Arkansas hunters bag 157 gators

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Hunters took a big bite out of Arkansas’s alligator population, bagging more than 100 of the massive reptiles.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Wednesday that during the two-weekend night-hunting-only season, hunters reported and tagged 157 alligators.

According to an AGFC news release, Alligator Management Zone 3, located in the southeast corner of the state along the Mississippi River, saw the highest harvest, with 87 alligators taken.

Zone 1, near the Texas-Louisiana border, came in second with 64 gators harvested.

The AGFC issued 43 public hunting permits, with hunting allowed only in designated areas of the Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc WMA, Sulphur River WMA, Little River below Millwood Lake, Millwood Lake and the Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex.

“All of the public land hunters I’ve talked to pretty much saw gators,” said Mark Barbee, assistant regional manager in the AGFC’s Monticello Regional Office who coordinates the hunt. “But they tend to hold out for a little larger one. Many have told me in the past that they passed on 8- and 9-foot gators, hoping for a 10-footer or better, and time ran out on them. But they always say they had a great experience and an opportunity to harvest.”

The season was not limited to just public lands. AGFC stated those who owned or had permission to hunt on private lands also bagged numerous gators.

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