Alligator hunting in Florida is managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) under the Statewide Alligator Harvest Program. Here is the short version. Always confirm current-year rules at MyFWC.com.
Season Dates
The statewide harvest season runs August 15 – November 1 each year. Permits are issued for specific harvest units (a lake, river, county or region) and specific hunt periods.
Permits and Tags
- Permits are issued through an FWC application lottery, usually opening in May with several phases through June. Leftover permits are sold first-come after the phases.
- Each permit comes with two CITES alligator tags — two gators per permit.
- Residents and non-residents can apply. An alligator trapping license is included with the permit fee.
- Anyone helping the permit holder needs an alligator trapping agent license.
Legal Methods
- Hand-held snares, harpoons, gigs, snatch hooks, and bows or crossbows with a restraining line attached.
- Bang sticks (powerheads) may be used to dispatch a gator once it is secured to the boat.
- Firearms may NOT be used to take alligators. No baited hooks or set lines.
- Under current FWC rules hunting is allowed 24 hours a day during the season — check the current year’s regulations.
What Comes With Our Hunt
You bring the permit, tags and your license. We bring the boat, the lights, the harpoon and snatch-hook rigs, the bang stick, buoys and lines, and a captain who has done this a few hundred times. We’ll tag the animal, help you fill out the harvest report, and get you pointed to a processor.
Don’t Have a Tag?
Ask us. We can help you through the FWC lottery, and in some years private-land and nuisance-trapper tags are available. Reach out through SoReel Outdoors and we’ll figure out what’s possible for your dates.