How Two Louisiana Lawmakers Opened a New Recreational Alligator Season

Louisiana hunters holding a lottery tag have until Saturday, Oct. 31, to take their alligators in the state's new recreational season. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries opened all eight harvest zones on Oct. 1 for up to 5,000 hunters under the state cap, each with two hide tags. It took two bills from this spring's session to make the season happen, one from Sen. Robert Allain of Franklin and one from state Rep. Neil Riser of Columbia.

Until this year, Louisiana's wild alligator harvest went through the commercial program, where tags are issued for specific properties and the hides and meat can be sold. LDWF puts that industry's value to the state at more than $250 million a year. The new season runs alongside it as a separate harvest for folks who just want to hunt one of the state's best-known animals.

Allain's Senate Bill 244 is the one that authorized the season. Signed as Act 37 on May 5, it lets the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission set up a special recreational alligator season, independent of the traditional commercial season. Under the act's digest, the commission can set quotas and tag allotments by area, residency rules, and methods and hours of taking. Taking an alligator out of season, without a license or tag, or by an illegal method counts as a class three violation. The bill cleared the Senate 35-0 and the House 92-0.

Riser's House Bill 767 settled what it costs to take part. As Act 33, it created a $50 nonrefundable lottery entry fee, a $25 resident alligator license and a $150 nonresident license, and it sends the lottery money to the state's Conservation Fund. Riser wrote his bill so it would take effect only if Allain's became law, which tied the two together. Both took effect May 5.

The commission didn't wait around. Two days later, on May 7, it approved rules for an Oct. 1-31 season, Louisiana Sportsman reported. "The American Alligator is a true conservation success story, and by being able to have a recreational season, we are able to further promote this success and the rich hunting heritage that makes up the Louisiana way of life," LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth said at the time.

The numbers back him up. Bosworth told the Louisiana Radio Network in August that the coastal zone alone holds roughly 3 million alligators. LDWF's licensing page says the population "has reached a point of full recovery" after decades of work by the department, landowners, hunters and farmers.

The lottery ran Aug. 20-30 on LDWF's licensing website. Applicants had to be Louisiana residents, at least 16 and hunter-education certified, and they paid $50 for each zone they entered. The spots are spread around the state, with 1,250 each in Zones B and C, 500 in Zone A, and 400 in each of Zones D through H. A winning hunter can bring along a nonresident friend, but only in the winner's physical presence. That guest needs the $150 nonresident alligator license and a nonresident basic hunting license.

If you're still out there this week, the rules are worth a second look. A recreational hunter needs a basic hunting license, the $25 alligator license, valid recreational hide tags and written proof of land ownership or the landowner's permission. LDWF notes that lifetime, senior and Sportsman's Paradise licenses don't cover the alligator license. The commission's rules say alligators must be taken by hook and line or snatch hook, anchored or tethered to eligible property. Pole hunting isn't allowed, and neither is shooting free-swimming alligators. Property that already holds commercial alligator tags isn't eligible, and recreational alligators, hides and meat can't be sold.

"The two most important rules are you have to have written land owner permission to hunt where you're hunting on and that property cannot have commercial tags in our commercial tag program issued to that property," Jeb Linscombe of LDWF told Fox 8. Fox 8 also noted that most municipalities prohibit hunting within their limits, so the pond behind a house in the suburbs is off the table.

Once an alligator is down, the hide tag goes on right away, on the underside of the tail about six inches from the tip. Within 72 hours the hunter has to report the tag number, the animal's length, the date and the parish of harvest, through LA Wallet, online or by phone at 225-267-9998. Skip that step and you lose the chance to enter future recreational lotteries.

Those reports will also show the state how the new season went. Bayou Weekly will check back with LDWF on the harvest once the numbers come in, the same way we followed up on Louisiana's first whistling duck season. If you've still got tags, you have through Saturday. If you're already thinking about next year, LDWF's August news release on the lottery points to the zone map and descriptions.

Photo: USFWS Refuge Staff, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.