Here is what you will need bleach , soap, a scrub brush a few different knifes and also a spoon or scraper to flesh the hide and a Gator. Make sure you sever his spine at the base of his skull, and sever the 2 arteries that run in the base of the skull along each side of the spinal column so the gator bleeds out
First spray the gator with bleach then rinse in a couple minutes . Put the gator in a cooler for 24 hrs at about 36 degrees or an ice cooler full of ice will work.. Take gator out and scrub him with soapy water and bleach to remove algae and any bacteria that was left behind after the first bleaching process, Rinse thouroughly
Put gator up on table and begin making your outline cut with short bladed knife. You want to leave one row of scutes (the rough part of the back panel } for the tanners to use while tanning
here is the back of the gator note all leg cuts are on the top of the legs
Follow along top edge of tail until there is a line in the gators hide you can follow . When you get near the tip of the tail then leave the last 6 to 8 inches of fins intact
Remove back panel with an upward motion of your knife so you dont remove meat with back panel. The Back panel has no value unless you want to save the bony scutes that are in it
The tail fin portion you left intact needs to be split so the tail bone isnt left in the hide
Begin working hide down evenly along the length of the gator
when working under its legs leave some skin attached at the ankle so its easier to skin under its legs . The armpit area is easy to cut accidentally
Once hide is worked down evenly on both sides flip gator on its back
Be careful around ribs and vent area so you dont cut the hide
this is what you should end up with
Once hide is removed scrape or pressure wash (Carefully) to remove any meat from hide then salt with UNiodized salt.
Fold then roll hide up start by folding in chin then legs and roll it tightly from its head towards its tail and keep hide at 36 degrees for storage
do not FREEZE!
Now comes the part I like the meat! I just remove feet then legs and begin removing muscle groups .
All meaty parts of the gator are tasty my favorite is the jowls and tenderloin but the legs are tasty BBQed
I will show you where a gators tenderloin is it starts at the hind leg on the under side of the tail
Remove all meat dont cut into gut cavity ! An Alligator has lots of bacteria in its stomach and can ruin the meat just by spilling fluids on it. Also remove fat and scar tissue in meat
This is what you should end up with. I got about 12 lbs of good meat of that 5 1/2 ft gator
Enjoy its tasty fried