Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Texas Alligator Hunt

My buddy and I drew two alligator tags at the J.D. Murphree WMA in September. This is a good thing, but presents a few challenges for two guys from west Texas. We have to have a boat to access the hunt area and this boat must have a range of 20 miles and we must be able to get it over levies. At this point, we have no boat. I have not begun looking into getting a boat for this 24 hour hunt, but if any of you are familiar with this area/hunt and have any suggestions, I'd welcome them.

If any of you have shot an alligator with a bow, would you please send me a gear list for arrow/line/leader/float etc.

We have put in for Texas draw hunts for nearly 20 years and never gotten anything. As "luck" would have it, this alligator hunt is 3 days after we get back from a week and a half in South Africa. This $80 tag has the potential to get really expensive when my wife is finished buying furniture to balance the scales of fun....

thanks for any insight you may have.

Haha...... I don't feel sorry for you in the least! I think she deserves more than just Furniture!!!!

Can you hire a guide with a boat to hunt out of?

No guides allowed, you must have a tag to enter.

A flat bottom or "john" boat seems to me would be easier to drag over a levy. Don't know about the other gear.

Good luck.

L.W.

Start looking for boat rentals. All you need is a 16' Johnboat with a 10hp. A 14' might work if the lizards aren't too big.

pm ltppowell on here. never mind just saw your last post. but he would be a good contact for advice.

Go over to Mudmotortalk.com and ask around over there. There are a lot of good dudes over there with experience, equipment and knowledge on gator hunts during Texas public gator hunts.
Gators are very easy to catch and kill.

Rent a boat. An airboat would be the deluxe way but even a canoe is workable. Get the best GPS set up you can, it is really easy to get turned around there in the dark. Get a good rechargeable Q-Beam, head lamps etc. Before your S. Africa trip let some chickens get ripe and then freeze solid. Pre-order the big hooks and kevlar rope.

The Rangers/Wardens can usually tell you where they have seen big ones, try to make contact with them before the hunt.

For the arrow head you want something with a cutting edge and heavy duty barbs, this is really not needed if you are only doing a finisher shot. You can go for a body shot then do a finisher head shot with something like a trocar point. Even the old bear broadheads would do the deed. Might bring a 22 if things go south on a big one.

Get the picardin and deet bug sprays both and I spray my clothing with Sawyers Permethrine or get the bug off stuff. I have almost shot at mosquitos while goose hunting in that area they are so big.

Good luck.

Thanks for the insight. I will let y’all know if we come with alligators, iguanas, or just mosquito bites and good stories.

If anyone has a recommendation for an outfitter in this part of the world, I’d appreciate it.

A simple aluminum boat works well. Also, I grew up there, but haven't seen it in a number of years. Each "compartment" was surrounded by a large levee (dike), but there were rollers at each entrance point so you pulled your boat up onto the rollers and then easily pulled it across to the other side. Place is loaded with gators. Just be patient and look for a 9 or 10 footer. There used to be some that went 12 foot, but were rare.

I bought a john boat and trolling motor. It was a blast. Good luck.

http://doing-manly-things.com/2019/04/22/alligators/

Andy, thanks for the link, that write-up was very entertaining. Great memories for your boys I'm sure! Very cool,

We enjoyed it. Good luck and let us know how it goes. The next time we are drawn, we plan to “bowfish” for a big one and on the last night set lines and bait.