Alligator Hunting Season

The state is divided in four (4) alligator management units:

Unit 1 - Southern Coastal
Unit 2 - Middle Coast
Unit 3 - Midlands *
Unit 4 - Pee Dee

* All of Lake Marion is grouped into Unit 3.

1,000 permits and tags will be issued, 250 per management unit (*Next year's tag allotment may be more or less for each unit depending on harvest and population information). A hunter can only hunt in the unit for which he/she was selected. You can list the units in ranked priority and the selection will be based upon this ranking.

The 2009 open season is September 12 - October 10 (2nd Saturday in September – 2nd Saturday in October).

Taking of alligators will be controlled by regulation and the instructions on permits.

Alligators must be secured and brought to shore or alongside boat before dispatch. No shooting of free swimming or basking alligators is allowed in this program. No rifles are allowed, but handguns and bangsticks are permitted for dispatch. No bait, baited hooks, set hooks, or pole hunting is allowed (see regulations for more information about methods).

Only one (1) alligator can be taken per permit. Alligator must be four (4) feet or greater in length.

Others may assist permittee, but all participants (including permittee) must be licensed SC hunters.

Alligators may be taken in public waters (but not on Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) or USFWS Refuges) and on private land (but not on lands enrolled in the Private Lands Alligator Program) where permission is granted.

Alligator meat can be kept, but not sold. Hides and parts may be sold according to regulation.

Hunter Selection

(Note: there is a $10 non-refundable application fee for all applicants. In addition, if selected, there is a $100 Alligator Hunting Permit fee)

All hunters will be selected by a random computer drawing. Successful applicants will be issued a permit and one (1) tag that allows them to harvest one (1) alligator in the designated alligator management unit.

Applicants will be allowed to hunt in only one (1) alligator management unit per season.

Applicants can apply for any number of the four management units, including all units. Selecting the same unit more than once does not increase your odds of being selected for that unit. If successful, you will be selected for one unit only.

There is a $10 non-refundable application fee. Unsuccessful applicants will accumulate preference points (see Preference Points section below). By law, the fees collected are used to support the Alligator Management Program's research and management activities, and for conservation of the American Alligator in South Carolina.

Applicants can only apply and pay fees online or at one of the walk-up counters at a DNR Regional Office in Clemson, Florence, Columbia, or Charleston. No paper applications will be accepted.

Applications will be received online from May 1 through 11:59 p.m. June 15, 2009.

Hunters will be notified beginning July 1 of selection status. After notification, successful applicants are then required to go back online to pay the $100 dollar Alligator Permit fee. The Department will begin to send out permits and tags to fully paid applicants after July 15th. The deadline for paying the $100 permit fee is October 1, but you must allow the Department 5 business days to deliver the permit and tag after receipt of payment. Hunters that fail to pay the $100 permit fee by the end of the Alligator Hunting Season will not receive any preference points and will forfeit any accumulated points. The Department reserves the to right to prohibit applicants that fail to pay from participating in future public alligator hunt drawings.

The Alligator Permit fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.

All fully paid Hunters will be mailed a hunter's packet and notified about optional alligator hunting seminars. One seminar will be held in each of the alligator management units during the month of August 2009.

Successfully drawn hunters who do not pay the $100 fee for the alligator permit in the allotted time will lose the privilege to hunt during this year’s alligator hunting season and will not receive a preference point. Any accumulated preference points will be forfeited.

Preference Points

Preference point(s) increase your chances of being selected for a future alligator hunt drawing. Applicants that are not selected for this year's alligator hunt will accumulate one (1) preference point. Applicants will continue to be awarded one (1) point for every year in which they apply but are not selected for the hunt. However, in order to maintain your accumulated preference points, you must continue to apply for each year’s alligator hunt drawing. Any breaks in applying annually for the alligator hunt will result in accumulated preference points reverting to zero.

Preference points cannot be transferred to another person or to a different type of draw hunt (such as waterfowl or deer).

Successful applicants do not accrue preference points towards future alligator hunts. Any accumulated points previously earned revert to zero after being selected.