By Laura Mazur
Community Post
“I wouldn't touch that with a 10-foot pole.”
This is usually a normal saying when talking about something less than desirable. But the Schmiesings, on the other hand, recently used a 10-foot pole to hunt�"for American alligators.

“I've known people to go hunting all around for different things, but not an American alligator,” said Rogell Schmiesing. “It was definitely an experience. It was fun.”
On Oct. 22, the Minster resident and his wife, Caray, ventured to Lake Okeechobee, Fla., for an alligator hunt. Schmiesing had been the highest bidder on the hunt, which was part of an auction at a meeting of Safari Club International, of which he is a member. About 50 hunts were auctioned off during the evening's meeting, which served as the organization's annual fundraiser.
This was Caray Schmiesing's first time hunting, never mind with her husband. Caray had originally gone along on the trip to lay on the beach for a few days, but once there, Rogell encouraged her into participating in the hunt by the promise of an alligator purse.
“It was the first thing I ever killed,” she explained. “I think I could kill an alligator because they just look mean, but I don't think I could kill anything else.”
Rogell has been hunting to South Africa, Ontario, South Carolina, Arizona and California, among other places. He has hunted moose, antelope, sharks, muskies, bear, deer, duck and other creatures.
Starting at dusk, the couple traveled through the night until sunrise and hunted in the marshes. Going through reeds five and six feet high on an air boat, Rogell explained the trip is not for those who dislike the company of spiders and other insects, since the Florida marshes are heavily inhabited by these crawling creatures.
Hunting at night, the two went with the help of a guide and a spotlight. With a spotlight, hunters can locate alligators by seeing the glow of their eyes.
“The guide we had was really good. He had a spotlight on his hat, and by looking at the eyes, he could tell the size of the gator,” said Caray.
Because the gators are used to hunters traveling the waters on a regular basis, the animals have learned to speed away from those trying to capture them. So, those hunting the reptiles must rush up on them in an air boat to “sneak” up on them. Speeding through marshlands between 40 and 50 miles per hour, Rogell's goal was to get a gator 8 feet in length or better.
“It was one of the most exciting hunt I've been on and the only one done at nighttime,” he said. “I was looking for something unique and different to experience.”
The difficulty of the hunt not only lied in it being at night and speeding through waters, but they hunted wild alligators in their inhabitance, instead of it being a trapper's hunt. This second type of hunt is where other hunters trap an animal and set it free in a contained area for other hunters to kill. A certain number of permits are issued each year for wild hunts, depending on the animal population taken by the local division of wildlife.
Using a harpoon attached to a 10-foot pole with a lure attached to a fish spear, the two brought in their hunts. With the spear line attached, a buoy was thrown out and the alligator brought back to the air boat. Once the first spear is thrown at a gator, the animal begins to roll and snap around. The gator is then pulled into the boat and a bang stick, a 5-foot pole loaded with a .44 magnum shell, is shoved into the gator's head at a point behind the eyes to finally kill the animal.
It took about three hours to get Rogell's catch, the first harvested animal of the night. His wife's capture came only a couple hours later, however. Rogell harvested a 9.3 foot long n alligator, and Caray pulled in one 8 feet long. They pulled the gators onto their air boat, which was just short of 13 feet long.
After harvesting the animals, they took them to a local processing plant. As processing plants for chickens, hogs and cattle are available in the local Ohio area, there are alligator processing plants readily available in Florida. The Schmiesings donated their gator meat to the plant and purchased meat that came from a smaller gator to give it a try. But even though it was put together at a gator processing plant, Rogell said the meat tasted like “chewy chicken.” The empty shells of the gators they harvested are currently getting ready to be tanned.
The hunt taught the couple a little more about the wilderness and about hunting as a whole.
“I'd do it again if I got an alligator purse,” laughed Caray.
Their four children, Bryce, 9, Isaac, 7, Mara, 6 and Connor, 1, who they left with Rogell's parents for the five days they were gone, have grown up with a background in hunting and are well-exposed to the sport. Each of the Schmiesing children even receive a B.B. gun for their fifth birthdays. The couple is also expecting their fifth child, who will also grow up to know about the love of hunting.
Rogell is a sales manager for Acculube, in Dayton, and Caray is an account manager for Thor Industries, in Jackson Center.