BLAZE Magazine Special Edition 2006-2016 | Page 48

Outdoors &
Education
L to R: Pam Swanner,
Director of Alabama
Black Belt Adventures,
Kevin, Savannah, and
Parker Jenkins, Stokes
Gator team members,
Mandy Stokes, SCI World
Record Gator title holder,
John D. Stokes, husband
and Gator team member,
Chuck Sykes, Director,
Alabama Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries,
Commissioner Gunter Guy,
Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural
Resources, James Lawler,
Gettin’ Outdoors Radio
with Big Daddy
New World Record Alligator
Courtesy of Alabama Hunting/Fishing Digest
M
andy Stokes, her husband John
Stokes, brother-in-law Kevin
Jenkins and his children, Savannah
and Parker, accomplished the
incredible feat of harvesting a Safari Club
International world record animal on the
morning of August 16, 2014, when they
harvested an American alligator that weighed
an amazing 1,011.5 pounds and measured 15
feet 9 inches in length. The removal of the American alligator from
the endangered species list is a shining
example of how hunters, not animal rights
activists, brought an animal back from
the brink of extinction to the abundant
population of today. Without the dollars
provided by hunters who purchase hunting
license, Alabama would not have such a
hugely popular and successful alligator
hunting season.
That hunt took place in the West-Central Zone
in Mill Creek, a tributary off the Alabama River
about 2 miles above the William Dannelly/
Millers Ferry Lock and Dam during the 2014
Alabama alligator hunting season. Alabama conducted the first alligator hunt
in 2006. Fifty alligator possession tags were
issued and 40 alligators were harvested in the
Mobile-Tensas Delta. Since that time, Wildlife
and Freshwater Fisheries biologists have
surveyed alligator populations throughout the
state and opened three additional alligator
hunting zones (West Central Alabama,
Southeast Alabama, and Lake Eufaula) in
order to provide more hunting opportunities.
During the 2015 season, 260 tags were issued
to successful applicants. Since the inception
of the alligator season, hunters have harvested
more than 100 alligators each season.
The
American
alligator
(Alligator
mississippiensis) is the largest reptile in North
America. Known for its prized meat and
leather, the species was threatened with
extinction due to unregulated harvest during
the 1920s, 30s and 40s. No regulations existed
in those days to limit the number of alligators
harvested. In 1938, it is believed that Alabama
was the first state to protect alligators by
outlawing these unlimited harvests. Other
states soon followed and in 1967, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service placed the American
alligator on the Endangered Species list. By
1987, the species was removed from the
Endangered Species list and the alligator
population has continued to grow.
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| SPECIAL EDITION 2006-2016
Only Alabama residents and Alabama
lifetime license holders ages 16 years or older
may apply for tags. Alabama lifetime license
holders may apply for an alligator possession
tag even if they have moved out of the state.
While the tag is free, selected hunters and
their assistants are required to have a valid
hunting license in their possession while
hunting.
Hunters are randomly selected by computer
to receive one alligator possession tag each,
and the tags are non-transferable. If selected
for an alligator possession tag at two or
more locations, hunters must choose which
location they would like to hunt. The slot for
locations not chosen will be filled from a list
of randomly selected alternates.
A preference point system was implemented
to increase the likelihood of unsuccessful
repeat registrants being selected for a hunt.
For the 2015 hunt, preference points were
given to hunters who applied in 2014 but
were not selected. The system increases
the likelihood of a repeat applicant being
selected for an alligator hunt, as long as
they continue to apply. The more years an
applicant participates in the registration, the
higher the likelihood of being selected. If
an applicant ceases to register for the hunt
in a given year or is selected for a hunt, the
preference point status is forfeited. Each
person receiving an Alligator Possession Tag
will be allowed to harvest one alligator.
For more information about the Alabama
alligator hunting season visit www.
outdooralabama.com.
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