First alligator of 2014 and my favorite gator hunting knife

fishshooter

fishshooter

Joined
Mar 29, 2006
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Been a hell of a first week of gator season for the GF and I. Spun a prop on one boat motor, had another quit on me in the middle of nowhere, covered miles and miles of swamp, and spent several nights chasing eyes only to find they belonged to 2-4 ft gators. It was 4:30 AM this morning, and we only had 5 hours left on this week's tags, when I harpooned this 8'2" one 120 yards behind the house. This is the 6th gator I've unzipped and skinned with this little Fallkniven U2. What a knife, slices through gator hide like a laser and stays sharp through the entire process. I've skinned hogs, deer, small game and gutted all sorts of fish with it and it just holds an edge for what seems like forever. Just a touch up, cleaning, and little oil in the pivot and it's ready to go again. Hope to help some buddies fill their tags the next few weeks before ours come back in, in September. I want to find a 10-11 ft to put the GF on, she's done good with the 8-9 ft ones she's gotten in the last couple of years.



 
We ran out of last year's gator meat a few months ago. We're gonna cook up some of the tenderloin tonight with some of frog legs we've been gigging. Been a banner summer for frogs around here.
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Nice! I've never tried gator, going to have to some day. How much leather can you get from that one?
 
sodak said:
Nice! I've never tried gator, going to have to some day. How much leather can you get from that one?
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Not as much as you'd think. Not the stuff leather craftsmen want, anyways. I've tried tanning a couple, they didn't turn out well at all. I've got this one scraped and in the freezer to try again. If it's over 10', we usually sell it to a state licensed processor. I kept this one and butchered it myself for the meat. This one would fetch less than $200, whole, to a processor. A freezer full of meat is worth more to me than that. I keep every bit on one, use the tougher stuff for stew and sausage, and the tail to fry, sauté and grill.
 
Congrats! I used to chase those lizards around lake Okeechobee when I lived in Florida. Have a 8' 1" and a 11' 4" to my name. Good eats and good leather. In fact as I type this I have on a belt made from the 8 footer.
 
Maverick299 said:
Congrats! I used to chase those lizards around lake Okeechobee when I lived in Florida. Have a 8' 1" and a 11' 4" to my name. Good eats and good leather. In fact as I type this I have on a belt made from the 8 footer.
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That's awesome! It is good eating. We're gonna try to fill another tag Friday night.
 
Just harpoon. I jimmied my ulnar nerve up and had to have it rerouted. Something about shooting a bow really get to it, so I have no archery equipment anymore. My buddy uses a crossbow, it's a nice set up. I've toyed with the idea of getting one, especially since they relaxed the laws for using them for other types of hunting around here. How'd you do it?
 
The 11 footer was taken with harpoon, and the 8 footer was taken with a fishing pole and large snag hook. I tried the bow for a few nights but ran into too many problems.

Here is the belt I had made, along with a few other items from the 8 footer.



 
Oh man, that's nice work! Did you tan the hide yourself too? I received a pamphlet in the mail from a place that will do the hides and return the leather, but it seems very expensive.
 
No, I had the hide professionally tanned. They had a deal that if they kept the top half ( I think they made boots or something with it) they would tan the belly hide for free. So I traded out half the hide for free tanning. I would have most likely screwed it up if I tanned it myself.

Where are you located, It's been 6-7 years since I have dealt with them but I can probably dig up their info if you are anywhere near central Florida.
 
No, I'm up in the panhandle. I need to find out who the local processor sells the hides to. Maybe they're local.
 
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