All
hunts are conducted in the central region of Florida.
The
majority of the hunts are conducted along the St. Johns River system
and chain of lakes, in Volusia County.
Our hunts are classified as "public
waters hunt". This simply means that hunts are conducted (at night)
on public rivers, wetlands, and lakes in the areas designated by the
Florida's conservation commission as harvest units.
The State of Florida provides more
than four-thousand Alligator harvest permits, which are available on
a first-come, first-served basis.
HISTORY OF THE AREA:
From its marshy beginnings in East-Central Florida to its estuarine
waters near the Georgia border, the St. Johns River is a striking
example of waterway diversity.
As
the sun rises over sawgrass marshes marking the starting point of
the St. Johns River, it slices through the mist that defines
mornings in swampy Central Florida. The rain that fell here
overnight may evaporate in the afternoon, it may be used for
irrigation, or it may wind its way through the 310 miles of the St.
Johns River and flow into the Atlantic Ocean.
Downstream, the St. Johns will declare itself a mighty river, but in
Indian River and Brevard counties, there are few defined banks and
boundaries. Waterfowl, wading birds, river otters and shore birds
inhabit the maze of tributaries and sloughs.
This portion of the river is fed entirely by rainfall. Its shallow
waters flow north — unlike many North American rivers — and begin a
long, slow journey to the ocean.
Watch a slide show of the Saint Johns River above.
In
her 1942 book “Cross Creek,” Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote of this
area. “If I could have, to hold forever, one brief place of time and
beauty, I think I might choose the night on the high lonely bank
above the St. Johns River,” she wrote.
These banks mark the beginning of the river’s middle basin, famous
for bass fishing and a diverse bird population that includes egrets,
ibis and great blue herons, ospreys, turkeys, cranes and a sizeable
population of bald eagles. Deer and a large number of alligators
reside in protected areas along the river’s banks.
North of Lake Monroe, the winding waterway consolidates and
continues, straddling the county lines of Lake and Volusia counties.
South of Lake Beresford, the river meets Blue Springs State Park,
the ancient home of the Timucuan Indians and one of the modern-day
homes of some of Florida’s manatees. The banks of the river still
display artifacts and mounds of discarded snail shells left by the
Indians centuries ago.
Beyond Blue Springs, the river enters a region of Florida famed for
its resemblance to the Florida of legend. As the river runs through
the Ocala National Forest and feeds into the Lake Woodruff National
Wildlife Refuge, it feeds wet prairies, ponds and lakes. The land is
lined with towering palms, large live oaks and scrubby sand pines.
In
1765, William Bartram wrote of the stretch of the river in what is
now the Ocala National Forest. “Blessed land where the gods have
amassed into one heap all the flowering plants, birds, fish and
other wildlife of two continents in order to turn the rushing
streams, the silent lake shores and the awe-abiding woodlands of
this mysterious land into a true garden of Eden,” he wrote.
