One of the greatest comeback stories in Louisiana wildlife is the alligator. Harvesting wild alligator eggs and raising a percentage of those alligators for release back into the wild has created a great recovery of a nearly lost resource.
Ryan Evans of Grand Lake is an avid outdoorsman and alligator hunter. He was born in Washington, D.C., but spent much of his time growing up with his mother’s family in Louisiana near the McCains Pond homestead in Grand Lake.
Evans began learning to alligator hunt as an early teen, and by his late teens was hunting them solo. Today, he has harvested more alligators than can be counted, with his largest to date being 11 feet 10 inches. He is still after the elusive 12-footer.
Louisiana is divided into east and west alligator hunting zones. The east zone opens the last Wednesday of August; the west zone opens the first Wednesday in September. Each zone remains open for 60 days.
Licensed alligator hunters must apply for tags through the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. They issue a designated number of tags per acre, depending on the habitat and the estimated number of alligators in the area.
Gear
Evans has hunted alligators from the Johnson Bayou on 20,000 acres of marsh all the way east to Grand Lake on smaller tracts of marshland. He uses varying types of anchor systems in the marsh, as there is often an absence of trees to tie off to as an anchor point.
“I use metal rods, T-Post metal fencing, bamboo and natural habitat to anchor the lines,” he said.
Evans uses about 30 feet of soft white nylon line with a heavy black leader and an extra-large hook. The bait, usually chicken and sometimes even roadkill, is then suspended over the water about 6 inches to attract an alligator. Evans can set close to 100 lines in a day. They rest for 24 hours, then he returns to check for hooked alligators.
“A hooked alligator can be an extremely dangerous encounter, difficult to subdue and even tougher to get into a boat,” he said.
Evans communicates with buyers prior to the season to sell both the meat and the hide. Years ago, an alligator could sell for more than $50 a foot. However, that same alligator today will bring $10 to $12 a foot and occasionally a hunter will get lucky with a $20 a foot hide.
The cost per foot is also impacted by the length of the alligator and the environment the alligators live in. Freshwater alligators often have very little belly scarring and may go for a higher price, while alligators that live in a brackish marsh with oysters may have more belly scarring and sell for a lower price.
Evans has advice for those who dare to venture into the pursuit of wild alligators.
“Ignore what you see on reality television shows,” he said. “Alligators are wild and dangerous. Never lose respect for the alligator, and never get complacent.”
