When is it safe to hunt your pup? (Gator Related)

FWIW I've always heard the magic water temp is 60 degrees for them to go docile... they'll still be around but won't be feeding.

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getting a string of 40 degree nights where we don't get the heat wave that follows is ideal.

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so, in S. La, never?

they will not feed when water temps are below 62.

Ive been doing this for many years and know many dog folks.....

I am aware of a bout 8 duck dog gator encounters......during hunting season witnessed 2.


I am aware of about 20 labs damn near dying from boat props and nutria....


everything is a risk..... and feeding and biting should not be confused... a resting gator bumped by a dog.. will bite unless it is damned near frozen...



far more of our canine friends go down to cars, accidental poisonings than they do from reptiles....

good on you for your concern.
as others have noted is water temp, not air temp to watch.
but on a sunny winter day you can find them up on the bank catching rays, and they will strike if disturbed

we quit using dogs down at the wax...they never seem to go dormant even dead of winter and theres so many young adults who have to be aggressive to survive

uhhhh..... He looks spoiled rotten! Lol....... Not that my dogs aren't.

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far more of our canine friends go down to cars, accidental poisonings than they do from reptiles....

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far more people die in car accidents than by handguns. doesn't mean you can be careless with a handgun.

Fyi, rode today and saw more gators out and about than I did all summer. Was in Pointe a la hache. Close to your area. Sucks to not hunt him, as someone who has to pick up all his birds, I realize how bad this would and will suck.

IF the voice in your head says don’t take him don’t. It’s just not worth it.

IMO this weekend is out unless the impending front is MUCH stronger than anticipated. Doesn’t mean you can’t hunt them but if there is a 50-50 chance why risk it with your buddy?

I can tell you I am bringing my dogs to the camp but likeley not hunting them. I am sure I am in the minority but why risk it? We owe it to our dogs to keep them out of harms way even if it means not doing what they love for a few hunts u til it gets colder.

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That's why even if you are not hunting water where the dog has to swim, you really need to be aware of where your dog is on long marks where they might be chasing a cripple. We might be hunting shallow marsh were the dog never swims but cripples typically swim to banks to escape and those banks are very good spots for gators to sun. Even if lethargic, a dog that just stumbles up on a resting gator chasing a duck could get bit and although probably not fatal, could be career ending.

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pretty sure this is what happened to us with grizzly in january 2014

Good looking hound, congrats.

You might still bring him and just take a teal season approach with him. Kept close to you, leashed if you have to. Use him and his NOSE to find birds fallen in the marsh grass but take him there yourself. Mine hunts teal season on these rules unless I'm hunting something ankle deep or lower, always kept close, never just sent. Don't think the camp walls would contain my dog if I walk out without him this Saturday.

There's still some good to be done for the dog and you to enjoy without having him swimming out into the pond for each bird. Getting a hunt in with all the sounds, sights and smells would be good experience for a young one.