By April C. Doughty
After losing our first gator in our first year of gator hunting due to a torn line, we’ve been hard at it, continuing to fight stumps during the drawdown of Lake Bistineau. The whole process feels like a race. The lake drops 6 or 7 inches each day, and each time we launch the boat from one of the few ramps still open, the process gets harder. Eventually we’ll have to try another ramp or stop launching altogether. Fortunately, we’ve had some success and have only one tag left, so we’re not ready to give up yet.
As the lake has continued to drop, we’ve gradually learned the lay of the water. We’ve found a few clear paths through the stumps, figured out where we can troll and run the motor safely and slowly, and most importantly, we’ve figured out what works when it comes to setting our lines.
After losing our first gator, we received some advice from a more experienced alligator hunter. He suggested that our problem probably wasn’t the strength of the line we were using but its length. We took his advice and shortened our bait lines. It made a difference.
On our next two trips to Lake Bistineau, we caught and harvested two alligators, one just shy of 8 feet and another just over 8 feet. For first-time alligator hunters, harvesting two gators that size was a pretty satisfying turnaround.
The actual process of catching and harvesting both gators went smoothly, and we’ve gained a much better understanding of what to expect. There’s still plenty we don’t know, but each trip has taught us something new. Brad even learned how to process the gators himself by watching YouTube videos, and he intends to try tanning the hides as well.
Since those first two successful hunts, we’ve had to balance our remaining alligator-hunting opportunities with everything else that comes with this time of year. We’ve been preparing for deer season, planning an anniversary bowfishing trip and keeping up with the kids’ extracurricular activities.
We’ve still baited and checked our remaining line a few more times, but the results have been less exciting. On some checks, the bait was gone. On others, it was untouched.
Technically, we could bait two lines for every unused tag, but we don’t want to catch more than one additional alligator since we have only one tag remaining. Louisiana regulations require an alligator caught in excess of the number of tags available to be released as humanely as possible. The regulations don’t provide additional detail about what that situation would look like in practice, and personally, I’d rather not find out.
So for now, we’re being conservative about how much bait we put out and enjoying the fact that we’ve already had a successful season.
One of the unexpected highlights of hunting Lake Bistineau has been the people. For the most part, others we’ve encountered on the lake, including other alligator hunters, have been friendly and willing to talk. We’ve learned a lot about where to find specific species of fish and where to go when we return with plans for rod-and-reel fishing or bowfishing.
We’ve also found that the boat ramp can be a particularly fun place when you have an alligator in the boat. Kids especially seem to get excited to see the catch up close, and people sometimes ask to take pictures, which we try to oblige.
At the same time, not every interaction we’ve had on the lake has been quite as positive. On the day we harvested our first gator, Brad had an interesting encounter with a group of other alligator hunters at the boat ramp. Our bowfishing boat tends to attract attention, so we’re used to fielding questions. This particular conversation started out casually enough. They talked about bowfishing and alligator hunting, and one of the men expressed an interest in bowfishing.
Brad told him that we’re planning to begin offering guided bowfishing trips next year and gave him information about how to find us on social media. Then, about 10 minutes after leaving the ramp, Brad received a call from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Someone had reported that he was “shooting gators with a bow.”
Brad explained that we weren’t shooting any alligators with a bow. We have a bowfishing boat, and we carry our bows because we’re often looking for opportunities to shoot fish. He even offered to let the game warden inspect the alligator, but the warden declined.
Interestingly, the warden explained that shooting an alligator with a bow is actually legal under Louisiana regulations and referred us to the appropriate section in the regulations handbook. We found that you can take an alligator with a bow, provided the arrow is barbed and has at least 300-pound-test line attached.
We won’t be taking that route. We’ll stick with the more traditional method, which we feel is safer and more humane.
Still, the experience was disappointing. We have no way of knowing whether the report resulted from a genuine misunderstanding or whether someone simply made an assumption and decided to involve wildlife enforcement before bothering to clarify what they had seen.
Brad had mentioned that he enjoys pursuing large alligator gar while bowfishing, so it’s possible the conversation was misunderstood. Whatever the reason, it was a reminder that not everyone you meet outdoors will necessarily give you the benefit of the doubt.
That can make you a little more cautious about sharing your experiences and successes, particularly when you’re participating in a relatively small outdoor community where people tend to cross paths repeatedly.
But we’re not going to let one questionable interaction overshadow the much more positive experiences we’ve had on Lake Bistineau. We’ve learned a lot, harvested two nice-sized alligators, met some genuinely friendly people, and gained a new appreciation for just how different alligator hunting is from the other outdoor pursuits we’re accustomed to.
With one tag left, we may eventually fill it. Or we may decide that two successful gators are enough for our first season. Either way, we’ll keep following the regulations, learning as we go, and as with most outdoor activities, we’ll try to focus on the good parts: the knowledge gained and the experiences that make getting out on the water worthwhile.
