Huge Florida alligator may be the new record holder

Reading through this thread....something for you folks in Europe to consider: we actually still have wild life that will kill us here in the US. You don't, and have the luxury of mocking us for defending our lives against our wild life all because your ancestors did this in Europe long before you were born.

a reply to: grey580

Gators kill for food , people kill for fun.
Which is worse ?

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: grey580

Gators kill for food , people kill for fun.
Which is worse ?

Depends if you're the food, doesn't it?

a reply to: DBCowboy

Doesn't happen often though , does it ?
List of Gator attacks in the US by decade

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: DBCowboy

Doesn't happen often though , does it ?
List of Gator attacks in the US by decade

Ill be damned.

So us culling the population is working.

Thanks for showing us proof. Its common sense afterall, right? Reduce the predator population and you reduce predatory attacks.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: grey580

Gators kill for food , people kill for fun.
Which is worse ?

I cannot tell you how many times someone, in the deep recesses of human history, must have derived such great comfort knowing that they were being killed for food instead of sport.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: DBCowboy

Doesn't happen often though , does it ?
List of Gator attacks in the US by decade

I really don't want to be in a dinner plate before I do something about it.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

So us culling the population is working.

More to do with loss of habitat I suspect.

I cannot tell you how many times someone, in the deep recesses of human history, must have derived such great comfort knowing that they were being killed for food instead of sport.

You misunderstood my point.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

So us culling the population is working.

More to do with loss of habitat I suspect.

I cannot tell you how many times someone, in the deep recesses of human history, must have derived such great comfort knowing that they were being killed for food instead of sport.

You misunderstood my point.

I understood your point quite well.

I was lampooning it.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Hmm.. i would be more willing to face a cute gator than a bear.. just today i saw tracks next to my place.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: grey580

Gators kill for food , people kill for fun.
Which is worse ?

I am pretty sure it only matters to an emotional onlooker.
I expect that a prey animal would rather live than be killed by a cat, no matter whether the cat is killing it for sport (which they do) or for food.
So which is worse?
From the point of view of the one that is on the receiving end, it doesn't matter, since they die in either case.

originally posted by: Quantum12
a reply to: intrptr

How did it taste!?

You tell me, big business down there…

Alligator meat

originally posted by: solve
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Hmm.. i would be more willing to face a cute gator than a bear.. just today i saw tracks next to my place.

We have those, too.

Brown, Grizzly, and Polar.

a reply to: butcherguy

They aren't scarce, they are a nuisance in many locations.

Wildlife a nuisance…

I already suspected it wasn't wild, but a farmed animal, but if wild the largest specimens are the repository of future gene pools for the species. Most valuable to continue healthy stocks. Should be illegal to kill them. Culling I have no problem with.

a reply to: intrptr

Wildlife management depends on the species. Different species have differing reproductive ages and strategies and therefore will have different management strategies based around those.

It isn't always the best policy to simply rule all the largest individuals off as illegal to kill in other words.

a reply to: ketsuko

It isn't always the best policy to simply rule all the largest individuals off as illegal to kill in other words.

I would. Prime specimens are the most likely to mate with females, continuing the best genes in the herd. The hunters trend though, say with deer for instance, is to get the buck with the biggest rack to 'hang on the wall' or in this case to hang from a bucket loader.

To me its a waste. There are like everyone says, plenty of alligators in the swamp.

Edit: There is no need but envy to kill the biggest one.

a reply to: intrptr
Most deer seasons occur late in or after the rut, so the dominant males have already impregnated the females when the horn hunters are out there trying to kill them.
If the result were smaller bucks with smaller antlers, we would already have tiny- antlered bucks being in the majority.

I am not a trend setter though. I generally shoot yearlings. I am a meat hunter and I haven't found any successful method of tenderizing antlers yet.

a reply to: butcherguy

I am not a trend setter though. I generally shoot yearlings. I am a meat hunter and I haven't found any successful method of tenderizing antlers yet.

I'm guessing you don't have a room of heads on the wall, either? Your application is more practical, more honorable. In fact you probably also know that killing off the prime specimens weakens the gene pool.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: butcherguy

I am not a trend setter though. I generally shoot yearlings. I am a meat hunter and I haven't found any successful method of tenderizing antlers yet.

I'm guessing you don't have a room of heads on the wall, either? Your application is more practical, more honorable. In fact you probably also know that killing off the prime specimens weakens the gene pool.

Big does drop more and healthier fawns. Studies at Penn State University found that the size of the doe was just as big a factor as the rack of the father in determining the size of the rack of the male offspring. I would rather eat a young doe than a buck or an older doe.
They are easier to drag too!

Oh, almost forgot.... no mounts of anything in my home. I think they are tacky. I do have a couple of pieces of antler for making knife handles and such.... not as trophies... just utilitarian.

a reply to: butcherguy

Carry on…