Big
gator
Lankfords land 800-
pounder
Last Updated on 12/4/2008
Published on 10/2/2008
By Jason Lesley
jlelsey@gtowntimes.com
Mickey Lankford and sons Justin and Mick of Pawleys Island wanted a big gator when they set out on the North Santee River this week.
They got their wish.
The trio killed an 800-pounder measuring 12 feet, 4 inches and lifted him into their 14-foot boat for the trip home.
"It amazes people," said Mickey Lankford, a South Carolina DNR alligator control agent and owner of Carolina Exterminators, "but we got him."
The gator was bagged after Justin shot him with an arrow that had a string attached to a buoy. "We followed him until he got tired," Justin said.
The gator was actually the second one they snagged. Mickey said they couldn't get a clean shot at the first one once they had him snared. Hunters are not allowed to shoot until the alligator has been securely tied off, brought alongside a boat or on land.
"People don't realize how powerful alligators are," said Mickey, who removed nuisance alligators from communities. "Getting them safely is a matter of what to do and when to do it. Riding down the road without a seat belt scares me way more."
Mickey said other hunters on the North Santee had trouble because they ran their motorboats near the alligators. "We used a trolling motor so they couldn't hear us," he said.
As many as 1,500 people applied for 1,000 permits to hunt alligator this fall when the S.C. Natural Resources Department this week closed out the application period for the first season in years.
The season marks the first harvest in years on a species
SEE GATOR, Page 4A
that thrived in the Lowcountry while it was under protection of the Endangered Species Act. The harvest is an attempt by the state to manage a population estimated at more than 100,000. People who live or boat along the waterways say it could be many more, and closer contact with humans has made them more menacing.
The season will run through Oct. 11. The rules allow one alligator to a permit, hunted in one specified zone out of four along the coast.
Since it's not one of the largest on record, the Lankfords plan to skin their gator and sell the hyde. They will preserve the head as a trophy.
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So a gator this size would have to be how many years old? Never harmed anyone, and this was his fate huh? Did you see the picture of the gator hanging from a tree and the three guys posing next to it? What clowns! What tough guys the three of them were. Jump in the water, wrestle him into the boat,then I'd say you deserved him. Cowards!! Posted by mother earth on 10/11/2008
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That is my brother and nephews and I gurantee they got that gator in the boat! Way to go Lankford men! Posted by Amy Lankford Henderson on 10/11/2008
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I can believe they got it in the boat, you gotta remember, they do this for a living! Posted by ceddy on 10/7/2008
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Me and husband say yea sure you lifted an 800 lb gator into a 14' boat. Give me a break. Yeah right.. Posted by shell on 10/7/2008
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They lifted an 800 pound gator into there 14" boat Come on. sure Even my husband says no way. Posted by Shell on 10/7/2008
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