Changes coming to permit process for this year's state alligator hunt

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will be accepting online applications for Alligator Harvest Permits from 8 a.m. June 6 until 8 a.m. on July 11. But there are some significant changes to the system this year. 

In past years, prospective alligator hunters paid a fee of $22 and applied for an Alligator Tag. One tag allowed the tag holder to harvest one gator. ADCNR distributed 250 tags among five Alligator Management Zones in the state.  

Here is where the process has changed. According to a press release issued by the ADCNR, they are no longer Alligator Tags.

“A total of 260 Alligator Harvest Permits will be distributed among the five AMAs. Individuals may submit one application per management area.” And this year, there is no fee to apply, but there is a $250 fee to claim the Alligator Harvest Permit. Hunters will be randomly selected by computer to receive one harvest permit each. 

This change has raised a lot of questions from potential gator hunters. Chuck Sykes,director of the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries division of the ADCNR, said gators are not covered by the Pittman Robertson Act.  

“Alligators are considered nongame; it’s not a game species,” Sykes said. “Therefore, anything we do for hunting alligators comes out of our license sales.Ce cannot use any federal money for it.” The sale of hunting and fishing licenses is the only other funding WFF gets for its operation. 

“We had to pay for the system somehow,” Sykes said. “What we had done in the past was make everybody pay. But some people complained that was not fair.” Sykes said his department looked at what other states are doing and realized they were charging for alligator licenses, not for the chance to apply. “So, we decided only the people that get drawn (for an Alligator Harvest Permit) will have to pay,” he said.  

The question is whether or not this new fee structure will run off would be gator hunters. Sykes said he hopes it would not deter anyone from joining the hunt. “I have to do what makes financial sense for the department and that allows hunters to utilize the resource, and this is the fairest way we could do it,” Sykes said. 

Little else has changed with the rules and regulations for Alabama’s Alligator Hunt. Everything you need to know can be found at the ADCNR website. 

Applicants can check if they got a permit at the link after 8 a.m. July 12. If you are chosen to receive a harvest permit, you must confirm your acceptance online by 8 a.m. on July 19. After that date, alternates will be notified to fill any vacancies. All hunters selected to get a permitfor the hunt and all alternatesare required to complete an online Alligator Training Course prior to accepting their hunter/alternate status. The course will be available on your status page once you login. 

Unregulated hunting of the American Alligator from the 1920s through the 1940s pushed the species to the brink of extinction. In 1938 Alabama became the first state to protect the American Alligator. By 1967 other states followed suit. By 1987 the species had rebounded so well that it was taken off the endangered species list but remained federally protected. By the 2000s the American Alligator had become so abundant in Alabama that they had become a nuance and even a danger in some areas. In 2006 Alabama instituted an alligator hunt to help control the population. 

Here are the five AMAs in the state, the number of permits issued per zone and the hunt dates for each. 

SOUTHWEST MANAGEMENT AREA –100 Harvest Permits 
Locations: Private and public waters in Baldwin and Mobile counties north of interstate 10, and private and public waters in Washington, Clarke and Monroe counties east of U.S. Highway 43 and south of U.S. Highway 84. 2023 Dates: Sunset on Aug. 10 until sunrise on Aug. 13. Sunset on Aug.17until sunrise on Aug. 20. 
 
COASTAL MANAGEMENT AREA –50 Harvest Permits 
Locations: Private and public waters in Baldwin and Mobile counties south of Interstate 10. 2023 Dates: Sunset on Aug. 10 until sunrise on Aug. 13. Sunset on Aug. 17 until sunrise on Aug. 20. 
 
SOUTHEAST MANAGEMENT AREA –40 Harvest Permits 
Locations: Private and public waters in Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Russell counties (excluding public Alabama state waters in Walter F. George Reservoir/Lake Eufaula and its navigable tributaries). 2023 Dates: Sunset on Aug. 12 until sunrise on Sept. 4. 
 
WEST CENTRAL MANAGEMENT AREA –50 Harvest Permits 
Locations: Private and public waters in Monroe (north of U.S. Highway 84), Wilcox and Dallas counties. 2023 Dates: Sunset on Aug. 10 until sunrise on Aug. 13. Sunset on Aug. 17 until sunrise on Aug. 20. 
 
LAKE EUFAULA MANAGEMENT AREA –20 Harvest Permits 
Locations: Public state waters only in the Walter F. George Reservoir/Lake Eufaula and its navigable tributaries, south of Alabama Highway 208 at Omaha Bridge (excludes Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge). 2023 Dates: Sunset on Aug. 18 until sunrise on Oct. 2.