Alligator Hunting Expands for 2007
By DAVID RAINER
After the success of last year’s inaugural alligator season in Alabama, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division has significantly increased the opportunity for hunters to bag a gator for the 2007 season.
Last year, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) issued 50 tags to be used exclusively in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. This year, the number of tags for the Delta has doubled to 100, while a season for Lake Eufaula has been added with an additional 40 tags. The hunters were chosen by a computer-generated random drawing, and the lucky individuals have been notified.
The first season in the Delta starts at 8 p.m. Aug. 17 and ends at 6 a.m. Aug. 20. The second seasons starts at 8 p.m. Aug. 24 and ends at 6 a.m. Aug. 27. There is only one season at Eufaula, which starts at 8 p.m. Aug. 23 and ends at 6 a.m. Aug. 26.
Chuck Sharp, head wildlife biologist at the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries’ office in Spanish Fort, said the 2006 season was very successful and has allowed WFF to fine tune the process for this season.
“We were set up last year for 50 tags, but only 46 people showed up for the mandatory safety class,” Sharp said. “Because of the time constraints, we weren’t able to get the alternates in to fill those positions. Hopefully, we have alleviated that problem by having the alternates attend the class as well. Out of the 46 tags, 40 of them were successful in taking an alligator. We don’t know what the story is on the other six tags. We do know that a couple of them could only hunt a day or two and had to go back to work or whatever. So we don’t know exactly how much effort they made.
 The minimum size for the alligators that can be hunted is 6 feet in total length, but Sharp said that wasn’t a problem last year.
“We didn’t have any alligators taken that were anywhere close to the minimum,” he said. “All of them were over seven feet. The largest was 12 feet, 4 inches and weighed 461 pounds.”
Sharp said the response from the public has been almost all positive.
“We made a lot of effort toward safety, encouraging them to follow all the rules and regulations,” he said. “We had a few minor problems. One guy cut his hand and one boat got bitten by an alligator. Other than that, it was positive. The media response was positive. We had several TV stations that did live broadcasts from the checking station during the hunts.”
Because the growth of the alligator population had gone unchecked for decades, there are plenty of gators around for the hunters to stalk.
“We do a survey each year, where we survey certain bays in the Delta,” Sharp said. “We use the same bays and basically the same route some time in July. It usually takes consecutive nights to get it finished. We usually count from 900 to 1,200 during that time period. It does fluctuate, as does any survey. We haven’t run this year’s yet, but we know those taken last year have not impacted the population. We’ve still received as many nuisance calls this year as we have in the past, if not more. That may be just a product of more people moving into the area instead of what the alligator is doing. The population is still pretty much on the growth side.
“We felt like 50 tags was a low number last year, but we wanted to make sure we had our feet on the ground and collect a little data. Plus, we wanted to make sure we had the kinks worked out of our methods. The intent was to increase the number over the years and possibly even expand the boundary lines. We added Eufaula with 40 tags. We’re starting off conservative there, too. There are a lot of alligators in the creeks and we get a lot of complaints there, as well.”
The two areas where hunts will be held are completely different habitat. The Delta is a vast maze of swamps, bays, lakes and sloughs, while Eufaula is a man-made impoundment with mainly open water.
“I don’t expect much to be happening on the lake, but all the creeks have historically had a lot of alligators, as far up as you can go on the creeks,” said Sharp of Eufaula, who grew up in Barbour County. “This is just another opportunity for us to provide the hunter an opportunity to take an alligator and resolve some of those issues, as well.”
For the Delta, hunters may take one alligator at least six feet in total length from the private and public waters of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta south of Interstate 65, west of Alabama Highway 225, north of U.S. 31, north and east of U.S. Truck Route 90 to intersection of U.S. Highway 43, and east of U.S. Highway 43.
For Eufaula, the area open to hunting is the public waters of Walter F. George Reservoir (Lake Eufaula) and its tributaries from the dam site to the Omaha Bridge (AL 208/GA 39 Spur) in south Russell County, except for waters within the boundaries of the Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge.
“We’re in the middle of preparing our mandatory safety classes,” Sharp said. “Not only those who were selected will have to be there, but any alternates that were selected need to attend the same. If we have some who don’t show up, those spots will be made available to the alternates if they attend the class. So even if you are on down the list, you may jump up quite a bit after that class.”
The course for the Mobile-Tensaw Delta will be held twice on Aug. 4th at the 5 Rivers complex in Spanish Fort. The first class will be from 10 a.m. until noon. The second class will be from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Upon completion of the course, drawn applicants will be eligible for an Alligator Possession Tag.
At Eufaula, the course will be held once on Aug. 11th at the Chamber of Commerce Office in Eufaula. The class will be from 10 a.m. until noon. Upon completion of the course, drawn applicants will be eligible for an Alligator Possession Tag.
Sharp said hunters will not be allowed to pick and choose which location they will attend.
“Because of specific issues at each location, we are requiring the hunters and alternates to attend the class associated with the hunt they have been drawn for,” he said. “They’ve got a state line at Eufaula they need to be aware of, as well as the wildlife refuge boundaries. So we felt that it was the best for all that they attend the class associated with their hunt.
The approved capture and dispatch methods are as follows: Alligators must be captured and brought adjacent to the boat prior to shooting or otherwise dispatching the animal. It is unlawful to shoot at or kill an unrestrained alligator. Restrained is defined as an alligator that has a noose or snare secured around the neck or leg in a manner that the alligator is controlled. Capture methods are restricted to hand-held snares, snatch hooks (hand-held or rod/reel), harpoons (with attached line), and bowfishing equipment (with line attached from arrow to bow). No use of bait is allowed.
All alligators, if legal, must be dispatched immediately after capture or released. Firearms used for dispatching an alligator are restricted to shotguns with shot size no larger than #4 and bangsticks chambered in .38 caliber or larger. All shotguns and bangsticks must be cased and unloaded at all times until a restraining line has been attached to the alligator. No other firearm or ammunition may be in possession of the permittee or hunting party. No firearm or bangstick may be discharged within 100 yards of any residence, building, boat ramp, or occupied campsite. A Temporary Alligator Possession Tag, supplied by Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, must be attached to the alligator’s tail, as demonstrated in the training course, immediately after being dispatched and prior to moving or transporting.
Sharp said last year that just about every method of capture available was tried, and several were more successful than others.
“The method that was most utilized was the hook on a rod and reel, casting it over the gator and hooking it,” he said. “Once they got one in the gator, they could usually get another one in him to get him to the boat. We had some who used harpoons. Simply because they had to get closer to use the harpoon, it made that a little more difficult. Most of them used a snare when they got them close to the boat, but I don’t think anybody used it as a primary method of capture.
“The gators felt the pressure pretty quick. At the first sign of boat traffic, they became a little more secretive."
What the hunters did with their bagged gators was as varied as the methods, according to Sharp.
“Some consumed some of it,” he said. “One man donated his gator to 5 Rivers. It was mounted and is on display. One other person had a full-sized mount and others just had the head mounted. We had a few who intended to have the hides tanned then boots made out of them, but they found out how expensive that was going to be and backed away from that.”
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