How to Catch a Gator in the Mobile River Delta

Carl Winners brought in the first gator Saturday night. He says he's a winner in more ways than one.

"Started right at dark tonight," said Carl Winners. "This is the first one we saw, and went right up to it. It was probably only 9 o'clock when we started working him, and we got a hook in it. It took a little over an hour to get it in."

He's lucky he was even chosen to hunt. 9-thousand people entered the lottery to go. Only 125 got the chance.

"I didn't even apply last year," said Winners. "I applied this year for the first time, and got drawn, and got lucky enough to win."

He also brought in the first gator of the night. And although it's smaller than what some would be satisfied with, Wildlife Biologost Bruce Todd identified the catch as a female, and that's important for keeping the gator count under control.

"Anytime you can take a female out of the population we've done more than a male," said Todd.

Gator hunting season in Alabama is a short one - only two weekend out of the year. That gives hunters six nights to catch the biggest gator they can wrestle.

"If you're careful and so forth its like catching a big fish," said Carl Winners. "It's not like they're going to jump in the boat after you or anything."

But don't feel too bad for the reptile. There's plenty more where that came from. "Thousands upon thousands," said Biologist Bruce Todd.