By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald

If you want to hunt alligators legally, you have to abide by a lot of rules. The rules are in place to protect alligator numbers and also keep those numbers in check, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Due to widespread and unregulated hunting in the early-to-mid 20th century, the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) was classified as “endangered” in 1967. However, through conservation efforts in the ensuing 20 years, alligator populations rebounded to the point that their “endangered” status was lifted in 1987. The now-flourishing alligator population in Georgia is managed by a limited harvest during a tightly regulated hunting season. Statewide, about 1,000 alligators can be legally hunted each year. Hunted alligators must be at least 48-inches long from snout to tail.

Alligator hunting season is usually around six weeks starting in mid-August and ending in early October. Hunting season in 2024 ran from sunset on Aug. 16 to sunrise on Oct. 7. In addition to being so specific on the starting and ending times, the application period to acquire one of the limited number of tags or permits is brief. Applications are taken starting in June. Georgia is divided into 11 zones for alligator hunting; and a limited number of tags are issued in each zone.

Effingham County is in “Zone 8” along with Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, parts of Chatham County, Evans and Liberty counties.

Being selected to receive a tag requires a lot of luck and even more patience.

“Every year you apply and are not selected, you earn a point,” Sawyer Hunt, a local alligator hunter, explains. Points can be accumulated and exchanged to get a better chance of being selected.

“I had 12 points in 2020. I used six and got drawn for a gator tag in Zone Eight; and I used another six to get guaranteed a draw last year,” Hunt explained.

Hunt did not receive a tag for 2024, but he hires himself out to help lucky tag holders dispatch their own gators. The tag allows the holder to dispatch (kill) one gator. But since hunted gators must be a minimum of 48 inches in most zones (and can weigh anywhere from 500 to 700 lbs. or more) it’s okay to form a hunting party with up to three hunters. According to DNR rules, everybody in the hunting party must have a valid hunting license; and the holder of the gator tag is responsible for one gator.

“Gator hunting is one of the most dangerous sports out there,” Hunt said. “The more help you have, the better off you’ll be.”

Hunt added that according to DNR rules, once the alligator is spotted, the tag holder has to have a “point of attachment” such as with a hook or harpoon, and that’s just common sense, according to Hunt.

“Once you dispatch a gator, all the air is let out and it sinks to the bottom. You won’t know where the gator is.” Hunt said. And if there’s a current, a dead gator would be almost impossible to find.

Alligators, of course, are fighters. “(Once hooked) gators will throw up their heads and bite the boat,” Hunt said. “Happens almost every time. I’ve had gators almost rip the aluminum off my boat.” One 12-footer that Hunt helped harpoon, bit the boat and started spinning – the deathroll technique gators use to kill prey by overpowering, crushing, or drowning it.

“I was afraid he was going to rip the boat to shreds,” Hunt said. But if gators can’t spin it, they’ll just let go, Hunt added.

“Before the hunt begins, we get a processor in mind. I use Old River Road Taxidermy in Bloomingdale. Harold Porterfield over there has been a big help as far as he’s probably one of the best around,” Hunt said.

The “process” includes removing the skin, and preparing the head to mount.

After the dead gator is processed, the meat is taken off the bone for the hunter to take home. Hunt said some people like to have the meat processed into gator bites or sausage, but he prefers to take his gator meat home and process it himself.

“I cut off all the fat,” Hunt said. “You don’t want to eat the fat. It’s not like beef where fat makes the meat tastier. Gator fat tastes like rotten catfish.”

“But the meat is the best meat you’ll ever eat,” Hunt added. “It’s lean protein.”

Unfortunately, you can’t get wild gator meat in stores or restaurants.

Hunter added that it’s against USDA laws for restaurants to serve wild-caught alligator meat, so the alligator burger ordered in a restaurant comes from farm-raised alligators.

“Some people say there isn’t a difference (in taste), but I believe there is,” Hunt said.

Hunt added that as a hunter and fisherman, anything wild caught tastes better than store bought.

 Helping hunters who are lucky enough to get an alligator tag is part-time for now, but Hunt is hoping he can do this full-time someday.

To connect with Hunt, check out his Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/Sawyerhunt.