Gator Hunting Season in Florida: Dates, Permit Costs, and Methods

Alligator hunting season in Florida runs from August 15 through November 8 each year, managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The first four weeks are broken into assigned quota weeks, and the remaining seven weeks are open to any permit holder who still has tags to fill. You cannot hunt without a permit, and permits are issued through a competitive lottery: roughly 15,000 people apply each year for about 7,000 spots.

Season Dates and How the Weeks Work

From August 15 through September 11, each permit is tied to one specific quota week. If you don’t fill both of your tags during your assigned week, you can keep hunting through the open period, which runs from September 12 through November 8.¹ Every permit authorizes two alligators, and each permit is tied to a specific management unit or county.²

In most areas you can hunt 24 hours a day. Hunting starts at midnight on the first day of your period and ends at 11:59 p.m. on the last. The Stormwater Treatment Areas and A-1 FEB restrict hunting to 5 p.m. through 10 a.m., and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge limits it to the window from one hour before sunset to one hour after sunrise.¹

Applying for a Permit

Permits are issued in phases. Phases I, II, and III use random drawings; Phase IV, if any permits are left over, is first-come, first-served. Phase I opens in May, and you can submit one application per phase for up to one permit in each of the first three phases.³

Apply through GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, at a tax collector’s office, or at most retailers that sell hunting licenses. You’ll need a valid credit or debit card at application; the card is pre-authorized to confirm the funds are there, and if you’re drawn, you’re charged automatically.² You must be at least 18 by August 15 of the year you apply. No separate hunting or fishing license is needed, because the alligator trapping license is bundled into the permit package.³

What the Permit Costs

Each permit package covers an alligator trapping license, a harvest permit for a specific unit, and two CITES tags:

Florida residents: $272
Non-residents: $1,022
Florida residents with a Persons with Disabilities Hunting and Fishing License: $22

If you already hold a valid alligator trapping license, you can buy just the permit and two CITES tags for $61.50.³ Permits are non-transferable.

Taking Someone With You

Anyone 16 or older who helps you hunt needs a $52 alligator trapping agent license, sold at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com to residents and non-residents alike. Kids 15 and under don’t need any license to assist.³ Agents have to stay with the permit holder the whole time they’re hunting.

Legal Methods for Taking an Alligator

Florida’s rules look nothing like ordinary hunting. Conventional firearms are prohibited. The only firearm you can carry is a bangstick, and you can only use it after the alligator is already tied to a restraining line. Every projectile you use, whether from a bow, crossbow, speargun, or airbow, has to be connected to a restraining line as well.⁴

The full list of legal methods:

Fishing rods with weighted treble hooks or artificial lures
Baited wooden pegs under two inches long, attached to a hand-held line or fishing rod (no hooks when using bait)
Hand-line snatch hooks and catch poles
Harpoons, gigs, and spears, all attached to restraining lines
Bows, crossbows, pre-charged pneumatic airbows, and spearguns, with projectiles attached to restraining lines
Bangsticks, only after the alligator is secured to a restraining line

Baited hooks are prohibited, along with explosive or drug-injecting tips and any conventional firearm. If you use raw meat as bait, it has to be wrapped around a wooden peg under two inches long, and you must hold the other end of the line at all times.⁴ There is no minimum length, but hatchlings cannot be taken.⁵

Tagging and Reporting Each Kill

As soon as the alligator is dead, lock a CITES tag through the skin within six inches of the tail tip. The tag stays on the hide until it’s tanned, mounted by a taxidermist, or exported from Florida.⁶

You also have to complete an alligator harvest report within 24 hours, or before you transfer the carcass to another person or a processing facility, whichever comes first. Reports go through the FWC’s online harvest reporting portal.⁷

Selling Meat and Hides

The alligator trapping license bundled into your permit already authorizes you to possess, process, and sell alligator hides and meat. That authority comes from statute; you don’t need a separate commercial license.⁸

If you plan to send hides overseas, know that every skin has to carry its CITES tag to leave the United States. An untagged skin cannot be exported.⁹

Safety on the Water

Most alligator hunting happens at night from a boat. The FWC requires anyone hunting from a boat to follow Florida boating regulations, which means navigation lights after dark and a wearable life jacket for every person aboard. Given how hard it is to see obstacles at night, and how unpredictable a restrained alligator is, the FWC recommends actually wearing the life jacket rather than stowing it.¹⁰

Bangsticks are classified as firearms. Keep them pointed in a safe direction and unloaded until you’re actively dispatching an alligator. If you’re bitten or even scratched, get medical attention right away, because alligator bites carry a high risk of serious infection.¹⁰

1
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Where and When to Hunt
2
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Statewide Alligator Hunt Permit
3
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Alligator Licenses and Permits
4
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Methods for Harvesting an Alligator
5
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Regulations Governing Statewide Alligator Trapping, Permitting, Taking and Sale
6
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 68A-25.042 – Regulations Governing Statewide Alligator Trapping, Permitting, Taking and Sale
7
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Statewide Alligator Harvest Program
8
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 379.3751 – Alligator Management Program; Licenses
9
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. American Alligators in CITES Export Programs
10
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Safe, Responsible Hunting