alligator hunt #1 2008

Timothy and I drove to Sanford Florida Friday night and met up with our gator hunting partner and good friend from my chaplain days at UCF. This is our third year hunting alligators together. We have come a long ways since our first trip. Thank God! We needed all our flexibility and patience for this hunt. We decide to try the boat ramp in Sanford instead of driving to the St. Johns River/Lake Jessup boat ramp on Hwy 46. Well we had trouble finding it, spent probably an extra 45 minutes looking. They had it well hidden. It was funny none of us were in a rush. We new what to expect, we new we had all night if needed (and it was).

We launched the boat and headed toward the north west end of the lake. The strategy on Jessup was going to be significantly different then Orange. Orange Lake has a lot of mud, hydrilla, dead trees and other cover, Jessup barely has any cover. In Orange you can chase the gator into the debris and catch it before he can get under, Jessup they go under when you are a hundred yards away. We were going to use a large treble hook on a fishing pole and cast it over the gator and snatch hook him. We have never been successful with this technique mainly because there is so much to hang up on in Orange Lake. As we went out we decided to start with our normal strategy of chasing and harpooning mainly because it is a lot of fun. We ran the one end of the lake and were now heading across the lake under the bridge. We began hunting the little bit of cover on the north shore east of the bridge when I notice this airboat getting way to close. I flashed him with my Q-beam and he flashed me with his blue light. I stopped and they came over for a visit. Needless to say my stearn light wasn't working, they were nice enough they gave me a green glow stick and a $50 ticket. They could have ticketed us for much more so we were appreciative. To my surprise I had my boat registration, however I didn't have my air horne (after a little thought I remember I threw it out a month ago because it didn't work). We had a nice chat and then moved on. They had told me that there were over 16,000 gators in the lake. For that many gators we sure didn't see a lot.

We went around a little island and came into an area with a number of sets of eyes. You could actually smell the alligators (much more like Orange Lake). While chasing some along the edge we ran into some type of grass the got on the shaft and prop. We worked around the island to an area with less grass and cleaned off the shaft by shaking the motor up and down. Usually after I do that the grass on the prop comes off as we run the motor. We went around the corner and Skelly harpooned a gator. When we were done messing with it I went to crank the motor. Couldn't get it to turn over. Sounded like a dead battery. We had just bought a new one because the handle from the motor hit both terminals of the old battery while the boat was being stored and melted them off. We tried our deep cell battery and I tried tapping the cables to what was left of the terminals on the first one with no success.

We new we needed to get the grass off the motor. The shaft of my motor sticks out six feet beyond the back of the boat so we used the bang stick to try to get it off.

We got a lot off but the motor still wouldn't turn over. When we hunt Orange Lake I have no problem jumping into the water, mud, grass etc. to get us going again. I did not want to get out into this water. I am not sure why. I was concerned by the fact that the water was 3-4 ft deep, and the mud was 2-3 ft deep. This is a deadly combination. You can get stuck in the mud over your head. However, looking back I think I was just scared of the unknown. This was a different lake and I didn't want to get out in chest deep water. We worked for a while trying to get things going and finally at about 1:00 AM we started trying to think of who had a boat. Skelly called his friends Amanda and Joe. Joe got his dad's boat. However, the motor wasn't working so the used the trolling motor to get out to us. He got to us about 5:30 that morning. In the mean time I laid down on the floor with Timothy and took a little nap. When he got to us Skelly climbed in his boat and Joe and Skelly cut the grass off the prop. It took close to 30 minutes to get it off. Once the prop was clear I could start the motor. A little humbling, because I could have just jumped in the water and cleared it off and we could of been up and going in less than an hour. This is the only time I have ever had someone come get me. I have been stuck a lot worse but have always managed to get out. We tied off on Joes boat and pulled him in since all he had was a trolling motor. Before we got to the bridge we untied Joe so he could manuver under the bridge with the trolling motor. By the time he got to the dock his battery was about dead. I really apprciate what Joe and Amanda did to come out in the middle of the night with only a trolling motor to help us in. I have had a lot of people call me friend, but it is in moments like this that you find out who your friends are.


What a night. The first night Skelly and I went gator hunting we slept on the lake as well. Our attitudes were totally different. This time it really wasn't a big deal. It was a beautiful night and we knew what to expect. I think we both felt bad for involving other people who could have been sleeping. As far as Timothy goes he woke up when we were just about done cleaning off the prop so he never knew about the events of the night. I told him I was tired and when we get to Skelly's we could sleep. His response was "Not me, I am not tired."

(Pictures are of previous years, we didn't take a carmera on this hunt.)