What a Hunter Can and Cannot Do
A Hunter Must:
- Be a properly licensed recreational alligator hunter with department-issued hide tags during open season.
- Carry valid recreational hide tags for the season and zone being hunted, plus written evidence of land ownership or landowner permission.
- Dispatch an alligator before releasing it from any taking device; properly attach the recreational hide tag immediately upon possession; remove the alligator from the harvest area.
- Dispose of alligator carcass remains properly.
- Make reasonable efforts to retrieve any hooked, wounded, or killed alligator and protect edible meat from waste.
A Hunter Must NOT:
- Sell, barter, or commingle recreationally-taken alligators, hides, meat, or parts with commercial-tag alligators. Processors must not accept recreational tags for commerce.
- Transfer, sell, assign, gift, loan, or convey a recreational hide tag — tags are nontransferable.
- Conduct, advertise, or participate in any for-hire guided alligator hunt using a recreational hide tag.
- Intentionally take a white or albino alligator
- Wantonly waste an alligator — includes failing to retrieve, intentionally abandoning edible meat, or taking without intent to reduce to possession.
- Dispose of carcass remains in public lands, rights-of- way, or waterbodies.
Recreational alligator hide tags are nontransferable and may not be used on properties already allocated commercial alligator hide tags.
Wild Harvest Methods
Allowed:
- Hook and line, or snatch hook only — anchored, tethered, or originating from immovable eligible property with written landowner permission.
- Daylight hours only.
- A firearm or bang stick may be used to dispatch an alligator after it has been taken on hook and line. Dispatch may be done from a boat once secured to the line.
- Up to two (2) lines per unused tag. All lines must be labeled with the hunter's LDWF customer number on weatherproof material.
- Hooks require a line rated at least 300 pound test, securely attached, with the other end anchored to eligible property.
Prohibited
- Pole hunting is prohibited.
- Shooting of free-swimming alligators is prohibited.
- Taking outside of daylight hours or outside the special season designated by the Commission.
- Taking without valid licenses or tags, or by illegal methods.
- Exceeding the two-lines-per-unused-tag limit, or using lines not rated to 300-pound test.
- Leaving baited lines in the water outside the authorized 24-hour pre-season window or past sunset on the last day of the season.
For general information, email laalligatorprogram@wlf.la.gov.