GON Gator Gallery

Jeremy Whittaker with a big gator from Seminole on Sept. 4.

Gator season officially closed on Oct. 3, and it was just about a record-setting year. According to WRD, 389 gators were harvested during the 2022 season. The only season that tops this year was the 2021 season when 391 gators were taken. The 2020 season witnessed 372 hunter-taken gators.

DNR doesn’t have the staff to physically look at all harvested gators, but hunters are required to report specs to them. The top-3 longest gators from last year, according to hunters, measured 152 inches (12-feet, 8-inches). Two of those gators came from Seminole, one from Lake Eufaula. 

As GON always does in November, we empty the file of those gator photos we received. We published a good many last month, and they are currently at GON.com/hunting/gons-2022-gator-gallery.

There were 28,293 folks who applied for one of the 1,000 available tags across south Georgia. Zones 1 (West Georgia) and 1A (Lake Eufaula) continue to be the hardest draw, taking eight priority points for a guaranteed tag. Zones 2 , 3, 7 and 9 took six points for a tag. The easiest area for a gator tag came from Zone 4, where four priority points got a tag. To view the Alligator Hunt Zones map, go to https://georgiawildlife.com/hunting/alligator.

If you’ve been a part of a successful alligator hunt, we’d like to see your photos. Drop us an email with some caption info to [email protected]. We’ll make sure to publish you in our online Trophy Room, and you may be published in a future GON magazine. Keep watching our Scrapbook department.

Aaron Staton drew a tag and killed this 8-2 in Turner County.

Lilla Beth Summers, 12, of Reynolds with a 7-2 gator.

J. Clay Gracen harvested this 8-8 gator on Cattle Pen Creek near St. Catherine’s Island with the assistance of his wife Celena and youngest son, Griffin. The alligator was snagged with a 12/0 treble hook on a 8-foot Penn Battle III surf rod, and then a 20/0 treble hook attached to a 1,000-lb. flat rope. The alligator was dispatched with a home-made spear. The hunt took place on Sept. 18.

Grayson Usrey was hunting in Zone 2 when he harvested this 10-2 gator after a culmination of 16 hours over two nights.