The Finer Points Of Hunting For Alligators

By Sharon Morris


Human beings are easily among the weakest of animals when relative size is taken into account. The other great apes can boast levels of physical powers not even the most athletic people with the hardest of training regimens and the best performance enhancing drugs can ever hope to reach. Humanity is weak due to a quirk in its evolution. In exchange for muscular development, it would receive enhanced cognitive abilities. These enhanced cognitive abilities allowed human beings to realize that a pointy rock could make for a good weapon. Then it realized that attaching it to a long stick could make for an even better weapon. Using those weapons, they hunted animals. They became so good at it and became so ingrained in human instinct that to this day, people will go hunting for alligators.

Hunting is a pastime that many people enjoy. People also go hunting in order to get food. Taking down an animal may also be necessary either to cull a population or to kill an animal that presents a threat to the local community.

Alligators are apex predators, which means that they are animals that are on top of their respective food chains. An apex predator has no natural predators, not in its natural habitat. Most of the things that can kill an apex predator are generally a larger specimen of the same species, or an outside species.

Most gator hunters will do so on the water, as such they will use boat. They will also use lines. Hooks will also be employed, as will bait. To make the kill, they will generally carry a firearm.

Speaking of bait, it is almost impossible to hunt gators without it. Setting bait is an important tactic for any hunter. Instead of tracking an animal, an animal comes to where a hunter wants it to go. Since alligators a predator animal, the bait used should be meat of some kind. This meat is then placed on hooks which are attached to the lines. A gator hunter is also going to need a boat.

It is hard to track a gator. Not only can they stay submerged in water for extended periods of time, they can also swim at quite the high velocity. As such, it is important to set traps, to compel a gator to go where a hunter needs it to.

Once a gator takes the bait, a hunter has to pull the line in, pulling the gator up out from the water. Once the head is visible above the water, the next step is to take a single, close range shot to the head to kill it. Ideally, it should only take one bullet, as any additional blemishes will degrade its value, it is for this reason that a shotgun, which fires multiple pellets instead of a single slug, is not recommended despite being ideal for hunting birds and terrestrial animals. Once the thing is dead, it should be hauled up on a boat.

Alligator meat is not half bad. Having said that, a big alligator can fetch a few hundred dollars easily, as it can be used for its meat and its scales. The carcass can also be stuffed by a taxidermist, turned into a trophy.

Humans can also be called apex predators. As such, some individuals have an instinct to hunt and to kill. Going after animals just means that that bloodlust is directed in a relatively harmless direction.




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