HORATIO, Ark. - Liz Bowman is not your typical elementary schoolteacher.
Liz, a fifth-grade social studies teacher at the local elementary school, caught a 12-foot alligator recently during Arkansas' brief alligator season. Liz has enjoyed hunting since she was a girl, but alligator hunting is a relatively new sport for her. "I grew up hunting with my dad, but this is only the second year I've been alligator hunting," she said. "It was exciting but kind of scary also because it was a really big alligator."
Liz has been surprised at the attention her alligator hunt has received.
"I certainly didn't think it would go that far. I've been contacted by the Corps of Engineers about being on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Game and Fish web page," she said.
Liz said the publicity is good for promoting hunting and living an outdoor lifestyle.
"There are so many people who have said they didn't even realize Arkansas has an alligator hunting season and now they are talking about it and that's pretty cool," she said.
The hunt was the last two weekends of September.
"I was one of about 100 Arkansas hunters to receive a 2019 Gator Permit. This was my second time to receive a gator permit. In last year's hunt, I tagged a 7.5-foot male gator. However, this year I was able to tag a monster 12 footer. I came upon this one and was close enough to harpoon it," Liz said.
Her permit allowed her to tag one gator no smaller than 4 feet long. It was for Zone 1, Little River Wildlife Management Area, which starts below Millwood Spillway on Little River and ends where the river connects to Red River.
The hunt began 30 minutes after sunset and ended 30 minutes before sunrise.
Permit holders are allowed three helpers who have an Arkansas hunting license. The permit holder has to be the one to harpoon the gator with a hand harpoon and then discharge it with a shotgun once it is has been harpooned. The helpers are able to help before and after the permit holders are successful at their duties.
Liz's helpers were her husband, Clay Bowman, of Horatio, her cousin Chad Tucker of Mineral Springs and her cousin Nathan Gaddis of Three Rivers, Texas.
Gaddis was able to help because he purchased a three-day, out of-state resident Arkansas hunting license.
"I was fortunate enough to fulfill my tag with a large 12-foot male gator. The gator was taken about midway from the spillway and Fulton in Little River County," Liz said.
Horatio is about 45 miles north of Texarkana and Millwood Lake is about halfway between the two towns.
According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansans harvested 84 alligators this season out of 147 tags.
Liz was excited to share the news with her students when she returned to school.
"I just love seeing their eyes light up when they hear that their teacher is a gator hunter," she said. "It is such a reward because they see that you can do just about anything you set your mind to with hard work and dedication."
It also helps that her students think she's "tough" for going alligator hunting.
"My students think it's neat I enjoy being outdoors," she said.
The gator's head will be mounted as a trophy and the meat cooked.
"I actually cooked gator meat for my students last year," she said. "They loved it." n