The gator hunt

The great gator hunt is on, but once again, I will be forced to watch from the sidelines. For the third year in a row, my friend, the fish-catchin', frog-giggin', gator-gettin' guide Dave Markett called an told me to go out and buy a permit, but once again I dropped the ball.

As I explained to Markett, a Tampa native who knows the lakes of Central Florida like I know each and every Starbucks in downtown St. Pete, that I have the attention span of a second grader. That is why I use those little yellow stickum notes to remind me of things like buy a new fishing license or dry out that tent before the next camping trip.

But gator huntin' isn't easy. You can't just knock them in the head with a stump. You need to take this sport seriously, for unlike snook, trout or redfish, these reptiles can bite your left arm off clean up to the elbow. Just ask Amos Moses.

That is why I, being the rookie gator hunter, took a class on the finer points of how to stalk, kill and clean, the King of the Florida Swamps.

Permits won't go on sale again to next June, but you can learn all there is to know at one of several classes soon to be offered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commmission.

(Times photo - Scott Keeler, 2006. Click to enlarge.)