Page 244 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

A Real Gator Hunter
By Jack McClellan 11/2006

According to the picture and write up in the Lake City Reporter of the large
alligator Granddad Jeff Mikell killed in August 1947, the gator measured 11’9” and
weighed about 750 pounds. It came from Mr. Sanders’ farm, of Sanders and Allison
Motors. The gator was killing hogs and chickens and had been hunted for years. Mr.
Sanders finally got the right man for the job. Jeff’s daughter, Dot, said it took him two or
three weeks of trying to get the gator. After shooting the gator he got his son-in-law,
Raleigh Sistrunk, to help load it onto his boat. Then he took it to Mr. Sanders’ place of
business across from the VA Hospital, in the present-day Winn-Dixie parking lot. There
the pictures were taken.
The gator was mounted and displayed in a window. Jeff5s daughter, Mary, said

she saw it for years while driving by on the street. Dot said Carl, son of one owner, took
it to his fraternity house in Gainesville. Son-in-law, Vernon Davis stated the gator served
as a mascot at the National Guard Armory for years then disappeared. Its whereabouts
afterwards are presently unknown.
' Obviously one of Granddad’s favorite pastimes was hunting gators and he made
good money off them. Gator belly hides had value and sold by the foot. From their
earliest memories his children recall gators being brought home. Lucille said that 20 or
30 from a night’s harvest was not unusual. Grade said plenty were killed. Dot said a
dozen or more were usually killed. After processing, the hides were rolled up and stored
in a wooden barrel, salted down. A buyer would come around every few months,
sometimes for 200 or 300 hides, according to Dot. Each hide would be unrolled,
inspected and measured. Upon agreement of the tally, cash would be paid on the spot.
While living in Olustee, Granddad would go after gators on Friday nights after the
work week. Sundays were reserved for church so he wouldn’t hunt on Saturday nights.
He was armed with a sharp hatchet and a head light. He bought several cypress boats
from Uncle Alfred Beasley. When not in use he would sink them at the edge of the local
lakes for convenience so the boards wouldn’t dry out and leak. His paddleman was .
sometimes Uncle Alton Mikell, Herbert Smith or Uncle Willis Mikell.
When he selected a set of gator’s eyes, he held the light on them. The gator was
in a trance or hypnotic condition to the light. The boat could often be eased within
striking distance. The hatchet would be sunk just behind the eyes. When properly done,
the gator was killed then would be hooked or grabbed and pulled into the boat. They
came in all sizes. At times the boat would have to go unload at the landing. It was often
after midnight when Granddad got home.
On Saturday mornings the children’s work would begin. While Granddad or
Uncle Alton would skin out the hides, the children would select proper sized boards then
nail and stretch the hides slightly. If one needed a couple more inches to make another
foot, it would be stretched some more. After nailing was complete, scraping the
remaining meat off began. Then coarse salt was rubbed on the hide and it was placed
inside for curing which would take a few weeks. Dot said coarse salt was bought by the
hundred weight and while living at the Pecan Grove mansion one of the smaller houses
was used for curing and storage. After curing, the hides would be taken off the boards,
rolled up and placed in a wooden barrel.

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