Applications for the public alligator hunting season and the Wildlife Management Area alligator hunting season opened May 1 online.
The 2017 season opens at noon Sept. 9 and runs until noon Oct. 14. The deadline to apply is June 15. Hunters will be notified July of selection status. No paper applications will be accepted. Applicants can apply and pay fees online or in person at a DNR Regional Office in Clemson, Florence, Columbia or Charleston.
Nonrefundable application fees are $10 for the public lands hunt, and $15 for the WMA hunt. A randomized computer drawing based on a preference point system will determine hunter selection. If selected, the $100 fee for the permit and one harvest tag must be paid on the same online site used to for the application.
Unsuccessful applicants accumulate preference points for future alligator hunt drawings which increase the likelihood of being drawn in future years. Hunters will be notified in July of their selection status.
With more than 100,000 alligators estimated to live from the Midlands to the coast, the population remains unthreatened by regulated removal. In 2016, hunters took 394 alligators during the public hunting season, with the average size nearly nine feet in length.
During the public alligator hunting season, alligators can be taken in public waters and on private land where permission is granted, but hunting is prohibited on WMAs and USFWS Wildlife Refuges. Public alligator season permits cannot be used on lands enrolled in the Private Lands Alligator Program.
The WMA alligator hunt is a special draw hunt; four are available. The hunter selected is permitted to take up to three assistants and access portions of Bear Island WMA or Santee Coastal WMA for one hunt period. If selected, the WMA permit is $500 for residents and $800 for nonresidents. There are two available permits for both Bear Island WMA and Santee Coastal WMA, for a total of four hunters (plus assistants) per week, and 16 total available permits per season.
All hunters must have a hunting license, WMA permit, and nonresidents must pay a nonresident alligator hunting fee.
There is also the availability of a second WMA tag for an alligator from 4 to 7 feet in length. The second WMA tag may be used by anyone in the hunt party provided the person originally issued tag was is present. The second WMA tag is an additional $75, and must be purchased at the same time as the first tag. The additional WMA tag is only valid during a chosen week for the selected WMA property.
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.
The DNR closely monitors hunts. For additional information, click here.