loads of gators. A few years earlier I had hunted with Don, but on that occasion I had used a bow and arrow. Our quest was to find that one in one-hundred gators that has grown to a bonafide trophy length. We passed up many, many of these lizards as well navigated the air boat around the constantly shifting tussocks, which to me looked like putty green size chucks of lily pads. In the backwaters of this sprawling natural lake we saw lots of gators, and even bumped a few that caught our interest, but in the end we had found that trophy gators that we were looking were not in this area. Don then pointed the air boat out onto the wide, windy main body of the lake. Glassing as we cruised, we spotted several large alligators of potential trophy size. This was not a bow hunt, but rather one where I carried a Browning 300 Short Mag. On the lake we saw lots of floating gators, but we needed sunning on the side of the lake. My task was to make a brain shot that we hoped would prevent the animal from disappearing in the water after the shot. Following almost two hours of slowing searching and glassing, Don spotted a huge lizard lying next to the shoreline. I had lent him my extra pair of Swarovski were credited with spotting more than the usual number of gators. A consummate professional, he estimated the gator at 11.5" to 12" long. Shorebirds nesting overhead had alerted him to the potential that gators were there. Oddly, several species of shorebirds instinctively next over where gators like to sun because the presence of the gators keeps their traditional nesting predators like raccoon from approaching the nest. We quickly formulated a plan for me to move in traveling the interior of the shoreline within 100 yards of the sunning gator. I made it to the first shooting spot, then decided to move in a little closer. Don moved the boat so he could watch the shot. He was wearing a white T-shirt, and I was in Mossy Oak, so it is obvious who spooked the lizard sending it slithering into the water. It was high noon, and like the gators, we decided to retreat for shade. As Don motored the boat over to pick me up, I plugged in my position into my Brunton GPS. I did not want to forget this spot. If for nothing else, I needed to have a reading for inclusion on my web page that will detail each of my five-year long Obsession Grand Slam. At the motel we took it easy for the rest of the day. When bowhunting for gators, you do it at night in what can only be termed spooky conditions. Day time hunting though is actually more demanding because of the high level of stalking that is required to get within rifle range of a gator. Seven years ago I took a very large gator with my Golden Eagle bow, but this time I wanted to experience a daytime hunt. Alligators are creatures that live primarily freshwater swamps and marshes, but also in rivers, lakes and smaller bodies of water. They can tolerate a reasonable degree of salinity for short periods of time, being occasionally found in brackish water around mangrove swamps, although they lack the buccal salt-secreting glands present in crocodiles. Adult male gators typically reach 13 to 14.5 feet, although there are unconfirmed reports of larger 16.5 foot long specimens, with the largest ever reported measuring 19.8 feet long. The snout of an alligator is y broad, considerably more so than the snout of a crocodile. American alligators are the most thoroughly species of crocodilian family. In the southern states where they are now hunted their populations are surveyed extensive and ongoing, and data are available throughout the alligators' range due to links with management and hunting programs. While populations were severely affected in the early parts of the century (with protection occurring in the early 1960's), the recovery of this species has been remarkable in most areas thanks mainly due to properly controlled and monitored conservation and sustainable use programs (e.g., tourism, harvesting). The belly skin of the alligator produces a generally high-quality leather, and this resulted in considerable hunting pressure earlier in the 20th century, particularly in Louisiana and Florida. It is unknown how many gators once roamed present day United States. Writing of the St. Johns River during the late 1770's naturalist William Bartram noted that "alligators are in such incredible numbers and so close together from shore to shore that it would have been easy to have walked across on their heads had the animals been harmless." American alligators undoubtedly were numerous in Florida and other southern states well into the 20th century, although never in the number's Bartram so lavishly described. However, as a result of unregulated and unrestricted harvest, the alligator population had noticeably decreased by the early 1940's. Imposition of hunting restrictions during the 1940's and 1950's slowed the decline, but illegal poaching during the late 1950's and 1960's resulted in a further decrease in most southern alligator populations, especially in Florida. Subsequent closing of all hunting, trapping and trade in alligator products was finally necessary. This protection of the alligator resulted in a virtual population boom among these large growing reptiles that astonished wildlife biologists. Limited hunting began over a decade ago, and continued on an expanding basis in the Sunshine State and other southern states like Louisiana, Outfitters like Don Hampton get a specific number of tags in their area that they can either trap solely for the delicious flesh and highly desirable hide of the alligator, or sell hunts to sportsmen such as me. Hardily a situation of shooting fish in a barrel, these hunts can be physically and technically tough, and not without the potential of being incurred. The following morning Don arrived an hour earlier and was in a hurry to get to the swamp. He had a hunch that a big ole gator would be in the same spot–if we could find it, and that our original plan of shooting from the first bush was the ticket to success. Heavy mist hung over the swamp as we navigated our way into the main body of the lake to race up the shoreline within a quarter mile of the shoreline area where the telltale nests of the shorebirds had tipped up off to the possibility of a gator lair. Don's hunch was right on the money. With minutes I was ashore moving along the mucky, snake-ridden tangles of brush growing there. I knew what was around every place my big boots returned to the ground. I was wearing Browning's Snake Bite Proof boots, but Ole Bob has so much respect for caneback rattlesnakes, coral snakes, copperheads and water moccasins, that I was unable to walk without great care even though I had confidence in my boots. When we first saw the gator, it was lying in precisely the same position as the day before. During my 30 minute long stalk along the shoreline, my scaley quarry had switched up on me, now facing directly into the muzzle of my rifle. This was a godsend, as Don had told this was a base case scenario, giving me a perfect shot at the gator's "sweet spot." The so-called sweet spot is located on the top of the snout. Passing the crosshair on the snout, I squeezed off the trigger. The impact of the bullet drove the gator's snout into the ground like it had been hit with a slug hammer. It's huge tail lurked upward, then down as its hide legs straightened out. It was over. It was a beautifully marked male that taped 11-feet, 9-inches long. I cannot wait to enter it entered into the record books. It was the first animal on my five years long "Obsession Slam" of all of the big game animals roaming North America. Caped and salted, the hide and head of the gator was shipped to Bass Pro Shops where it will be on display as a full body mount