Just found out last night my 25 yo grandson wound up with a private lands gator permit in Miller County on the 19th. I‘m piloting the boat, letting him & his buddies handle the muscle. He’s a fresh out of college new father, tight on funds.

Any advice? Anyone have a good harpoon/snare set up they would part with for a reasonable fee?

Thanks!!!

Order a build your own harpoon kit. They’re really cheap. You use a closet dowel for the handle. It’s just a 6” irony pipe nipple and cap. You drill the cap and install the harpoon driver. I also add another 6” piece of pipe to the opposite end. It helps balance and adds weight. Order the harpoon tips and then grind them into a pencil shape. Most come with a 3 side grind that doesn’t penetrate well at all. A few seconds on a grinder will get you where you want to be. Be sure to add a buoy to the end. I like to run a bungee cord to hold it to the inside of the boat, but where it can pop right out when a gator runs. I use mule tape for the main line. I drill a hole in the middle of the harpoon and run the line thru it. That way you don’t lose it when you miss a gator, and when you gig one and it tries to run under grass, it turns sideways and acts like a drag.
Run red headlamps, and try to sneak in behind the gator. When it’s eye looks like a circle, you’re 90 degrees, and as you come behind it, it starts to get smaller like a waning moon. When you’re right behind it, you can’t see the eyes. You can judge a gator by the space between its eyes. If you see any gap at all, it’s big. Don’t run over it’s tail with the trolling motor. Go really slow when you start getting close. Just fast enough toslowly close the gap as it swims away. Shoot it quick. Chisel it’s spine with a tile chisel to finish it off.

 

Also remember with the private lands hunt, it is a quota. You have to weigh being overly selective with the quota running out. I think in the past it is generally about the third night quota runs out. I have not read what the SW AR quota is this year.

 

I read it a while back. I think it’s 64 gators in Zone 1.

 

Here’s some pics.

How to make a harpoon

How to make a harpoon for gator hunting. Step by step includes pictures.

alligatorhuntingequipment.com

I would just order the driver and cabled tips, and pick up the 6” pipe nipple and cap from a plumbing store. I wrap a few turns of gorilla tape around the handle to make up the difference in diameter between the closet dowel and pipe ID.

 

Be sure an use electrical tape over all knots, and small rubber bands to hold the harpoon tip on the driver.

 

Express extreme caution to him to keep all extremities “inside the boat at all times”. Good luck on his exciting adventure.

 

I suppose a pig spear would not hold them? I built this one using a left-over head from Puma. The head is just of 30 inches long.

 

A gator harpoon is less a spear and more a toggle that turns sideways under the skin. It’s barely an inch long.

 

I’d get a gaff for after the shot. If it has any size, it won’t be dead. Gaff the bottom jaw, but try not to puncture it. Best hide on the whole gator. Roll him upside down and grab his jaws and hold them shut. Then turn him over and pin his eyes against the gunwhale of the boat while you tape his mouth….well. You can also consider a second harpoon or a snare to secure him after you get him up with the first one. Should your harpoon pop out, you will have a way to hang onto him. You can run a snare around a leg, jaw, whatever or hit him with a second poon. Even just a rope with a loop will work in a pinch. I like to lay my harpoon line out on the front deck of the boat in a loose figure 8 so it reduces drag when you try and throw it. But watch your feet!

 

Why don't they just let us Choot em?

 

Cause they sink and it’s dark and bullets ricochet. But why they won’t let you use anything but a shotgun with bird shot is just dumb. It’s AGFC, what do you expect? Big gators don’t die from bird shot. Shouod at least be able to use pistol caliber bang sticks. Should also be able to throw a treble hook on a snagging rod, but again, AGFC! The way it is now, it’s like trying to dip net a beaver.

 

I dont understand why they dont let us catch them on a fishing rod or throw line. I get they want to make sure they are legal size before killing - and both those methods would allow that to be done

 

I’ve let a bunch of small gators go from a snag rod. Just used a boat paddle to knock the hook loose. Not like a snag hook is gonna hurt a gator anyway, and most times they don’t even penetrate the skin. And who’s trying to snag a 4’ gator anyway!

 

Just found out last night my 25 yo grandson wound up with a private lands gator permit in Miller County on the 19th. I‘m piloting the boat, letting him & his buddies handle the muscle. He’s a fresh out of college new father, tight on funds.

Any advice? Anyone have a good harpoon/snare set up they would part with for a reasonable fee?

Thanks!!!

What’s your plan for dealing with it after you kill it? 12ft of meat is a lot to deal with. You got a tractor handy?

 

Yep

 

I’ve been on some of these — only one as the hunter — and I can tell you it doesn’t need to be an expensive hunt. The trips I went on, we made a harpoon setup about like KMo described above. Had a second setup rigged with a snare on a painter’s pole for longer reach. The place I hunted had so much surface vegetation that the snare was useless. Only way to do it was with the harpoon. Come up from behind and a little to the side and try to punch the harpoon through him in the neck area. Between the two setups, poles, rope, cable, buckets to hold rope, tape, etc., I might have had $100 or so involved. I used the most beat up, crappy shotgun I had available (it’s going to get wet and slimy and bloody and banged up and maybe dropped into a gator swamp in the excitement) and a load of 4s to the sweet spot at the back of the head. Once the harpoon is in, it’s a real rodeo until he gets tired. Then it’s just a finishing shot and the work starts.

 

In LA. you set lines out, shoot em when you wrangle them in. Can't hunt at night, what's up with that?

 

This one took two shots from a 357 Mag bang stick and still got the chisel….

 

the private lands hunt makes you a little less selective. You dont know when the quota might be filled. May only be one or two nights of hunting

 

These were all shot once with a .22 with the exception of one that was shot with a .22 mag. All dead as a hammer with one shot.

 

These were all shot once with a .22 with the exception of one that was shot with a .22 mag. All dead as a hammer with one shot.

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22 WMR would be a good choice if it was legal.

 

About 8’. Had huge fun watching the boys after the hook up. GS & his buddy are on cloud 9.

 

Outstanding!

 

Gator buried up in the mud & debris in about 6’ of water & dug in for about 10 minutes before it decided to run. The barbed head passed between 2 ribs & no way it was gonna pull out but once those boys pulled hard it took off. Boy were we surprised.

 

Fantastic. Great job.