It was a cool Sunday morning on B.A. Steinhagen Lake as the air boat drew closer to the where the hunters set their bait the day before. The bait was gone, but, about 20 feet away floated an ominous looking patch of greenery.
Quickly, a second hunter, Sgt. 1st Class William R. Poe went over and both pulled upward on the line. Their eyes widened as a massive alligator head emerged from beneath the floating grass with its mouth wide open and a bad attitude.
After 30 minutes of battle with their catch both Soldiers assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion at the San Antonio Military Medical Center claimed victory over the 12-foot, 2-inch, and 455-pound alligator.
Poe and Boorse, along with retired Staff Sgt. William Bighouse and former U.S. Marine Cpl. Cody E. Hammer, took part in a wounded warrior alligator hunt hosted by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Pineywoods Ecosystem Project and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District’s Town Bluff Project Office.
“I think these hunts are great, the entire program is awesome,” said Bighouse, a veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. “Wounded Warrior programs not only offer help to those who are wounded, but gives peace of mind, there are people looking out for them.”
The weekend hunt kicked off Sept. 15 with a safety brief and lunch before the four were taken out on the lake to find their lucky spots. Each hunter, with help from one another and volunteers from the Sam Rayburn and Town Bluff Project Offices, set their lines and put out their bait in the hopes of snagging one of the elusive reptiles. They wouldn’t have to wait too long, by the time all the traps were set, Bighouse and Boorse would discover that their bait had already been taken. Boorse returned with a 7-foot, 2-inch, 48-pound gator and Bighouse wrangled a 6-foot, 42-pounder.