Toby Benoit

The documentary The Python Hunt received an exclusive preview screening on February 28 at the Brooksville Beacon Theaters, hosted by the Hernando Sun. The event was attended by several individuals featured in the film, including local guide and Hernando Sun writer Toby Benoit and fellow python hunter Jimbo McCartney and the film's director and producer, Xander Robin. Following the screening, Benoit, McCartney, and Robin participated in a Q&A session with the audience.

I get a lot of people asking me where to go to hunt. We have a great system of public land access, but our public lands are not open year round for hunting.

I've got a couple of things to visit with you about this week. One item is shared with us from Jason Beyer, a proud grandpa telling us all about the giant cobia his grandson Barret, aka Bear, landed recently on a fishing trip with his daddy Gave Beyer.

It's that time of year again; time for an army of hopeful Python pithers to invade our Everglades. They all have their reasons for wanting to pith the brains of a Burmese python, but the one thing they do have in common; $25,000 in cash. You see, our Governor has always been a fan of the Python Challenge and uses this ten day competition to bring awareness of this ecological nightmare.

The Florida Python Challenge 2026 is a wrap folks. Ten days worth of Python hunting deep into the back country of our Everglades and all parts accessible. It's been insane. It's been unbearably hot and humid, the bug swarms as thick as coastal fog and the crowds of hopeful hunters descending on the back roads and levees make it so hard on everyone; including experienced hunters.

With the popularity of trail cameras these days, as well as other technology, simplifying the hunting/scouting process, is it making woodsman ship obsolete?

I tell ya folks, it's hot out there. Hot enough to melt this fat old man into a puddle of sweat. But I never could get used to staying indoors. So hot or not, I'm still outdoors, hunting and guiding hunts for hogs. Which is fair, because the hogs are hot too.

I feel the need to visit with y'all this week about alligators and the recent occurrences of folks receiving their overdose of Florida via alligator encounters. First off, none of these people who've lost their lives nor the folks who've lost limbs have been native Floridians. So, I guess it's easy to assume they just don't know the dangers they put themselves in by being unaware of the threat. More often than not, the injured parties reportedly had seen alligators in the vicinity but discounted the danger and carried on with their chosen activities, failing to monitor the gator they already knew was there.

I'll admit it, folks, here lately, whenever I get my belly set to receive a fine mess of frog legs, I just go down to my favorite little restaurant in Nobleton. They're often on the menu and always delicious. It satisfies my cravings and requires a lot less effort to acquire a decent supper's worth.

Folks like to ask me what I'm hunting and this time of year, the answer is most often, hogs. Now, lots of folks will tell you that hunting hogs in the August heat is way too hard it can be. Harder still if you make a poor shot on a big boar while it's hotter than Hell's back pasture. But, summer can be a great time to hunt hogs as they're not prone to range far and wide and can be easier to pattern. A fresh pile of pork in my freezer is reason enough to donate a whole lot of sweat for the effort, but my upcoming hunts also have another motivation. I try to keep some of the less fortunate in our community's freezers filled as well. So, as long as it's on my mind, I'll tell you a few things that can put the odds in your favor if you too want to poke a pig or two with an arrow.