SC Gator hunting season is coming: Monday is deadline to enter public hunt drawing

Hoping to hunt South Carolina gators this fall? Mark your calendars for Monday, the deadline for the five-week public hunt draw , a preference-based lottery system that kicks off the 2024 state-wide gator hunting season. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has been accepting applications for this year’s draw since June 1, but the application window will be closed on Monday at 11:59 p.m. For a $10 non-refundable application fee, you can still throw your hat into the gator hunting ring.

Although hunting season spans from noon on the second Saturday in September to noon on the second Saturday in November, it’s never too early to brush up on last year’s hunting season results. Over 10,500 hunters applied in 2023, and 1,000 were offered permits, according to the 2023 Public Alligator Hunting Season Report . Only 863 completed the application process to receive a harvest tag and permit. The permitted hunters who participated harvested 380 gators across the state in 2023.

Hunters from the Southern Coastal unit, an area that spreads across Aiken, Allendale, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Clarendon, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties, harvested 103 gators in 2023, a large jump from the 67 gators harvested in the previous year. In Beaufort County, only 19 gators were harvested last year, with an average length of just under nine feet.

Emily Kearse, the permitting biologist and lottery hunt coordinator at the SCDNR, said that 1,000 permits will be offered again this year and that applicants should likely hear lottery results one week after the application window ends. The department has already received thousands of applications, Kearse said Friday. And if you are not one of the lucky 1,000 selected this year, you will automatically receive a preference point for next year’s public draw, she said.

Since state lawmakers officially approved an alligator hunting season back in 2008 many of the state’s hunters took advantage of the hunting period. Because of the rarity of being able to hunt for alligators, the event attracted people from cross the country.

Prior to opening day of the season, hunters should familiarize themselves with the SCDNR Alligator Hunting Guide .