120 lb Woman Condemned by Animal Lovers for Killing Monster 1,025 lb Alligator-- PICS

[Magnum Wheel Man]

maybe one more comment before the thread gets closed...

I think it's interesting "how" the gators are hunted, & how many different methods of hunting varried game there is out there... birds, coons, fox, yotes, or bears using dogs, bears over bait, & how those methods are acceptable in different areas... perhaps "CENTS" finds using the modified fishing gear as part of the hunt of gators either unusual, or offensive???

but I think that we as sportsmen & women need to stick together... to switch gears, ( being "hypathetical" here ) maybe I prefer baiting bear, to using dogs, but if it's legal & acceptable in certain areas, I as a sportsman have to accept that... & as long as it's legal to use bait, where I like to hunt, I should keep my nose out of those other hunters business that prefer to use dogs ( hey maybe they'll tree a bear over my bait staition, & I'll be there waiting before the dog hunters get there ??? )

anyway... this is a big world, & hunting proceadures are different all over the world... "in Rome... do as the Romans do"

[grubbylabs]

Well cgbill all you would have to do to make something like that into a pair of boots and a suit with a nice top hat would be to wait for him to open wide and then clime on in.

[Buzzcook]

You are being disrespectful by accusing me of being disrespectful.

I see that assertion in various forms quite a bit. It isn't very persuasive.

comn-cents, perhaps you should start a thread and make the argument that alligator hunting is not hunting.

[markj]

Any one here brave enough to shoot a gator like that with a 22?

I would, heck that kid on swamp people missing a tooth has shot some why couldnt I? that one guy almost fell in and he still shot that gator. Croc dundee used a knife, a large knife but a knife all the same.....

My cousins live down south wrestle gators at a gator farm for people to come see, they feed em up first tho

Now that guy was on swamp loggers, he was kinda crazy, he looked for them bubbles and jumped in hoping to get a gator......he was logging not hunting tho..

Loiusianna allows using bait, do other states allow that too? Thats like line fishing for big cat fish. cept them cat fish dont eat you if you fall in...

[idek]

but I think that we as sportsmen & women need to stick together... to switch gears, ( being "hypathetical" here ) maybe I prefer baiting bear, to using dogs, but if it's legal & acceptable in certain areas, I as a sportsman have to accept that...(my bold)

I recently saw another post to about the same affect on the forum somewhere, and I tend to disagree. I don't think a hunter's sense of ethics should be based on "well, it's legal, so it's okay."

There are some legal hunting practices that I find far more offensive than illegal ones. In my area, there is no law explicitly stating that a deer can't be killed only for its antlers. Meanwhile, there IS a law that a scope can't be used on a muzzle loader during muzzle loader deer season. Which is more acceptable: hunter who legally kills a deer, cuts the antler off and leaves the rest, or a muzzle loader hunter who has a scope on his gun when he's not supposed to?

To me, we are in a very sad state as a society when right and wrong is determined by the laws of government rather than the values of individuals. That's not to say laws shouldn't be abided by, but that they should serve as a check on people who lack personal morals rather than the definition of what is moral.

Sorry for getting way off topic, but I just wanted to respond while it was on my mind.

[Double Naught Spy]

comn-cents, the old guys that would side with you that used to hunt alligators the right way, you know, where they stalked them through the swamps on foot like real manly men and not any of that nambipambi stuff about sitting in a stand over bait or shooting fished gators on a line was because all those "real hunters" got chewed up, eaten, or got smart and realized there was a better way to "hunt" them.

It has been my experience that the locals usually know the best way to do things given the circumstances.

Nobody hunts the right way anymore, wearing a loin cloth and chasing down game on foot with a sharp stick or pointy rock. I wonder why that is....uh, no I don't.

The lady was hunting gator. That is the commonly accepted terminology for what she was doing as stated by the the locals and professionals who engage in the endeavor and by those states who issue licenses for the practice. If you don't like it, go convince the governing bodies.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

idek... I completely agree with you... um... at least partially... you would think the local governing bodys would enact rules / laws that reflect what the local people feel as "right" but that is not often the case... though in this case, that seems to be the locally accepted way to hunt, as well as a legal way to do it...

as far as the muzzleloader thing, there will obviously be others to argue with you the other way ( I got chewed out by a forum member for buying a flintlock that had a modified frizzen, because I didn't turn it back to how things were 200 years ago... um.. the rifle was probably made in the 1970's )

anyway, our local DNR changed the rifle / pistol hunting rules for white tail deer a couple years ago to "simplify wording" now reading between the lines, it's perfectly legal to go hunting deer in countys that they often go over 180 lbs with a Colt pocket auto chambered in 25 acp ???

[idek]

Magnum, no, cutting antlers off and leaving the body to rot is not locally acceptable in the eyes of most people, but it is apparently legal. I'm not sure it should matter whether most people accept it or not.

I agree that no one person has a right to tell other people how to hunt or to impose one's general morals on another. At the same time, I can't fully buy into the whole "we sportsmen need to stick together" idea. In daily life, I certainly don't associate with criminals. But I also don't associate with those who constantly push the very boundaries of legality either. In the same way, I don't want to align myself with hunters with marginally legal hunting practices.

[HunterGuy]

Those same people that condemn her would be singing a different tune if that gator ate their dog, or heaven forbid, their kid.

[Double Naught Spy]

That gator could eat their fat uncle, or their kid and the kid's kid for desert!

[therealdeal]

Notice how on the show swamp people they usually kill the gator with a .22? wonder if she could have done it with a .22. I am not sure I would opt for a .22 but it did kinda make me think.

GRUBBYLABS,

they use .22's a lot in the bayou(swamp people) because it is effective and the rounds are less money(plus the rifles to since they get dirty a lot). they do use .44's though when the gator is a real big boy though and I haven't seen more than an 800 something pound gator on that show yet! also, the gator vets shy away from the revolvers to get the kill down because they seem to miss more but they use them sometimes. one of the sons was stubborn and demanded the revolver but finally got the picture and went with the rifle as he was being taught.

that one guy who cooks the gators and hunts alone with his lab is going agnst the wind in my opinion but what would I know?? he is the cousin of the other guy(sorry on a trip and forgetting names at moment). having a partner is important in the business.

Finally to COMNCENTS, I see nothing wrong with this thread being on TFL. This woman kicked some serious butt and also killed the brown bear in mass w/another firearm?! I'd luv to go huntin w/her plus buy some scratch cards on the way!

[booker_t]

Congrats on her amazing catch.. that is one monsterous reptile.

Regarding the "anti-hunting blogs" or animal lovers condeming the kill, without a specific reference showing who is saying what, this sounds like a political target of opportunity with no factual basis, thrown in because it sounds good and adds drama to the story.

Regarding Massachusetts Fish & Game, hunting is alive and well with focus on population management and environmental stewardship (no, I don't live there).

Some quotes from http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recre...nting_home.htm

"..10,381 white-tailed deer harvested by licensed hunters during the combined 2009 seasons."

"..2009 was the 2nd highest harvest for the archery season on record, falling slightly below the 2008 season. "Archery is an important management tool in suburban areas where deer densities are higher due to limited hunting access."

"Quality deer are found throughout the Commonwealth," says Christensen. "We consistently see a balanced age structure among the deer checked in at our biological check stations, which means that young deer are surviving to older age classes."

You can also hunt black bear and wild turkey in Mass. And the occassional Patriots fan.

[mete]

A record alligator was just caught in FL , over 14 ' !!

[Art Eatman]

Having wandered around from gators to deer to viewpoints on different gun rules, etc., etc., guess what?