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The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) opened its annual five-week public draw hunt for alligator hunters in South Carolina this week. This year’s draw opened on Sunday (June 1, 2025) and will remain open until Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
According to SCDNR, South Carolina is home to at least 100,000 alligators – with the average male growing to a size of approximately 11 feet in length and weighs anywhere between 400 and 500 pounds. Alligators are apex predators, meaning they are at the top of the food chain. Sometimes, humans become their prey.
State lawmakers first approved an alligator hunting season in 2008, and FITSNews previously reported that in 2022, 1,031 permits were issued to 927 hunters, according to a SCDNR report (.pdf). Only 322 alligators were killed, though – up from 310 the previous year.
SCDNR noted that hunters who win the lottery will be issued permits along with one tag, which allows them to harvest one alligator within the designated management unit. That unit is divided into four regions across the Palmetto State. Applicants can apply for all four units – Southern Coastal, Middle Coast, Midlands, and Pee Dee – but will only be granted one tag (and must only hunt in their designated region).
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South Carolinians who have a hunting license – or have been issued alligator tags in years past – receiving a tag for 2025 is not automatic. However, if an applicant is lucky enough to be issued a tag, they can be assisted by fellow hunters – although all participants (including the permittee) must be licensed to hunt in South Carolina.
In 2024, a total of 997 of 1,200 hunters completed the application process and were issued a harvest tag and permit – with the tag’s 83.1-percent purchase rate recording lower than the 2023 season’s rate of 86.3-percent, according to a SCDNR report (.pdf).
During the 2024 hunting season, which spanned from September 14, 2024 – October 12, 2024, the total number of alligators reported taken was 395 – an increase of 15 alligators from the previous year.
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The average size of all alligators hunted during last year’s season was 8.4 feet – a decrease from the 2023 season. The average gator measured 9.1 feet in the Midlands unit, followed by 8.7 feet in the Middle Coastal unit, 8.1 feet in Pee Dee and 7.8 feet in the Southern Coastal unit. Furthermore, SCDNR noted that 20 of the harvested alligators during the 2024 season were reported to be smaller than six feet – a slight decrease from the previous season.
As for the hunting process, SCDNR’s 2025 hunting guide states “alligators must first be captured alive prior to shooting or otherwise dispatching the animal,” meaning the hunter must first secure a restraining line to the animal – including handheld snares, harpoons, gigs, arrows or snatch hooks.
Once the alligator is caught with the restraining line, hunters must use a snare that has been attached to a pole with either a rubber band or a piece of tape so it will “break-away” upon pulling the snare secure around the animal’s neck.
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After the alligator is captured and brought adjacent to the boat, it may be dispatched (killed) – as hunters are required by law to bring the animal boat-side (or to shore) before attempting to dispatch it.
What to do once your gator has been killed? Take it to get skinned and processed.
For many hunters, the tail and jaw are mainly used as meat to eat – which totaled 7,303 pounds from all harvested alligators in 2024.
In addition to the meat yield, alligator skin can be used to create various accessories.
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The 2025 public alligator hunt season will begin at noon on Saturday, September 13, 2025 and conclude at noon on Sunday, October 12, 2025.
According to AZ Animals, the current record for an alligator kill in the Palmetto State is 13 feet, 6 inches. That gator – a 1,025 pound beast – was killed by wild game hunter Maryellen Mara-Christian of Fitchburg, Massachusetts on Lake Moultrie on September 25, 2010. It was taken following a “two-hour struggle on a guided hunt,” according to the website.
That record was nearly matched eight years later when Jeremy Shealy of Pomaria, S.C. and Hunter Neeley of Chapin, S.C. killed a 13 foot, 2 inch alligator in the swamps of Santee on September 8, 2018. That gator reportedly weighed 1,012 pounds.
In October 2023, our media outlet posted on a reported record kill in Orangeburg, S.C – however details of that alligator have not confirmed.
Interested in learning more and applying for a tag? Visit GoOutdoorsSC for more information …
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2025 with a bachelor degree in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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