How Much Are Alligator Tags in Louisiana: License, Tags, and Fees

Alligator tags in Louisiana cost nothing to receive from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, but you can’t get them without a license, and other fees stack up around them. A resident alligator hunter license runs $25; a nonresident landowner license is $150. If you win a public-land lottery, each tag costs $40. When you sell or ship your hides, you pay a $4-per-hide tag fee plus a $0.25 severance tax at a mandatory LDWF inspection. What you actually spend depends on whether you hunt private land, draw a lottery tag, or run a farm.

The License Comes First

LDWF will not issue tags to anyone who does not hold the correct license. Residents pay $25 for either an Alligator Hunter License (to hunt their own or leased private land) or a Sport Hunter License (to hunt under a guide). Nonresidents pay $150 for the equivalent landowner or sport license. A Helper License, available only to Louisiana residents, is also $25.¹

Sport hunter licenses are worth flagging separately: sport license holders do not receive their own tags. They hunt alongside a licensed commercial or helper hunter who holds the tags for the property.¹ Commercial alligator farms operate under a separate Nongame Quadruped Breeder’s License at $50 per year.²

Private-Land Tags: Free, But Allotted by Habitat

Once your license is in hand, LDWF issues wild harvest tags at no charge. There is no fixed number of tags per acre. LDWF biologists assess the alligator habitat on the specific property you’re hunting and set an allotment based on what the land can sustain.³ Prime coastal marsh produces far more tags per acre than upland timber with scattered ponds.

Tags are property-specific and nontransferable. You can only use them on the land listed on your license, and you cannot sell or give them to another hunter.¹ To apply, you submit an Alligator Hunter License Application with proof of ownership (tax receipts or a bill of sale showing parish, township, range, section, and acreage), a map of the area to be hunted, and signed landowner permission or a legal hunting lease if you don’t own the property.⁴

Public Lottery Tags Cost $40 Each

Hunters without private land access can apply for tags on wildlife management areas and public lakes through LDWF’s lottery. Applications open in May online. Each application costs $5, plus a $3.50 transaction fee. If you’re drawn, you buy your Alligator Hunter License and pay $40 per tag. Successful applicants typically receive three tags for the area they were drawn on.⁵

All unused tags must be returned to LDWF within 15 days after the season closes. Lost or stolen tags are not replaced, and you must file an official lost tag form in the same 15-day window.⁶

Some public waters are allocated through competitive bidding rather than random draw. Bidding is generally limited to applicants 18 or older with prior Louisiana alligator hunting experience, and winning bid amounts vary by area and year. LDWF publishes the schedules and minimum bids before each season.

Fees at the Post-Harvest Inspection

The costs don’t stop when you tag an alligator. Before hides can be shipped out of state, sent to an in-state tannery, or delivered to a taxidermist, you must schedule an inspection with a regional LDWF office. At the inspection you pay:

$4 per hide alligator hide tag fee.⁷
$0.25 per hide severance tax on alligators taken within the state.²
$4 shipping label fee per whole alligator leaving the state.⁷

These fees apply even if you’re keeping the hide for personal use rather than selling it. If you tan it or have it mounted, you still owe the $4 tag fee and severance tax at inspection.¹ Hides that aren’t sold to a buyer or dealer within 30 days after the season closes must be reported to LDWF with the tag number, location, intended use, and length.

Farm-Raised Tags

Commercial farmers get their hide tags free from LDWF, the same as wild hunters, but they must request them at least two weeks before a scheduled harvest so staff can verify stock.⁶ The $4 per-hide fee and $0.25 severance tax still apply at sale or shipment.

What a Full Season Actually Costs

Adding it up for the three most common situations:

Resident on private land, 10-tag allotment: $25 license, $0 for the tags themselves, $40 in hide fees at sale (10 × $4), and $2.50 in severance tax. About $67.50 in state fees, before bait, fuel, and equipment.
Resident who wins a public lottery with 3 tags: $8.50 in application and transaction fees, $25 license, $120 in lottery tag fees (3 × $40), $12 in hide fees, and $0.75 in severance tax. Roughly $166.25.
Nonresident sport hunter: $150 for the license. Sport hunters receive no tags of their own; the licensed guide holds them. Private outfitter fees typically run $600 to $1,700 per day on top of the license.⁶

Penalties That Can Dwarf the Fees

Improperly attaching a tag, or removing an alligator from a capture device before tagging it, is a Class Four violation. A first offense carries a fine of $400 to $950, up to 120 days in jail, or both.⁸ Taking an alligator without a valid license or tags, or hunting out of season, is a Class Three violation with first-offense fines starting at $250.⁹

License revocation is often the bigger consequence. Illegally taking a wild alligator triggers a mandatory three-year revocation of all alligator licenses. Hunting at night, out of season, or on property other than what your tags were issued for also results in automatic revocation, and farming operations can face a matching three-year ban on raising alligators. Equipment used in illegal harvesting may be seized, and additional state and federal charges are possible.⁶

Every harvested alligator has to be tagged immediately upon possession, before it’s moved from the capture site. The tag goes on the bottom side of the tail about six inches from the tip, locked with its built-in device, and stays on the hide until the tanned skin is used in manufacturing.¹ The tags are tamper-evident, and any sign of interference is treated as a violation.⁶

1
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Alligator Hunting
2
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Alligator Fee Reduction Notice of Intent
3
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Alligator Management
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Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Alligator Hunter License Application Form
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Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Lottery Information – LDWF Licensing
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Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. 2025 Alligator Regulations
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Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. 2024 Alligator Regulations
8
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 56 RS 56-34 – Class Four Violation
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Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 56 RS 56-33 – Class Three Violation