Alabama’s 2024 alligator hunting season is in session for those who are licensed and authorized to hunt the large reptile. Alabamians can only participate in the state’s specific harvesting season by way of a special permit, which is approved by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR).
“Alligator hunting is not like deer hunting or squirrel hunting. There are only a limited number of permits issued,” said Marianne Gauldin from ADCNR’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division. “If someone is interested in Alligator hunting, they have to register for the random computerized selection. If they are drawn, they can hunt during alligator hunting season.”
Alligators were overhunted from the 1920s to the 1940s in the United States for their meat and leather to the point of near extinction, reports ADCNR. During this time, there were no regulations for how much an individual could harvest alligators.
In 1938, Alabama became the first state to impose regulations that outlawed unlimited harvesting. These same regulations have been carried into the present with strict regulations on where in the Yellowhammer State the creatures can be harvested.
“Alligators cannot be hunted statewide. They can only be hunted in certain areas where the population will support the activity,” Gauldin explained. “We have a Southwest management area. In that area, 100 tags are given. [In] a coastal management area, 50 tags, [and in the] southeast management area, 40 tags. West Central is 50 tags, and Lake Eufaula is 20 tags.”
Each of the zones have specific times that hunters are allowed to harvest alligators. That includes the state’s official sunrise to sunset for Southwest, Coastal, Southeast and West central management areas, and daytime and nighttime hours for the Lake Eufaula management area.
Because of the overharvesting of alligators in the 20th century, alligators were placed on the endangered species list in 1967, reports ADCNR. This was reversed in 1987 once the species’ numbers increased. Today, the animal is federally protected.
Gauldin said the harvesting of alligators, as well as other animals in Alabama, is to help sustain the environment. Not to eliminate an entire species.
“All game species in Alabama are managed for their sustainable use. So, just as the other game species that people are more familiar with hunting, such as waterfowl, Turkey or deer, have special seasons and bag limits. Alligators also have limited seasons and bag limits,” Gauldin explained. “These bag limits are determined based on the numbers that the population can support the activity, and so you can't overharvest. We're not trying to eradicate the species. We're trying to make sure that the space the species remains sustainable.”
The ADCNR states each person receiving an Alligator Harvest Permit will be allowed to harvest one alligator. Alligators harvested in the Lake Eufaula zones must be a minimum of eight feet long.
More information about Alabama’s 2024 alligator hunting, including season dates, can be found here.
