Arkansas Alligator Permit Draw Complete

Aug. 2, 2017

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

Thousands of Arkansans have been waiting on pins and needles for the last few weeks to find out if they were one of the lucky few who drew a chance at harvesting an alligator in Arkansas this year. Today, 101 individuals got the good news.

The permit draw was held up due to some unforeseen issues with the process, and officials with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused some hunters.

Arkansas’s 2017 alligator season is Sept. 15-18 and Sept. 22-25, and hunting is only allowed at night.

All permit winners must attend a hunter orientation class before being issued their temporary tags. Mandatory orientation classes for permit holders will be held August 19 in Hope and Monticello and August 26 at the AGFC Headquarters in Little Rock. Successful private land at-large applicants must provide written landowner permission and a map of their proposed hunt area. 

Alligator hunting isn’t for the faint of heart. Hunters scan the surface of the water with spotlights from a boat, pinpointing alligators before easing up to them with a harpoon or handheld snare.

Permit winners are allowed up to three assistants during the hunt, but only the permit holder is allowed to snare, harpoon and dispatch the alligator. Arkansas alligator hunters must completely subdue the gator before finishing it with a shotgun or shotgun shell-loaded bang stick using shot no larger than no. 4 common shot.   

Once dispatched, all alligators must be tagged with a temporary possession tag and may be checked online. Additional hunt details will be provided at the mandatory hunter orientation classes.

2017 alligator permit winners

Zone 1 (Private Land At Large)

William Aitken, Texarkana

Josiah Allen, Lewisville

Floyd Bell, Conway

Landon Bryant, Texarkana

Floyd Clark, El Dorado

Michael Clark, Jacksonville

Carter Coates, Greenbrier

Allen Counce, DeWitt

Matthew Davis, Conway

Paul Deloney, Texarkana

Ryan Dewey, Cabot

Tony Dinger, De Queen

Mark Fielding, Horatio

Michael Foster, Hope

Bobby Gentry, Pine Bluff

Michael Hale, Mineral Springs

Ashley Hale, Nashville

Justin Harman, Texarkana

James Hill, Dumas

Charles Hines, Texarkana

Daniel Hollinger, Conway

Jeremy Jeane, Texarkana

Aaron Lawrence, Texarkana

Samuel Leamons, Arkadelphia

Charles Mattox, El Dorado

Taylor Moody, Hope

Phillip Neill, Magnolia

Brian Ratliff, Conway

Martin Siems, Scott

Marlin Terry, Ashdown

 

Zone 1 (Dr. Lester Sitzes III, Bois D’Arc WMA)

John Call, Ward

Jimmy Perkins, Lonoke

 

Zone 1 (Lake Erling)

Seth Jean, Magnolia

 

Zone 1 (Little River)

Lakota Hoover, Murfreesboro

Amy Miller, Hope

 

Zone 1 (Millwood Lake)

Cynthia Blankenship, Ashdown

Elizabeth Chastain, Malvern

Kenneth Crumpton, Texarkana

George Dixon, Magnolia

Cody Friday, Ashdown

Jason Glass, Taylor

Philip Redfearn, Ashdown

Beau Redfearn, Texarkana

Leslie Smithpeters, Arkadelphia

Marvin Weido, Magnolia

Ryan Whitlow, Foreman

Randi Young, Texarkana

Demarius Zacarias, Van Buren

 

Zone 3 (Private Land At Large)

Christopher Beller, Batesville

Lauren Bryant, Hampton

Rodney Chastain, Jonesboro

Brian Corcoran, Bella Vista

Richard Crawford, Paragould

Carol Doolittle, Eudora

Kyle Elkins, Fayetteville,

Wesley Fletcher, Monticello

Richard Gore, Little Rock

Virginia Haynes, Star City

Jody Hibbard, Star City

Michael Hill, Little Rock

William Jones, Pine Bluff

Brooks Joseph, Conway

William Lassiter, Monticello

Andrew Ligon, Stuttgart

Paul Lovell, Mountainburg

Michael McFadden, Lonoke

Patrick McGarity, Sheridan

Kelly Mitchell, DeWitt

Christopher Morgan, Stuttgart

Andrew Norwood, Little Rock

Robert ONeil, Wilmot

Cory Rowe, Lake Village

Mary Simon, Monticello

Hunter Thomasson, Fayetteville

Burtis Walker, Paragould

Martin Walt, Dumas

Mary Weatherly, Wilmot

Paul Williams, Rogers

 

Zone 3 (Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex)

Jeffrey Atwood, Star City

Charles Brenke, White Hall

Raymond Doering, Pine Bluff

Blake Downen, Tillar

David Gates, Newport

Michael Gillion, Beebe

Jordan Gosverner, Roland

Keaton Howard, Pine Bluff

Steven Isom, Greenbrier

Bryan King, Pine Bluff

Charles Lanehart, Wilmar

Donovan McFadden, Roland

Ian McReynolds, Jonesboro

William Monagle, Little Rock

Arthur Pattin, Ravenden Springs

Hannah Smith, Marion

Louie Smith, Marion

Ronald Tedford, Rogers

Bobby Webb, DeWitt

John Williams, White Hall

 

Zone 3 (Mercer Bayou/Sulphur River WMA)

Jesse Howard, Jonesboro

Zachary Kiser, Fayetteville

Chirstina Shaw, Vilonia