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Alligator seasons ends; hunters take 157 alligators

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has issued 43 public permits, with alligator hunting only allowed in designated areas.

MONTICELLO, Ark. — The alligator hunting season ended on Sept. 26 after two back-to-back weekends of night-only hunting.

According to Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), 157 alligators have been tagged and reported. Alligator hunting is overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the AGFC must follow survey and harvest protocols each year to maintain Arkansas’s alligator hunting season.   

Hunting is allowed in the following areas in Arkansas by permit only:

  • Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc WMA
  • Sulphur River WMA
  • Little River below Millwood Lake
  • Millwood Lake 
  • Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex

AGFC's Assistant Regional Manager Mark Barbee says that the hunting season went "very smoothly". Barbee said that some public land tags were left unfilled by the end of the hunt but that was not because of lack of opportunity. 

“All of the public land hunters I’ve talked to pretty much saw gators,” Barbee said. “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.”

Arkansas hunters take 157 alligators during 2022 season MONTICELLO — Arkansans looking for one of the state’s most...

Posted by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission on Wednesday, September 28, 2022

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