FWC extends alligator-hunting hours

For immediate release: June 8, 2011
Contact: Tony Young, 850-488-7867

FWC extends alligator-hunting hours

At its meeting in St. Augustine Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) adopted a rule change that provides approximately four additional hours of daylight hunting to the state’s recreational alligator hunting season. The change will be in effect for this year’s season: Aug. 15 – Nov. 1.

In addition to providing the extended hours, the change establishes the legal hours from 5 p.m. until 10 a.m. during the annual 11-week season.

In developing the recommendation to add four hours of daylight hunting, FWC staff weighed biological considerations, people’s desire for additional daylight opportunities to hunt alligators, the concerns expressed about potential conflicts between alligator hunters and other users of lakes and rivers, and the unique and diverse views citizens have about alligators and their management in Florida.