How do you skin a Gator?

In texture it reminds me of pork. In flavor it is kinda chicken-ish, but I have trouble saying exactly since I've only had it in Mexican dishes with lots of spices. I really liked it, though, and I'm sad I can't get gator burritos locally anymore... though there is a place that barbecues gator tail that I might try. I'm in MA, isn't that odd?

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-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)
 
The few gators that we have eaten hear in southern Louisiana have a particular taste that doesn't lend itself to comparison to other meats. When BBQ, the tail meat is like very lean pork and probably better eaten fried which I like alot. The tail meat seemed to get just a bit too dry like a very thick pork chop does when BBQ.

Try it you'll like it.

John
 
Look in your phone book for Cajun restaurants. A good one ought to have alligator on the menu. Here in Colorado Springs we have a small family restaurant called Cousins (Sp?) that has wonderful Cajun food at good prices. Of course it's easier to find in south Louisiana. I first tried it in Houma.

It is best eaten while listening to Bruce Daigrepont. His next CD is scheduled for release July 13th (just in time for Bastille Day).

[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 28 June 1999).]
 
Corduroy;

Yeah, I saw your post on shark carilage. I saved it. Pretty cool really. Instead of developing bone they maximized the strength of their cartilage. Speaking of which, I hear bone actualy developed as a response to the lack of calcium in fresh water, and that bone really started out just as a way to store enough in the body to allow early fish to venture up into streams and rivers and such. If that's so, is chitin and cartilage the only materials used by animals purely for structural purposes? I know even to this day pregnant women draw on the calcium reserves in their bones while carrying babies. That's why too many childbirths can lead to ostheorosis or whatever the boneloss disease is.

Yeah, you know I just might at some point offer to field test knives. As I've mentioned right now I'm still working on getting into the Army, so if that works out, I might be gone for a while, but if it's a no-go I could see starting that up. Because of the high numbers of aligators in this state they are actualy a nuisance animal. The state hires trappers to round them up, but doesn't actualy subsidize them. There was a time when you could make a healthy living by selling gator hide and meat, but gator farming has significantly reduced profit margins. A lot of guys are getting out of the buisness. I am considering becoming a profesional aligator trapper if the Army doesn't pan out. I'm a simply guy(but not simpleton) who doesn't need much to live on. I'd be a fun job, for a couple years at least. Anyway, a great job to field test knives in.


As to the taste of aligator, I've got to say at least wildcaught specimnes have a taste all their own. The meat has a different texture, a little stringy, but not at all unpleasant. Overall it's got a mild flavor(much as chicken does) that goes well with a variety of preperations. You can try your local sports bar for fried gator tail, it's pretty popular. Good too.
 
With a Katana! well, that's the only way I'd try it, unless tne gator had already had a conversation with my friend Mr. Millimeter
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Then there'd be no point, too many holes in the skin
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Joe
 
Snick, I'd be interested in finding out what folder you own? More people need to be like Snick, just the essentials ONE folder and ONE fixed blade. It makes a lot of sense but isn't too fun.
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Johnny
[]xxxxxx[]=============>
 
I own(ed) a Buck XlTi. Simply the best lockback I've seen and even though I could afford more expensive knives, I have yet to see one that would fufil my needs as well.

Speaking of which, that "(ed)" was there for a reason. I broke it, by prying. It flex something around 25 degrees, so I had warning, I just pushed it too far.

Note that it was inserted one inch into a door jam(I locked myself out), that's just before the spine thickens up, so the thinnest part with the least steel is what broke. This wasn't a fragile knife. I have used it to cut branches 1.5 inches thick, not in one fell swoop, but I have hacked through them, with good solid whacks.

I don't need thumbstuds to open one-handed, nor liners to close one-handed. In fact, I've had some mighty poor experiences with liners, so have no intrest in them whatsoever.

What I do need is a good blade of reasonable length on a secure handle with a good lock. This knife met all those requirements.

Despite whatever you've read or seen in books and videos, you're not opening one handed in a real fight. I know. I've been there. You can open one-handed before a fight, then the slight difference in speed between one-handing a knife with a thumbstud and one without is no big deal, never mind inertial openings, but once horns are locked, you'll be using unarmed techniques to get the guy off you and when/if you have a chance you can pull the knife.

The most common point to pull the knife is when your unarmed defense failed and a real big guy has you in a mean hold and is doing bad things to you.

There's so much bullcrap floating around today in regards to what is and isn't real it's hard to sort it all out. Everybody and his brother has "real world experience", so take my words with skepticism, but I wouldn't tell you wrong.

Anyway, I'm all for things that work, against things that don't. I'm not "clingy", so my choice isn't a matter of being stuck in the past, it's a logical choice made by evaluating the facts in light of real experience.

That said, I am still browsing around for a new knife. I would buy another Buck XlTi in a heartbeat, it was a great knife, but I want to see what else is out there. I'm especialy intrested in some of the promising new locks, but so far haven't seen one I'd want.

I can break any folder, and do so regularly, so I won't spend as much on a folder as I would on a fixed blade, maybe $200 tops. An XlTi costs 50-60 bucks, I could buy a lifetime supply for that much. Add in the likelihood of a folder getting confiscated or lost, and spending a whole lot of money for a user doesn't make sense to me.
 
Snick,

If you're interested, you might try sending the XTi (or whatever, the titanium 110) back to Buck for replacement. I have been told that they are good about replacing even abused knives. Also had one friend that sent a broken bladed one back that he found, and they replaced it with no questions. You could still go buy another folder, but you'd also still have your standby. Just a thought.


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Work hard, play hard, live long.
Outlaw_Dogboy

 
Snick, since you like the CR project, why not get a sebenza? I know you dont want to spend more than 200 dollars but have you considered getting a sebenza?

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Johnny
[]xxxxxx[]=============>
 
You don't have to skin gators, you know. You just have to take a firestone belt axe, lop off it's head, stick a garden hose in it's neck hole, and use a roll of duck tape to close it up tight. Then just turn on the water and wait for it to explode. note: works better on turtles and chickens.

BTW: You can hold an alligator's snout shut with just your thumb and forefinger.

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"All of our knives open with one hand, in case you're busy with the other"
<OVAL OFFICE JOKE>
 
Interesting topic!

Live-catching gators (caiman) is one of our favorite past-times in South America. Dark of the moon and dry season is best for this.

We hand catch the smaller ones (3 ft' and under) by shining a light in their eyes and quietly paddling up and grabbing them around the head. Although I have jumped on the back of 6 footers just for fun and managed to hang on 'til help arrived, the larger ones are usually caught live by a snare pole and rope tied to the canoe. This method makes for one hell of a fun ride when you hook up a 10 footer.

The meat is the best tasting 'wild' food we eat down there next to jungle rat.

Best way to cook gator? Not at all and completely raw. The tail meat is best when chunked into small pieces, sprinkled with lemon juice and mix in a few raw onions. Gator sushi - excellent dish!

Most of the SA Indians use a machete for all their skinning. They also use the machete to kill small gators and top-water fish if they don't want to live-catch.

If a large gator is caught, they will cut the head off, remove the tail, then begin skinning. What meat is not eaten immediately is smoked over a fire for later. - Jeff


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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
The way I see it, I broke the knife through my own actions, not because it was an inferior product. From my point of view, I feel wholey responsible for replacing it. Besides, I tossed it in the dumpster as soon as I got my door open.

As to the Sebenza, yeah I considered it. After holding a few I determined that it's nothing I want even if it was within my price range. I don't like the bladeshape and the grip is not secure enough for me.

Stompy, actualy finger and thumb only works on little gators. True, they don't have nearly as much opening strength as closing strength, but they are still powerful animals. I know. I've jugged quite a few. You want to get a lot of duct tape around those jaws on a big'un.
 
Snick you said the hunt has to be primal, but you also said you used duct tape to keep it's jaws closed. Do you consider duct tape primal?
 
Is duct tape primal? Have you ever wrestled an angry a gator?
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Actualy, I don't use duct tape, that's for when you want to transport a live aligator. We most often use a noose, either wire or rope, to secure the jaws while slicing the spinal cord. I've done it without the noose, but that's real dangerous. I wouldn't want to try it without some back up.

It is primal compared to waiting till the sun goes down, shining a light in their eyes to transifx them, and then blowing their brains out with a gun.

I'm not so much talking about primitive equipment anyway, as opposed to hunting on a more level playing field. I.E. I use equipment made from modern materials and with modern methods, but they are primitive weapons, like a harpoon made with a steel barb and cable, or my Project 1. I also kill from close quarters as opposed to from out of sight in a treestand.

I'm not saying anything about people who hunt that way, it's just not my way.

Jeff, out in the Ten Thousand Islands people get their kicks by taking their boats out onto the shallows and waiting for a 4-6 foot shark, often a lemon or bull, to swim by, at which point they pounce on it and drag it to the surface.

Personaly, I think that's nuts! How do you even find out you can do something like that?!

The closest I get is on a boar hunt(more frequent than aligator) when I pounce, subdue, and dispatch my quarry with my knife.

I keep it in reason, nothing more than two hundred pounds or so. I usualy give them an arrow to the leg(it's not likely to get through the shield and then through the ribs to the vitals, even then I'm not quite good enough to consistently hit the heart) to slow them down, as I can't run as fast as most quadropeds. I'm working on learning to use terrain to herd them in certain directions to make it easier to catch up with them, meaning I won't need the arrow(from a fifty pound recurve, I hate compounds, they shoot weird).

I was talking to some swampers who've had success by working in teams; one chases the boar to the other who dispatches it. Kinda like how lions do it.
 
Snickersnee wrote:

'Jeff, out in the Ten Thousand Islands people get their kicks by taking their boats out onto the shallows and waiting for a 4-6 foot shark, often a lemon or bull, to swim by, at which point they pounce on it and drag it to the surface.

Personaly, I think that's nuts! How do you even find out you can do something like that?!'

Jeff replies:

I'm out on the shark catching because I really don't undertand the beast. Ignorance causes accidents. Alligators, however, have been a 'passion' of mine for some time.

The dangerous gators are the ones that FOOLS have been feeding. They lose their fear of man. Most gator attacks occur in populated areas. The South American jungle gators are generally scared of humans so their initial instinct is to run like hell when someone grabs them.

A lot of myth surrounds things like Gators, Piranha, snakes and other 'beasts' we know little about due to Hollywood BS and other folks perpetuating the myths and embellishing stories. I read articles and see productions every day that have their own little line of BS inserted. I take these to my friends in Iquitos and they laugh their asses off when they read or view these things before we go out into the bush. I realize that these 'journalists' do this to make their production more interesting and to sell a product, but it does hurt the overall outcome.

The worst thing in the world is a self-proclaimed expert bringing back ghost tales of a 'dangerous' area filled with agressive animals, voodoo, and primitive people ready to cut your head off and eat you. Discovery channel is full of them.

Sure, things happen, but most incidents are accidents from being in the right place at the wrong time. To me the jungle is much safer than most American cities. The biggest fear down there? Disease.

How do you find out you can do this? I guess through 'trial and error' and learning the beast you're fooling with. Makes you wonder how the first base jumper decided he could do it, or the first bungee jumper. - Jeff


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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
I think the best thing that t.v.'s got going for it right now is "The Crocodile Hunter". He does some really stupid stuff, but at the same time, you get to see that the snakes and lizards aren't all lethal monsters trying to kill you.

Sensationalism+education. Not a bad combination.

I can't speak for caimans, but aligators are actualy relativly docile, except during the dry season or nesting mothers. Crocodiles are more agressive, but they're rare around here these days. You mostly see them in the South, out in the mangove marshes and such. Even they tend not to screw with you for no reason.

Copy on disease. I'm more worried about the mosquitos and ticks than the snakes, sharks, aligators, bear, boar, wildcats, or anything else out here.
 
One of my Florida dreams is to hunt wild boar with my .44 Ruger Redhawk. That's dangerous enough. Do you have a video of yourself Snickersnee at a boar hunt? I've never heard of anybody wrestling a boar in my hunting experience. Not even an American bull dog has an easy time holding on to a hog and he's got a full set of natural knives. I really want to believe you, because after all I was born in Jersey City.
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BTW I like hog meat with swamp cabbage better than gator. I ate gator about 15-20 years ago and don't remember how it tasted except the somewhat springy texture and how it was cooked: deep fried in cutlets. How about a Bladeforums Gator, Hog and Bear feast. Yum!

[This message has been edited by JerseyCitySteve (edited 01 August 1999).]
 
Sorry, no video. It's really not as bad as you'd think. Every been to a rodeo or county fair? They almost always have a "giant greased-up pig chase and wrestle" for the kids. At least around here.

As to the tusks, yeah, they've got me a few times. Main thing is you come up behind them, jump on their back and more or less put them in a headlock with your left arm, sweep a leg out from under them with another, try to grab the right leg with the left arm in such a way as to pull it up exposing the armpit and still pin the head. Then you slip the knife up into the armpit and into the chest cavity. You can go through the side or back, and I used to, but they have a thick(I hear up to 2 or 3 inches, I've seen around 1.5) shield or scar tissue that makes it tough.

The cool thing about being human is that your forelimbs are dextrous and have hands, and you can use your hindlimbs to grapple to. All a dog can really do is bite.

Anyway, the practice, in different forms, was relatively common at one time, at least around here. You might here about it in buckskinning circles too. They've got people who kill every damn thing in a similar way.

For that matter, this was the sport of nobles in Europe for the longest time. One of the reasons why we've got boar in Florida. The Spanish brought'em over.

All this dependence on firearms is unneccesary. Humans are pretty good hunters with a club, knife(or sword), or spear too. Just a matter of knowing what you're doing.

 
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