Deadline approaches for gator hunting permits in Georgia

The effort draws national attention, with a number of applications coming from outside Georgia. The sport itself often seems to be a throwback to another time, since many permitted hunters use bows and arrows.

The state considers its abundance of alligators to be one of its conservation success stories. Alligators were once listed as endangered because of poaching and encroaching development on their habitat, but wildlife management efforts helped them come back enough to be downlisted in 1987.

Those lucky enough to get picked must follow the state’s hunting rules, including requiring that an alligator be a certain size before it can be killed. Still, hunters face a daunting task. Last year’s success rate only averaged 29 percent, with a total of 246 alligators killed.