ALLIGATORS

Redyaker
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ALLIGATORS

Post by Redyaker »

I know this subject has been beaten todeath each yr but this being the spring and beginning of summer what are the tips for kayakers when you come face to face with an alligator while in confined spaces up in the marshes? I have encountered in the past two alliagtors face to face and suddenly. the first time was a small 4 footer who just swam off. The second time was a big boy up in a marsh on the intercoastal canal by Crystal Beach RV campground. He came around a bend and saw me and went under. The water was only about 3' deep and I didn't know what the best thing to do was. I waited a while, then paddled slowly out of the marsh and never saw him again. But THERE ARE THERE MY FRIEND........so what are the experts version of what to do when you encounter a large alligator?

A couple yrs ago I went to a seminar about alligators and kayaks by the Texas Parks and Wildlife people and they said that in the state of Texas a kayk fisherman has never been attacked by a alligator, but that it HAS happened in Florida.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by bboren »

First, don't piss them off.....I always just try to act like they are not there. I never try to get too close and usually do what you did and move away slowly. I dont use a stringer either.....I think that would just tease them. I have never had one bum rush me or anything, but I do respect their territory. Usually where there is gators there is good fishing, but I don't ever get too close and if they surprise me I try to move away slowly, and if one ever attacks my yak if I live I will for sure post the top wrestling moves to do. Good luck and watch your fingers!
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vincent
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by vincent »

Run into them all the time...I've only had two scary moments...once in Bastrop Bayou I let a strong spring wind push me towards an area of high grass and had a female bull rush out of a nest and launch in to the water and then mud bomb with in 5yds of me...well I was back paddling like a windmill and go the heck out of there...thanks for the friendly warning ms alligator it was much appreciated..but scary.....the second happened when I got dumped by the alligator gar in Port O...as soon as I righted my yak and got back in..2 heads surfaced with 10' of me...the comotion obviously peaked their interest...the most recent was in Sea Rim state park with a monster that kept swimming back and forth across the main channel leading from a boat ramp to the marsh area...I think people had been feeding it at the cleaning tables...when we got close it went under...I didn't give it much thought as I paddled thru the cut...until I hit my paddle blade on the ground and realized I was in less than 2' of water...then I wanted to know where it was..... :lol: Watch the swamp people on the history channel...you won't look at a trail of air bubbles quite the same way anymore :lol:
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by vincent »

Oh...almost forgot about the 12'+ that ran across a flat near the Mobile River then did a swan dive off a high point into a little marsh drain entrance right as Fil and I were about to paddle out of that cut...that was the coolest and scariest thing I've seen with gators...it made a huge splash entering the water...not your normal slide in quetly...that gator was spooked big time..but we never saw it again
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by 1texasaggie »

I'm definitely not an expert when it comes to alligators, but have seen some big ones in that area...especially down around Stingaree. Like Vincent, I recently had a 10' gator (appeared longer than my Mini-X) jump off a high bank and splash down directly in front of me. My wife is usually fearless when it comes to kayak fishing, but after seeing that gator dive off the bank and over the top of my head, she pulled her stringer up into her Mini-X, and then hit warp speed paddling out of the marsh...I was right behind her.

Each close encounter with an alligator taught me to keep a constant vigil while in the marsh, approach every bank slowly, take wide corners and then visually inspect everything around me. Snakes, however, are my biggest concern in the marsh. Thankfully, every gator I have run across was trying to get away from me as fast as I was trying to paddle away from him. What I believe to be water moccasins have charged after me in the past.

Last year, one snake that I can only assume was protecting a nearby nest, repeatedly kept coming at me. I would swat her away with my paddle, and she kept circling back around. In desperation, I drew my Sig .45 and realized that Stingaree, my wife and others were fishing all around me. Finally, I was able to break my stake out pole free from the mud and paddle backwards away from her, and she then swam back to the nest. This is the principle reason why I now carry a Taurus Judge down in my hatch.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by elcoyote »

I spend a lot of time on Choke Canyon Reservoir in my boat, and have had numerous encounters with gators. The ones that I can see on the bank, even up to 12-13' don't bother me much, it is the ones that just pop up next to my boat that scare the hell out of me. I also had one in Salt Creek (on Choke) come out of the back of the cove to where we were fishing (rainwater coming out of flooded stock tanks into the lake, and the bass were stacked up where the water was running in), parked herself behind my boat in about 2' of water, and wouldn't move. She was laying directly in the path that I had to follow to get out. It was a really shallow drain in an even shallower cove. I started the big motor, she didnt move. Put it in gear, blew mud and water at her, she didn't move. No way to get out without her moving, so, being the genius that I am, I got my heaviest jig rod and poked her in the side a few times. ****NOTE- DO NOT DO THAT!!!**** She went ballistic, tail whipped my boat, and I thought that she was going to take the outboard off the back of my boat. She threw mud and water all over my brother, his 2 friends, and myself, basically covered my boat in mud. Then she moved off to the side of the boat and stood up. It was so shallow that her belly was out of the water, and let me tell you, she was BIG. She was hissing and growling at us, and it seemed like it took me forever to get the boat turned around with the trolling motor. When I finally did, I fired up the outboard and gunned it. She followed us out mouth wide open, until I hit water deep enough to lower the trim and get up on pad. I spoke with a friend later, he said the same gator did the same thing to him (he didn't poke her with a rod), but she almost took his trolling motor off and then came out of the water and snapped at where he had been standing. I told a game warden friend of mine about these incidents, and he told me that I should have shot it. He said not to make any attempt to load a dead gator in the boat (then you are breaking the law BIG TIME), but if a gator is attacking you, you have every right to shoot it. Of course, he said, you should immediately contact a local game warden and have him come load the thing up. I still hate to go back into Salt Creek, but I do because the fishing is good there. I can tell you this... when I am fishing there, I have my Sig P229 either on the front deck or on the console of the boat.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by texnomad »

Alligators are easy to handle. You just reach down their throat, grab the tail and filp them inside out. They hate that and will leave you alone once you do it.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by chrsryse »

Does one have to hold a concealed carry licence inoreder to have a pistol in a yak?
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by mmmooretx »

chrsryse wrote:Does one have to hold a concealed carry licence inoreder to have a pistol in a yak?
Good question. I am taking a class on 4 June and will ask then and post the answer I get here.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by rockportkayak »

there is one that lives near me in the inlet by the airport park
isubarui
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by isubarui »

Gators dont want to be by you much more than you dont want to be by them for the most part. The majority of the alligators you are running into are not going to be monsters anyway.

Poking a gator from your PB then having a friend game warden tell you to shoot it? Give me a break. An alligator is pretty near the bottom on the list of hazards you need to be prepared for while on the water. No one needs to be packing heat to pop a gator that comes up in front of their kayak. :roll: Use the space to bring some bleach/water or peroxide to pour on those cuts instead.

I run past tons of gators a year and all but the smallest ones get out of the way long before you get close to them. The really small ones are just too dumb. If you come up on a gator and its nest you can always try the trick where you turn around and go the other way. I've had them hit my kayak as I paddled over them. Not because it was trying to attack me but because it was trying to get away. A human on a kayak is not exactly on their dinner list.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

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FishingSETX
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by FishingSETX »

elcoyote wrote:I spend a lot of time on Choke Canyon Reservoir in my boat, and have had numerous encounters with gators. The ones that I can see on the bank, even up to 12-13' don't bother me much, it is the ones that just pop up next to my boat that scare the hell out of me. I also had one in Salt Creek (on Choke) come out of the back of the cove to where we were fishing (rainwater coming out of flooded stock tanks into the lake, and the bass were stacked up where the water was running in), parked herself behind my boat in about 2' of water, and wouldn't move. She was laying directly in the path that I had to follow to get out. It was a really shallow drain in an even shallower cove. I started the big motor, she didnt move. Put it in gear, blew mud and water at her, she didn't move. No way to get out without her moving, so, being the genius that I am, I got my heaviest jig rod and poked her in the side a few times. ****NOTE- DO NOT DO THAT!!!**** She went ballistic, tail whipped my boat, and I thought that she was going to take the outboard off the back of my boat. She threw mud and water all over my brother, his 2 friends, and myself, basically covered my boat in mud. Then she moved off to the side of the boat and stood up. It was so shallow that her belly was out of the water, and let me tell you, she was BIG. She was hissing and growling at us, and it seemed like it took me forever to get the boat turned around with the trolling motor. When I finally did, I fired up the outboard and gunned it. She followed us out mouth wide open, until I hit water deep enough to lower the trim and get up on pad. I spoke with a friend later, he said the same gator did the same thing to him (he didn't poke her with a rod), but she almost took his trolling motor off and then came out of the water and snapped at where he had been standing. I told a game warden friend of mine about these incidents, and he told me that I should have shot it. He said not to make any attempt to load a dead gator in the boat (then you are breaking the law BIG TIME), but if a gator is attacking you, you have every right to shoot it. Of course, he said, you should immediately contact a local game warden and have him come load the thing up. I still hate to go back into Salt Creek, but I do because the fishing is good there. I can tell you this... when I am fishing there, I have my Sig P229 either on the front deck or on the console of the boat.
Id almost be willing to bet my last paycheck she has a nest somewhere close and is just protecting it! Other than a nesting female, all but the babies just head the other direction. Coolest thing I've seen a gator do is shoot across a 6" deep mud flat trying to get away! threw a 6' roostertail of mud/water for 100 yds or more!!
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by DSmithla »

vincent wrote:Oh...almost forgot about the 12'+ that ran across a flat near the Mobile River then did a swan dive off a high point into a little marsh drain entrance right as Fil and I were about to paddle out of that cut...that was the coolest and scariest thing I've seen with gators...it made a huge splash entering the water...not your normal slide in quetly...that gator was spooked big time..but we never saw it again

Vincent, when were you in the Mobile River?
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by 1texasaggie »

Does one have to hold a concealed carry licence inoreder to have a pistol in a yak?
Legally speaking, if you're not on private property, the answer is yes ....the castle doctrine does not apply to a kayak.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by Yak Ninja »

...the castle doctrine does not apply to a kayak.
Yet!

IAMNAL....

As of May 25, 2011, House Bill 25 has passed the first 5 stages, including passage in the Senate, and will now be sent up to the Governor for approval.

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup ... &Bill=HB25" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This would amend the Castle Doctrine to extend to watercraft in the state of Texas. Effective date would be September 1, 2011.
For purposes of this section, "watercraft" means any boat, motorboat, vessel, or personal watercraft, other than a seaplane on water, used or capable of being used for transportation on water.
-YN
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by elcoyote »

FishingSETX wrote:
elcoyote wrote:I spend a lot of time on Choke Canyon Reservoir in my boat, and have had numerous encounters with gators. The ones that I can see on the bank, even up to 12-13' don't bother me much, it is the ones that just pop up next to my boat that scare the hell out of me. I also had one in Salt Creek (on Choke) come out of the back of the cove to where we were fishing (rainwater coming out of flooded stock tanks into the lake, and the bass were stacked up where the water was running in), parked herself behind my boat in about 2' of water, and wouldn't move. She was laying directly in the path that I had to follow to get out. It was a really shallow drain in an even shallower cove. I started the big motor, she didnt move. Put it in gear, blew mud and water at her, she didn't move. No way to get out without her moving, so, being the genius that I am, I got my heaviest jig rod and poked her in the side a few times. ****NOTE- DO NOT DO THAT!!!**** She went ballistic, tail whipped my boat, and I thought that she was going to take the outboard off the back of my boat. She threw mud and water all over my brother, his 2 friends, and myself, basically covered my boat in mud. Then she moved off to the side of the boat and stood up. It was so shallow that her belly was out of the water, and let me tell you, she was BIG. She was hissing and growling at us, and it seemed like it took me forever to get the boat turned around with the trolling motor. When I finally did, I fired up the outboard and gunned it. She followed us out mouth wide open, until I hit water deep enough to lower the trim and get up on pad. I spoke with a friend later, he said the same gator did the same thing to him (he didn't poke her with a rod), but she almost took his trolling motor off and then came out of the water and snapped at where he had been standing. I told a game warden friend of mine about these incidents, and he told me that I should have shot it. He said not to make any attempt to load a dead gator in the boat (then you are breaking the law BIG TIME), but if a gator is attacking you, you have every right to shoot it. Of course, he said, you should immediately contact a local game warden and have him come load the thing up. I still hate to go back into Salt Creek, but I do because the fishing is good there. I can tell you this... when I am fishing there, I have my Sig P229 either on the front deck or on the console of the boat.
Id almost be willing to bet my last paycheck she has a nest somewhere close and is just protecting it! Other than a nesting female, all but the babies just head the other direction. Coolest thing I've seen a gator do is shoot across a 6" deep mud flat trying to get away! threw a 6' roostertail of mud/water for 100 yds or more!!
I would have thought that as well, however, she swam directly at my boat from about 100 yards away. I have been around numerous gators on nests, and they have just done the deal where they growl, puff up their necks, and make the water dance around them. Certainly not the most friendly of gestures, but I will take that over losing an appendage any day of the week. This one purposely swam towards my boat, went around it, and parked directly behind it. I mean, like within 2' of my outboard. Damndest thing I have ever seen.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by elcoyote »

isubarui wrote:
Poking a gator from your PB then having a friend game warden tell you to shoot it? Give me a break. An alligator is pretty near the bottom on the list of hazards you need to be prepared for while on the water. No one needs to be packing heat to pop a gator that comes up in front of their kayak. :roll: Use the space to bring some bleach/water or peroxide to pour on those cuts instead.
Dude- The only way I had to get out of that cove was to turn around and go right over where the gator was sitting. I could see her back in the muddy water, and I had to get her to move in order to get out of there. THAT was why I poked her, only AFTER doing everything else that I could think of.
As to my game warden friend, I also asked 2 other game wardens that I know about this incident, independent of each other, and they all said that I could have shot it. By the way, we did have a pistol in the boat at the time, and did not shoot, although I sounded not unlike Troy from swamp people "choot 'im, choot 'im! Dammit, 'lizzbeth, CHOOT 'IM!!!" My brother's friend had his pistol (APD SWAT), but was freaking out. I'm not worried so much about the gators that just pop up, I am worried about the ones that have shown unreasonable aggression not only to me, but to others that I know. Not to mention the fact that this gator lives within 1/2 mile from the swimming area at Calliham State Park. (Why someone would let their children swim there is beyond me. You won't be catching this fat honky in there swimming around.)
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by texnomad »

The more I hear about this the more it sounds like the gators near Brazoria that had gotten used to fools feeding them from boats and piers. After a few times the gators can get pretty demainding about being fed. Another good reason of many to not feed wild animals.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by 1texasaggie »

This would amend the Castle Doctrine to extend to watercraft in the state of Texas. Effective date would be September 1, 2011.
Hopefully, the Bill will actually specify non- motorized watercraft....we'll keep our fingers crossed. I am a CHL instructor and recently asked DPS legal in Austin about kayaks. They specifically stated the Castle Doctrine only applied to motorized. Until we know for sure, however, you will need to have a CHL to make carry in a yak legal.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by preacherman »

Redyaker wrote:I know this subject has been beaten todeath each yr but this being the spring and beginning of summer what are the tips for kayakers when you come face to face with an alligator while in confined spaces up in the marshes? I have encountered in the past two alliagtors face to face and suddenly. the first time was a small 4 footer who just swam off. The second time was a big boy up in a marsh on the intercoastal canal by Crystal Beach RV campground. He came around a bend and saw me and went under. The water was only about 3' deep and I didn't know what the best thing to do was. I waited a while, then paddled slowly out of the marsh and never saw him again. But THERE ARE THERE MY FRIEND........so what are the experts version of what to do when you encounter a large alligator?

A couple yrs ago I went to a seminar about alligators and kayaks by the Texas Parks and Wildlife people and they said that in the state of Texas a kayk fisherman has never been attacked by a alligator, but that it HAS happened in Florida.
I've paddled amongst them often and never had one give me a problem. Just leave 'em alone, and they'll leave you alone.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by DSmithla »

yes, until they don't.....muhahahahahahahahaha. :twisted:


(but seriously, I've only ever had one charge me. She made her point. I yielded the right of way.)
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by DPG »

1texasaggie wrote:
This would amend the Castle Doctrine to extend to watercraft in the state of Texas. Effective date would be September 1, 2011.
Hopefully, the Bill will actually specify non- motorized watercraft....we'll keep our fingers crossed. I am a CHL instructor and recently asked DPS legal in Austin about kayaks. They specifically stated the Castle Doctrine only applied to motorized. Until we know for sure, however, you will need to have a CHL to make carry in a yak legal.
Are you really a CHL instructor?

The Castle Doctrine has nothing to do with concealed carry laws in Texas.
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by picaroon »

I have seen many and have been rather close to a few......................... I was in a back brackish lake near the Colorado River south of Wadsworth near Matagorda once. We were in canoes and had crossed the lake and fished for reds until dark. During daylight I asked the owner of the ranch/lake we were on if there were any alligators in the lake because we had not seen one all day. He said that the lake was full of them. After dark we took the canoes out of the water and drove his pickup around the lake and pulled up to its edge and shined the pickup's lights out into the lake. There must have been over a hundred sets of eyes out in the dark lake. Makes me think that they are a many, many more of them out there we just do not see them during daylight hours..........

I was in Halls Bayou just south of the old bridge and saw one come off a steep bank and he was air born for about 15'. He was at least 6' or 7' long. If that had happened near me I would have gone nuts...............
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Re: ALLIGATORS

Post by Redyaker »

Don't think I'd want to try this out of my kayak......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nerxc846 ... r_embedded" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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