Mississippi's newest hunting season won't be for everyone.

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50 permits offered for season
By Bobby Cleveland

How to apply

Applications (available online at mdwfp.com or at the wildlife department's Jackson office) must be received by Aug. 15. It costs nothing to apply. A random computer draw will assign the 50 permits, and winners will be notified and must attend an Aug. 27 alligator training course at Turcotte Lab.

Mississippi's newest hunting season won't be for everyone.

The quarry will be one of nature's most frightening critters — the alligator — and it will have to be taken alive and be under restraint before being killed.

Fifty Mississippi hunters, for the first time, will be allowed to capture and remove one alligator each — all on the upper river area of Ross Barnett Reservoir, where the densest population of gators exists in the state. Wildlife officials say the once-threatened and protected species now numbers about 50,000 in Mississippi.

The hunters, chosen through a random computer draw from a pool of applicants, will be issued permits for the six-day season. Sportsmen have until mid-August to apply.

A chance to get an alligator might be too daring for some.

"Not me," said Phillip Arnold of Jackson. "I hunt deer and even tried hand-grabbing catfish, but I'm not ready to hunt something that wants to eat me more than I want to eat him, especially when it's big enough to do it."

For some others, it's a challenge that sounds too good to pass.

"I'm applying for a permit," said Randy Wallace of Brandon. "I think it would be a lot of fun. There's four of us who are applying in hopes we'll get at least one permit. No matter who gets it, all of us will participate."

The season will consist of two three-day weekends, Sept. 16-18 and Sept. 23-25, and each of the 50 permit holders will be allowed to hunt any night in that period until they get their gator. Gators must measure at least four feet in length to be legal, and the permit holder will be allowed to market the meat and hide.

Wildlife officials say they are not turning to hunting as a means of reducing nuisance complaints, which range from snatched pets to scared property owners. Florida has had cases of alligators grabbing children, but no cases have been reported in Mississippi.

Instead, they say alligator numbers are high enough to allow sportsmen a limited harvest opportunity.

"We're at the point where we feel we can give some of our sportsmen a limited opportunity to hunt alligators," said Ricky Flynt, the furbearer/alligator project leader for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. "It is important that people understand that we aren't doing this to annihilate the alligator population. We worked hard to bring them back, and we won't be doing anything to destroy that."

Alligators in close proximity to developed areas have caused some problems in other parts of the state, including the Pelahatchie Bay and Twin Harbor areas of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. Many of the nuisance alligators caught in those two areas were relocated to the upper reservoir, which has little development.

Mississippi is following other states in taking this management step. Louisiana has had an alligator season since 1972 and issues 35,000 tags to an estimated 2,000 hunters statewide. Florida allows 2,500 permits on a first-come, first-served basis. Georgia established a limited season in 2003.

Flynt said September was chosen to protect female alligators. "It coincides with a time that females are either on the nest or staying close to her hatchlings," he said. "They do not get out and roam like the males."

In recent years, Flynt's agency has used specially licensed alligator trappers to remove or relocate nuisance animals. There are 25 such agents statewide who are certified to capture their harvest and market their body parts.

"That's another point in having a season," Flynt said. "We've been averaging between 60 to 200 alligators harvested a year. Why not let the public, or those who are interested, participate?"

Woodie Reaves of Satartia is a licensed gator getter who believes "it's a good idea to give more people a chance, as long as it's done properly." Reaves hunted a nuisance gator in the Pelahatchie Bay area last week.

"I know there are a lot of people who'd like to participate, and they should get that opportunity if there are enough alligators," he said.

It's unlikely hunters will hunt for profit, Reaves said. The revenue produced by capturing one gator will barely cover the cost of a possession permit ($100), a gator hunting license ($25) and other expenses.

Reaves said the market price for alligator hide is about $24 per foot for a class A hide (gators above 8 feet without blemishes).

"I don't sell the meat because it requires too much federal paperwork for what we can get for it," he said. "I eat it or give it away."

The alligator's protected status in the state was changed in 1987, and the authority to manage the population was given to the wildlife commission in 1988, Flynt said.

Earlier this year, the agency changed its policy of capturing only nuisance gators.

"In some of our areas where the (alligator) population is very dense, we have established harvest quotas and given permits to our licensed trappers," Flynt said.

One of those areas was the Ross Barnett Reservoir, the Pelahatchie Bay area in particular.

"Earlier this year, we had to respond to a complaint in the Fox Bay area when a really large alligator ate a homeowner's Labrador retriever," Flynt said. "Another homeowner saw it happen."

Reaves was called, and with the assistance of Flynt and other wildlife officers, the 12-foot, 3-inch gator suspected of snatching the dog was captured.

"I caught him right where the dog went missing and then saw two others, one over 11 feet and the other about 9 feet, and we decided to take them, too," Reaves said.

Flynt said dog remains were found in the stomachs of the gators.

"What we think happened was that the big gator killed the dog and then stashed it under something in the water, because the dog was too big to swallow whole," he said. "Then, after we removed that gator, the other two moved in and ate the dog."

Flynt said the agency has worked hard to control nuisance gators in Pelahatchie Bay, mostly relocating them to the upper river area or to the Mississippi River.

The Pelahatchie Bay area will not be included in the gator hunting season. Only those public reservoir waters located between the Mississippi 43 bridge and the boat ramp at Coal Bluff Water Park will be open.

"There are other areas and other counties that have more alligators total, like the coastal river areas and the Mississippi River and its oxbows, but nowhere is there as many alligators concentrated in such a small place as upper Barnett," Flynt said.

"If all goes well with the season on Barnett, I think those areas (coast, Mississippi River) will be the next areas we would consider conducting a season."

Flynt said the state's last alligator population estimate was made in 2000 and was between 32,000 and 38,000.

"I think that was very conservative, because that count only took public alligator habitat into account," he said. "It didn't factor in private lands or other habitat like sewage lagoons. I'm betting it was more around 50,000 then, and I'm sure it is now because we've had five more years for them to reproduce."

Flynt said the biggest gator he's verified was just more than 13 feet.

"I've only seen two 13-footers, and one of them was on the Rez," he said. "Nothing bigger. Female alligators top out at about 9 feet, while the males get much bigger, much heavier."

Flynt said this first season will be closely monitored and will include a mandatory alligator hunting class in late August at the Turcotte Field Laboratory on Mississippi 43.

The process began last week when the wildlife department posted an application on its Web site (http://www.mdwfp.com).

"We'll be accepting applications through Aug. 15," Flynt said. "As soon as the last applications are entered into the computer on Aug. 15, a computer will randomly draw the 50 applicants who will be awarded a possession permit."

Based on initial comments, Flynt expects between 750 and 1,000 applicants.

When: Two three-day weekends, Sept. 16-18 and Sept. 23-25; legal hours, 6 p.m. to midnight.

Where: Upper Ross Barnett Reservoir, between the Mississippi 43 bridge to the boat ramp at Coal Bluff Water Park. The area has the densest population of alligators in the state, with an average of 13 or 14 gators to the river mile.

Who: Only Mississippi residents are eligible for the drawing for 50 permits, and they must possess a legal combination hunting/fishing license. Permits are $100, are not transferrable and are valid for only one gator. A $25 gator license also is required, and any other persons assisting in the hunt must also have a $25 gator license and a valid resident or nonresident combination hunting/fishing license.

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I'm in. Bowfishing extrem baby!
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they are only accepting applications from august 1- 15. Also if you apply more than once, you are automatically tossed out.