Sorry if this is a dumb question but where do they go in the winter? Bout two weeks ago I started to see them come out again and there were some huge ones. Then they disappear around October here. I've always wondered where it is they disappear too?
I usually see a few small ones during hunting season buy never any biggins. Do they just go deep into the swamp/marsh into the back ponds? Because they have to come out and get sun to stay alive right? I know when the water gets cold their bodies shut down just always wondered where exactly it is they go from there..

They use their tail and kinda corkscrew into the mud at about a 45 degree angle
and take a long "nap" till spring....

Have an old "coffee table" book about the oldtimers using probe rods to poke 'em
and make 'em stick their heads out so they could harvest them...

Like in deep lakes or waterways? So im assuming their whole body pretty much just shuts down to hibernate?
Would suck to stumble onto one huntin

I've came across many over the years in the swamp. They will bury in the mud and make a hole with just their nose sticking out. I've had my lab swim right over one and didn't realize it till I poled over to see him hibernating. I took my push pole and pushed his head and he just sank. Left him alone and about 30 min later I could see his nose again. It was around 30f. Also seen them bury up in a levee. They have a hole they crawl in and hybernate.

Huh never knew that

I've fallen in one of their holes when I was wading, luckily no one was home. And I've seen some BIG bastards this year too. When the river was way up a few weeks ago I saw the biggest gator I've ever seen riding the woods around Mac.

I stepped on one in October while cleaning out my duck hole. Was quite an interesting experience to say the least.

Used to hunt some property and when the water would get low in summer you could walk in and there were huge holes all in the side of the bank where they made dens. It would look like snow on the ground from all of the old alligator shit on the ground. Had to keep your head on a swivel if you hunted it in warm temps.

Kinda scary to think that alot of those "logs" i trip on in the lake probably aren't really logs..

If yall have some lomg lasting cold cold weather yall are good with ya dogs , down here in central fla , my pour dog only gets to hunt in a very controlled spread of decoys and shallow water he can run in only. But I like to take out in the salt marsh so he can have some fun on his hunts with me.

I see them just about every time I go out to hunt in S GA. No matter how cold it is.

kill them all and step on there eggs! They eat dogs

There WAS a pretty big gator that was hanging around our place last yr....

So in everyone's opinion which do you worry more about gators or snakes. To me the snakes would scare the shit out of me.

Snake will scare you..an alligator like this ^^^ will eat you.

Big snakes and big gators i can deal with. You can see them better and handle/avoid Them better. Little snakes abd little gators are squirmy abd hard to handle. and spiders freak me the fuk out especially them big ass banana spiders that like to block my trails

I killed this one in a spot 100 yards from one of my holes I hunt , right before last season.

You'd be surprised around here. Their big and they know it and dont hide. We drove up within 50ft of 2 sitting on the bank Saturday one was around 9ft and the other was 10ish. Its them little ones im scared of, they quick and can turn on you way faster than a bigger ones abd cant see em on land in the dark. I've walked up on a few 8-9 footers in the dark in teal season. And only way i was able to avoid them was simply because they couldn't turn Enough or fast enough to get around a bush or tree.

This is one i found dead tangled up in a crab trap line 2 years ago. Found him in the line, drug him up on land and called the GW. Measured it with my bow line and tied off the length and measured it out when i got home to right under 12.5'. He was about 200 yards from a pond i hunt often. Theres several more that hang out in the area that are 11' plus ImageUploadedByTapatalk1429555182.714414.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1429555209.780696.jpg

I've always been curious about gators habits too. I had to shoot at one this year , he was getting too curious and kept nibbling on my decoys. He swirled and didn't go far because when picking up the decoys we saw him again. It was a warmer day then in Nov or Dec, saw a couple more on the way back to launch.

Another trip in the same area I saw another buried in the mud when picking up decoys, walked right by him that morning before daylight and never knew it. Now I do a lot less wading and more poling after that.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1429555840.917653.jpgyou have to look close but you can see his outline. Wasn't huge but I would've rathered not knowing I walked right by him

I've seen them sunning in the high 40s before in December. And I mean big ones. I think for the most part, they go dormant but if they feel like getting out, they're going to do what they please.

IV got a bayou in my back yard. Iv seen some decent size gators time to time. I'm always conchienchous about my dog and little girl being near the the bayou . Saw a 10 footer on the opposite bank yesterday !

Lol not when another big one comes right in his place or when the neighbor across the bayou is a game warden lol