No tags.....................

Couple guys took an 11-footer recently on the Lampasas river near Belton (about an hour north of met). Amazing they're that far north, and that big. Problem was neither had a license or landowner permission.

    Yep,, just like the rest of Texas for anything or any doings, its all private property. I suppose we should be thankful that we as Texans are allowed to even fish in public waters let alone do anything else on public waters. There is no alligator hunting on public waters. You can apply to hunt in management areas via public draw hunts for one of the 258 tags issued to txpw but you chances of winning the draw are even worse than winning the lotto.

    The non core spring season only requires that you have, of course, land owner permission because the line has to terminate on private property because you can't hunt alligators on public waters,,,, and you have to fill out an alligator harvest report form, send it along with your $21.00 within 72 hours and they will send you a cites tag.

    During the core counties fall season you have to have issued tags and a hunting license to hunt gators, but only land owners can get tags and like everything else involving hunting in Texas its a hefty fee to hunt gators on private property.

    So it's cheaper and easier to apply for Florida, county tags allow you to hunt gators on any public water way you have legal access to or permission to be on that is outside an incorporated area, not in a refuge or park. And there is a lot of public water in Florida.

    You have to either own or lease gator property to get tags. You can get a sportsmans license for $150.00 and then hire a gator hunter to take you out hunting and you get to kill a gator,,,,, but,,, you get to pay a thousand dollars to do that, then,,, and this is the really fun part, you get to buy the gator you paid the gator hunter to kill for the the going market price is and then pay for the meat at the market price.... truely insane.

    There is a place in Texas called Cougar Run Ranch, prices start at 150.00 a foot up to 8 feet, then 200.00 a foot after that plus a 500.00 per hunter guide fee..... and you get to keep ten pounds of meat...... even more insane.

    As you can see its a money making scam. Before swamp people came along it was affordable but now everyone wants to be Troy Landry. In Florida as a resident the tags are $272.00. Nonresident is $1002.00. Since my son is a resident its cheaper, all I have to do is buy an alligator hunters agent tag for 52.00, supposed to go up to 100.00 next year, but the way things are going I may be a resident of Florida by next year.......

Yep. However, I was mistaken,,, This year there are only 197 tags for the entire state of Texas for public draw hunts.

Its BYOG (bring your own gumbo)

Well phse2 was no better, we're out. No joy in mud ville today. Go lobstering instead.