Ty Barker - From The Pathfinder School lands Monster Alligator with Dave Canterbury.
- Dan Lake
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Ty Barker and Dave Canterbury from The Pathfinder School at Self Reliance Outfitters Fishing for Dinosaurs Down in the US Everglades. Id say that’s a good days fishing!
A little About Ty and the Pathfinder School
If most people where to say they were going fishing for alligators you would wonder if they were mentally sane, seeing as these pre-historic creatures are from a family of reptiles with the strongest biting force in nature, and have an ability to twist and pop a mans leg off, drown you and eat parts of you all at the same time!!
But for Ty and Dave and the other Instructors at The Pathfinder school and Self Reliance Outfitters this sort of behaviour is pretty normal. Infact its encouraged and a valuable skill in food procurement.
Dave himself was a snake handler for a good while and has no fear of reptiles and is known for his expert level trapping skills which includes Reptiles also which he has obviously passed onto Ty who is a Black Hat Instructor at the school.
Becoming a black hat means the other black hats must Vote on your “acceptance” as a black hat after finishing the rigorous training and testing. This means not anybody can even get this far at the school, which is a testament not only to their knowledge but mental endurance and personality too id say.
Ty is no stranger to danger himself and has led an incredible career in law enforcement and has experience serving on various specialized units such as the Central West Virginia Drug and Violent Crimes Unit, K9 Unit, detective unit, school resource officer, CIU unit, SEU unit and US Marshall task force. Additionally, he is a dedicated volunteer firefighter.
Recently, Ty pursued his dream of teaching others as a Pathfinder School instructor and completed the program in November 2023, where he received his Tan Hat, He then leveled up once more and received his Black Hat in June 2024. He now teaches at the Pathfinder School in Jackson, Ohio and loves sharing his passion for the outdoors and passing on valuable skills to both his family and students.
BACK TO THE ALLIGATOR
So how do you end up catching an alligator as part of your job?
So we got these words from Ty about it -
“So from the beginning of my journey to now, I followed Dave Canterbury for quite a while and after retiring from law enforcement. I decided to pursue my dream as a Pathfinder Instructor so I took all of the required classes, finished the required on the job training, and then received my tan and black hat.
As far as the alligator hunt, I went to learn the process so that we could put together an upcoming class where we will take a boat out to an island in the Everglades in southern Florida.
We will be processing an alligator and iguana, spear fishing, all whilst teaching students to survive off of the landscape.
As far as the hunt itself, we used large fishing poles to hook the alligator and then had to reel for about 1 1/2 hours, then whilst still in the water tape the mouth shut whilst placing a rope around the alligator and drag it in on the shore which took another 30 mins.
We used all parts of the alligator from the skull, the hide and all of the meat was brought back and stored.”
WOW!! - 1.5 Hours Hooked into an Alligator and 30 minutes to land it!!!
As you can hear guys this isn't your average days fishing at all. Normally theres no possibility of becoming the bait!!
Use the slider below to see what deep fried alligator looks like. I can nearly taste it personally.
As Ty said “all parts of the beautiful beast where brought back to the school and used or stored” and im sure fed many of the staff, or will do in the future on the BBQ at The Pathfinder School. Full Respect is given to these animals and absolutely nothing that can be used is wasted.
Im not going to lie - Eating alligator in Ohio with Ty and Dave from my point of view seems pretty Badass. Not much opportunity to fish for gators in London or even taste one.
Ive seen a few people on TV catching cayman, crocs and gators but this one is a beast - Ty and Dave think about 300lb and a Huge 10ft,1inch!! A true Monster.
So there you guys, thats how you get to catch alligators as part of your living. What an awesome job, i cant say im not jealous at all but theres a huge amount of respect there for the guys at Self Reliance Outfitters and The Pathfinder School alike obviously!!
If you want to follow TY and find more wilderness expertise or be Taught by Ty here are his Social accounts so you can learn, follow or even make contact -
Ty Barker TAC Survival - Facebook
TAC Survival - Instagram
TAC Survival - Tik Tok
TAC Survival - Youtube
If your looking for The Pathfinder School and Self Reliance Outfitters Directly which is Daves Company then follow this link too - Self Reliance Outfitters
Id like to thank Ty for Spending the time working with me to get this Blog to you guys, hes a professional guy and an expert in his field.
He should know any time he ever needs me to help reel a gator in just let me know in advance haha - Thanks Ty and i Hope all you guys enjoy reading this.
Dan Lake - Bushcraft and Survival UK
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