Alligator Hunting
Licenses required to harvest alligators in Louisiana depend on your residency status and your access to private and/or public lands/lakes.
Residents
- Resident Alligator Sports Hunter license can be purchased at LouisianaOutdoors.com.
Residents can hunt alligators on private lands they own or have permission to hunt, or on public lands/lakes accessed through bidding or lottery. They must have a valid Alligator Hunter License and alligator harvest tags. Hunters must carry their license and current tags specific to the property they are hunting on. Tags are property-specific and must be used only on the designated property. The license is also required to possess or sell wild alligators, their skins, or parts.
- Resident Alligator Hunter Licenses cost $25.
- There are no additional fees to harvest alligators on private lands.
- Fees for harvesting alligators on public lands/lakes vary by program (lottery or commercial bid) and the agreed value per alligator.
Individuals harvesting alligators for a licensed hunter must have a Helper License. Licensed helpers can hunt independently. Anyone involved in baiting, checking lines, dispatching, snaring, or shooting alligators must be licensed. Observers not actively involved do not need a license.
- A Helper License costs $25 and must bear the name and license number of the associated hunter(s). Only residents may apply for a Helper License.
Alligator hunters who have already applied for an Alligator Hunter or Helper license may now pay for their license online at the link below.
- PLEASE NOTE: This is not an option for new hunters who have not previously been issued an alligator license. Alligator hunters who pay for their license online will still be required to pick up their license and tags in person at their tag-issuing LDWF office.
Residents who do not have access to either private or public lands/lakes may harvest alligators for sport as a licensed Alligator Sport Hunter while accompanied by a guide (a licensed alligator hunter, or his or her helper, who possesses alligator harvest tags). Sport hunters must always be accompanied by a licensed hunter or helper.
- Resident Alligator Sport Hunter Licenses cost $25.
Nonresidents
- Nonresident Alligator Sports Hunter license can be purchased at LouisianaOutdoors.com.
Nonresident landowners may hunt alligators on private lands they own with an Alligator Hunter License and alligator harvest tags. Hunters must carry on their person their license as well as one or more current alligator harvest tags for the property on which they are hunting. Tags are property specific and must be used on the property indicated on the hunter’s license. Alligator hunters must also have their license in possession to possess or sell wild alligators, their skins, or parts.
- Nonresident Landowner Alligator Hunter Licenses cost $150.
- There is no cost for alligator tags for private lands.
Nonresidents who do not own land may only harvest alligators for sport as a licensed Alligator Sport Hunter while accompanied by a guide (a licensed alligator hunter, or his or her helper, who possesses alligator harvest tags). Sport hunters must always be accompanied by a licensed hunter or helper.
- Nonresident Alligator Sport Hunter Licenses cost $150.