Anyone win gator tags ever?

If you want to keep the alligator you have to have it inspected by an LDWF agent if you intend to keep the hide for tanning purposes/keep the head or any body part.

However, if you solely want to just keep the meat, you take measurements of the gator (length/weight) and add onto the yellow or blue sheet to submit back to LDWF and note that the hide/head were "destroyed."

The other option is you sell the gators to a buyer and retain nothing but the cash from the sale.

Take from the above what you would like. The little booklet they give outlines the procedure pretty well.

20 years ago it was worth it to sell, now it's barely worth the effort.

I won back in 2012. Kept one sold the other 2. All were right around 8’ got just under $30 a foot at the time.

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20 years ago it was worth it to sell, now it's barely worth the effort.

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out of curiosity, whats changed? too many tags now and dropped prices?

Farm gators have better hides; fewer blemishes, consistent size, can buy year round.
Eggs are the only thing worth dealing with and will be forever.
WL&F need to wholesale kill 50% of the wild gators in Louisiana .

I hereby grant you permission to shoot any alligator you see.

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However, if you solely want to just keep the meat, you take measurements of the gator (length/weight) and add onto the yellow or blue sheet to submit back to LDWF and note that the hide/head were "destroyed."

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I got drawn in the lottery about 10 years ago and they told us back then that if we either had to sell to one of the commercial buyers or we had to bring the gator to LDWF HQ in Baton Rouge to have it inspected if we wanted to keep it. And it had to be brought to LDWF HQ on a weekday between 9 and 5. I only wanted the meat and couldn't care less about the hide, but they said I had to bring it to HQ for inspection anyway...which wasn't an option for me to take an entire day off work to drive 3+ hours round trip plus however long it took them to inspect the hide. So I ended up just selling to the commercial buyer, but wish that LDWF would have given me the option to just report the measurements since all I wanted was the meat. I haven't put back in for the gator lottery since then because of that.

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You should be able to kill a nuisance gator on sight at any time of the year

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you can. Same way you can drive 65 in a 55 MPH zone. Seriously, I can't see any judge convicting you for (humanely) killing a nuisance gator that was a legitimate nuisance or threat. But you'd have to be caught doing it first and I find that unlikely if you kill it discreetly.

I've gotten tags the last four years in a row. Someone told me if you fill the tags each year and do everything right, you're almost guaranteed to get them every year. I don't know if that's true but that's what we've been doing and I've gotten them each year.

As far as cleaning goes, it's a fvcking mess. We did it one year and then I found Joe Autin "Gator Joe" in Cut Off. He's a buyer and has quite an operation in his backyard. He'll charge about $100-$200 depending on size. The best part is LDWF goes to him and they'll inspect your gators there. He'll call you up in a few weeks to pick up your salted hide and you can send it off to get tanned. Then you can get something made.

Going to Gator Joe is part of the experience for us now and you may even see a familiar face from Swamp People.

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You should be able to kill a nuisance gator on sight at any time of the year

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We get a gator in our canal every once in awhile...getting more common to see now. A few days later you see him floating belly up closer out by the river.

See something, say nothing.

People with kids and pets all up and down our place...no room for a live gator.