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alligator hunting with handguns

W

Wild Hair

Well-known member
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/may ... _handguns/



Proposal permits alligator hunting with handguns
If state adopts changes, small-caliber handguns could be used during hunts

Friday, May 11, 2007

It may soon be OK to shoot alligators with handguns if proposed changes to the state’s alligator management plan are adopted.

The changes would allow the use of small-caliber handguns during hunts to kill gators once they are caught and brought alongside the boat. Hunters previously had to use knives or bang sticks, a long stick with the equivalent of a shotgun shell attached to the end.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will present the new management proposals to the agency’s commissioners in June. The commission will not vote but provide feedback and direction.

Another proposed change would replace county permits with statewide permits, allowing the holder to hunt alligator in any of the state’s water bodies.

State officials are also considering allowing homeowners more options to deal with alligators that are less than 4 feet. In an emergency, homeowners could have the choice of capturing and euthanizing the gators themselves.
 
The meeting is in Melbourne (JUNE). The changes will not take place this year.

Small was never a word used in the reccomendation. Infact no caliber was mentioned.
Just the use of a hand gun after the gator was tagged. I only went to the meeting in Orlando.

I now consider a 357 mag and a 44 mag a small hand gun. What say you???
 
It did not make it. It was just a a smoke screen. Out of all the town meeting and input, I don't think anything was accomplished for the sports hunter. However, the state gators trapper showed up in trucks loads and presented there issues rather well.
I think they are still smiling.
 
That was a fast reply, GC :) :)
It's just around the corner.

Have any of you guys ever been in VA for opening trout day. Hundreds of SOB's lined up on the banks waiting for zero 8 hundred hrs. It can be the biggest chinese fire drill you have ever seen. People think they have that little honey hole all lined up, only to be surprised when another hundred guys show up. I know this is going to happen with the gators this yr. Good luck.
 
I Got second week on O AND ITS GONNA BE INTERESTING TO SAY THE LEAST THOUGHT ABOUT LEAVIN THE AIRBOAT AND BRINGIN THE FLATS RIG SINCE ITS ALL DEEP WATER. EITHER WAY THE BEER L BE ON ICE.......
 
Deepsea wrote:
It did not make it. It was just a a smoke screen. Out of all the town meeting and input, I don't think anything was accomplished for the sports hunter. However, the state gators trapper showed up in trucks loads and presented there issues rather well.
I think they are still smiling.


It's time to write letters & make calls. If you want changes, act like you want it & tell the COMMISIONEERS, not the staff!
I want to see hunting 24/7 (daylight) as it will allow you to scout and run the lake with hunting equipment & not get busted. The excuse FWC falls on to deny this is the public should not see hunting activies as they may be offened. I guess it's time for hunters to go into the closet..............
 
Isn't there another side to this, I mean not just a gator thing? Didn't Florida law makers ban discharging firearms into state waters and thats why you have to use a bang stick? I used to carry a .45 automatic on my center console but I thought I remember hearing from someone if I used it to dispatch a shark at boat side I could go to jail. I maybe wrong as I am getting older my memories are getting hazy.
 
maybe you all need to move to Georgia we can shoot Gators up here with a hand gun it's been like that since we started hunting them
 
Gatorstick, At the Orlando meeting , Hunting in day light and at Tossohatchee was brought up and put on the agenda. Then a few of the Airboat charter guys, stated thier pont of view. They where anti day light hunting and anti Tossohatchee hunting because "They did not want there paying customers to see a ol cracker kill a poor ol gators " and run off their customers.

You are right, if recreational gator hunters don't unit on this issue they are going to get the short end of the stick everytime. "BOHICA" Bend over here it comes again!
It's just that simple.

Do you know how to make the form letters so the average Joe can take just a couple minutes and send his point of view to the COMMISIONEERS.?
 
I attended one of the FWC meetings and when the subject was brought up about using guns to kill gators it was stated that the FWC would not support that as a method of hunting, but might support the use of guns for killing them. It was explained that the the use of a restraining line must be used to capture the alligator because they don't want gators being shot from a distance and then not recovered.
 
The "dispatch with a gun" issue in Florida is not a wise one. We have tags for gators in 64 of Florida's 67 counties (including Pinellas). Some of these are fairly well populated and the sound of gun fire at night on a body of water is not the best PR for hunting. Additionally, after 19 years of gator hunting, I thing a stick is a much safer method of dispatch than a gun. Lets keep the bangstick and make sure we have the right to carry (firearm) for self protection (people, not gators).

On the daylight hunting, after gator season I plan on writing the FWC Commission a letter on the subject. I will post it on site for all to forward, copy, alter or otherwise use as you see fit. I want high public participation with easy to understand rules.

If you want to make it easier to hunt gators (with fewer rules for less confusion & violations) you have to tell the COMMISSIONEERS your thoughts.

Diver-
I was at the Orlando seminar but I did not hear the daylight topic get pounded or I would have spoken up. Must have been brought up while I was out talking to reporters.
 
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