Wow! Hunters Set Arkansas Record For Most Harvested Gators This Year

The 2023 Arkansas Alligator Season ended Monday morning and hunters had an impressive season in fact it was a record breaker.

According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, hunters harvested a total of 202 alligators. That beats the old record in 2020 at 174 harvested.

But have no fear, experts say it's not because there are more alligators it's actually because they opened up quota restrictions on private land.

Mark Barbee with the AGFC stated in a press release,

It’s not really indicative of a population explosion. We added a few more alligators to the private land quotas this year to let people with alligators on their properties remove them through the hunt instead of it becoming a nuisance wildlife issue.

Hunters took advantage of quotas and hunted on their private land and seriously can you blame them?

Remember our story on Melissa Phillips? She and her husband Health caught a 12 foot 2-inch 530-pound gator on private property in Lewisville, AR on the opening night of Alligator Season.

Private land quotas filled up fast but for public land hunting, only half of the allotted permits that were available to them were taken

Barbee explained why there is a difference,

Every year we’ll have hunters who draw the public land permits and hold out for a trophy alligator. Some won’t settle for less, and others may wait too long to chase a smaller alligator before the season is over. Either way, we always have some public land hunters who end the season with unfilled tags.

The AGFC issued a total of 42 public hunting permits. These permits allowed them to hunt in the following areas in Arkansas  Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc WMA, Sulphur River WMA, Little River below Millwood Lake, Millwood Lake, Lake Erling and the Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex.

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