Alligator Lottery?
 

Did anyone here put in for the Alligator Lottery? Myself and a buddy applied with the understanding that if one gets picked the other gets to help and gets one of the gators. He got his letter last week. I then found a farmer up here that I know with a little water on his property and got a couple more tags out of the deal. Looks like I'll get some gator meat this year. The hides are at an all time low but it still sounds like fun to me.:D

Good luck. How many tags u got and what areas?

4 total. i have a job already. this is for fun.

I understand. A guy I work with has 30-40.

I really don't want too many tags, there aren't any buyers up here that I know of. There are a list of buyers on the wildlife and fisheries web site but the closest one to me is in Washington. A lttle over 2 hours away from my area. Skinning I think would take awhile, and I really don't want to spend all day skinning gators. I guess if I get more tags next year I'll make that run, but for now a little meat in the freezer will do just fine. Ray, back when you did this did you sell the whole thing or did you skin them out before selling the hide? Any tips in skinning other than take my time.

Most people sell em whole. It's a pain cleanin em all. If I was you I wouldn't want no more than 4 lol. Cleanin em is a B. You will have fun tho. Hope you get ol Godzilla!!

one wore my butt out T! Good luck Quack!

Bingo. Skinning one is enough work. Would hate to do it for a living.

Quack I can put you in touch with a guy maybe willing to buy there. He's selling hunts in that area, maybe willing to buy, let me know & I'll give him a call

We sell ours whole, we get 70-80 tags, come on labor day, should be a hot, quick limit that week

Man, how do you apply for lottery tags? Me and a buddy of mine tried to look into it, but could not find any info on what to do?

Go to the Wildlife and Fisheries website and search alligator lottery. It closed back in July and it usually starts around late May. There is still information available that you can read and print out that will help you for next year. PM me for more info.

We get 6 tags for an 80 acre swamp we have in St. Francisville. My dad went pick them up today and said that Junior from Swamp People was picking his tags up at the same time.

Y'all kill some good birds in there?

Always full of woodies. Mallards, teal, and greys show up in the 2nd split. We do well out there but not like we did 5+ years ago. We used to slaughter em.

Dang! I am hunting about 80-100 acres off the river and creek and the biologist only gave me two for this area. The red river is full of big gators. I have another guy I work with and he has about 110 acres water on about 250 acre track and he got 16 tags. What do they use to figure out how many tags to give to someone? Andrew Jacksons vs Lincolns? I'll pick my tags up on the 22nd.

It depends on what kind of area, for instance farm land takes X amount of acres for 1 tag, marsh X amount for 1 tag and the same goes for swamp land. If I remember right the last time I hunted with my dad 20 years ago it was 75-100 acres per tag for marsh. He was getting 81 tags and my uncle was getting somewhere around 106 tags.

I think LDWF biologist actually go out and survey the land/water now to give the tag allotments.

Warren

I turned in my application last Friday around 10:30 AM amd I received a call around 1:30PM getting my tag count and information in picking them up. I'm happy with what I have for this year, If I decide to do it again next year I already have a lot more land offered up next year with more water/swamp on the land. I'll enjoy this year and will start planning for next.

Just make sure if you skin them out that you follow the skinning pattern (if they still do this) or you will lose the hide. It use to change every year as a way to determine if the gator was killed during that season.


Warren

they have done away with the skinning and leaving this flap or that flap. hearing about low 20's for 7' and above.

Yeh man they tried to give us only 2 tags this time around. My dad knows Winton Vidrine and walked down to his office and talked to him. And he went back up there and made the guy give my dad 4 more. The beavers busted up our damn so we weren't holding much water last few years so we didn't get them. This is first time we got em in like 4 years, so I guess they looked it over again and only tried to give us 2. It's quite an adventure getting back to our swamp. 2 tags wouldn't even be worth our time.

I can drive my truck within 10 yards of the lines on the private land, but only get the two tags for that place. And I have 2 from the lottory in a local lake. I'll have fun with 4 tags this year and put some meat in the freezer. I'll try and givem hell next year.

Good luck to ya!

You get the same price for them whole as you do skinned.
You can't get me to skin a freakin alligator for the rest of my life.
I hate skinning alligators. I worked in a skinning shed in Lil Chenier on season.
Never again.

No im pretty sure you get a little more skinned than on the hoof but if you screw it up it aint worth nothin!Last year we got $9 a ft. 4 years ago we got up to $45.00 a ft

Not in Southwest La.
Same skinned as whole.
The gator houses here make their money on the meat.
There are just a few hide buyers, most of the skinning shacks buy for the hide buyers.
The skinning shacks buy whole, sell the skins, the profit is in the meat for them.

I was told by a Miami trapper that $30 a ft was turned down by the man over Miami lands.



Warren

Have any of you guys ever use the air compressor to inflate the skin from the flesh, or was it all done one slice at a time? I know that the skin is not going to inflate like a football and slide off. Just wondering if it helps any or more trouble than its worth. This is a lot of good info for someone that knows little to nothing about the process.

Yes, you can use air, but it is better to chill the whole gator first. Meat breaks free better. It makes it a lot faster. Then after you get it skinned, lay flat and use a pressure washer to get the rest of the meat off.
If you don't put in ice water first, the meat is a lot harder to get off.
You need to punch each foot and pressure up. But don't use a lot of pressure. Use a regulator and test first to see how much is needed. Start with around 10 psi and work it up.

Miami Corp. used to bid out for their gators. If you hunted on Miami, you had to sell to their buyer. Not sure if it is still like that.'

Ray,

I think it is still like that. My uncle still hunts for them and they have to go to Roger's old camp to sell every day when they come in.


Warren

Who is your uncle?

I heard Roger don't work for Miami any longer. Is that true?

My uncle is Johnny Price, he is the only one left in our family that still traps for Miami. My dad, Daniel Price, took a job running a crew boat in the early 90's and gave up his lease when he got the job.

That is correct, Roger doesn't work for Miami any longer. A man by the name of Chad Courville took Roger's place a while back.


Warren