Alligator Hunt Registration Opens June 7 | Outdoor Alabama

The Alabama Division of Conservation and Pure Assets (ADCNR) will open on-line registration for the state’s regulated alligator hunts on June 7, 2022, at 8 a.m. Registration have to be accomplished by 8 a.m., July 13. For full season data, go to www.outdooralabama.com/seasons-and-bag-limits/alligator-season.

A complete of 260 Alligator Possession Tags will probably be distributed amongst 5 searching zones. The executive payment to use for an Alligator Possession Tag is $22 and people might register one time per zone. Whereas the tag is free, the chosen hunters and their assistants are required to have legitimate searching licenses of their possession whereas searching.

Solely Alabama residents and Alabama lifetime license holders ages 16 years or older might apply for tags. Alabama lifetime license holders might apply for an Alligator Possession Tag even when they’ve moved out of the state.

Hunters will probably be randomly chosen by laptop to obtain one Alligator Possession Tag every (the tags are non-transferable). The random choice course of will make the most of a desire level system. The system will increase the chance of repeat registrants being chosen for a hunt so long as the applicant continues to use. The extra years an applicant participates within the registration, the upper the chance of being chosen. If an applicant doesn’t register for the hunt in a given 12 months or is chosen and accepts a tag for a hunt, the desire level standing is forfeited.

Candidates can verify their choice standing on July 13, after 12 p.m., at https://publichunts.dcnr.alabama.gov/public. These chosen to obtain a tag should affirm their acceptance on-line by 8 a.m., July 20. After that date, alternates will probably be notified to fill any vacancies. Candidates drawn for the hunt are required to finish a web-based Alligator Coaching Course previous to accepting their hunter/alternate standing. The official course will probably be out there on the applicant’s standing web page upon login.

If chosen for an Alligator Possession Tag at two or extra places, hunters should select which location they want to hunt. The slot for places not chosen will probably be stuffed from an inventory of randomly chosen alternates.

Looking zones, whole tags issued per zone and hunt dates are as follows:

SOUTHWEST ALABAMA ZONE – 100 Tags
Areas: Personal and public waters in Baldwin and Cell counties north of interstate 10, and personal and public waters in Washington, Clarke and Monroe counties east of U.S. Freeway 43 and south of U.S. Freeway 84. 2022 Dates: Sundown on August 11, till dawn on August 14. Sundown on August 18, till dawn on August 21.

COASTAL ZONE – 50 Tags
Areas: Personal and public waters in Baldwin and Cell counties south of Interstate 10. 2022 Dates: Sundown on August 11, till dawn on August 14. Sundown on August 18, till dawn on August 21.

SOUTHEAST ALABAMA ZONE – 40 Tags
Areas: Personal and public waters in Barbour, Espresso, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Russell counties (excluding public Alabama state waters in Walter F. George Reservoir/Lake Eufaula and its navigable tributaries). 2022 Dates: Sundown on August 13, till dawn on September 5.

WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ZONE – 50 Tags
Areas: Personal and public waters in Monroe (north of U.S. Freeway 84), Wilcox and Dallas counties. 2022 Dates: Sundown on August 11, till dawn on August 14. Sundown on August 18, till dawn on August 21.

LAKE EUFAULA ZONE – 20 Tags
Areas: Public state waters solely within the Walter F. George Reservoir/Lake Eufaula and its navigable tributaries, south of Alabama Freeway 208 at Omaha Bridge (excludes Eufaula Nationwide Wildlife Refuge). 2022 Dates: Sundown August 19, till dawn October 3.

Every individual receiving an Alligator Possession Tag will probably be allowed to reap one alligator throughout the season. An 8-foot minimal size requirement is in impact for alligators harvested within the Lake Eufaula Zone. There isn’t a minimal size for hunts within the different zones. Using bait is prohibited. All alligator harvests have to be instantly tagged with the non permanent Alligator Possession Tag and reported as directed for every Zone. The everlasting Alligator Possession Tag will probably be distributed after the hunt by Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division personnel.

Looking hours are official sundown to official dawn within the Southwest, Coastal, Southeast and West Central Zones. For the Lake Eufaula Zone, searching is allowed each daytime and nighttime hours. All Alabama searching and boating rules have to be adopted.

The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is the most important reptile in North America and may exceed 14 ft in size and 1,000 kilos. Identified for its prized meat and leather-based, the species was threatened with extinction because of unregulated harvest throughout the Twenties, 30s and 40s. No rules existed in these days to restrict the variety of alligators harvested. In 1938, it’s believed that Alabama was the primary state to guard alligators by outlawing these limitless harvests. Different states quickly adopted and, in 1967, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service positioned the American alligator on the endangered species record. By 1987, the species was faraway from the endangered species record and the alligator inhabitants has continued to increase. Its historical past illustrates a wonderful conservation success story.

ADCNR promotes smart stewardship, administration and delight of Alabama’s pure assets by way of 4 divisions: Marine Assets, State Lands, State Parks, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. Study extra at www.outdooralabama.com.

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