USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida
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- Florida’s alligator hunting season runs from August 15 to November 8, 2025.
- Permits are awarded via a multi-phase application process that started on May 2 and continues through June.
- Costs for licenses, permits, and tags vary for residents and non-residents.
Every May, thousands of Florida hunters look forward to preying on one of the state’s most iconic predators.
Summer doesn’t just bring alligator mating season – which often leads to gators popping up in unwanted places – but it also brings the application season for the yearly statewide alligator harvest.
It doesn’t get more Floridian than hunting gators … Unless, of course, you’re planning on wrestling an alligator while barefoot on a Florida highway. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the 2025 alligator hunting season in Florida, how to apply for alligator hunting permits and tags and how much it costs.
Alligator hunting season dates: When is gator hunting season in Florida?
Florida’s gator hunting season begins on August 15 and ends on November 8.
The season is broken up into four harvest periods. Depending on which harvest period you draw, you’ll be assigned to hunt for one of the first four weeks.
Each person who’s selected to win a gator hunting permit is allowed two gators during their allotted harvest time. If you don’t harvest both of your gators during your assigned harvest week, you can hunt during the seven-week open season, which starts on September 12 and ends on November 8.
The first application phase for the first harvest periods started on May 2 and will end on May 12.
Here are the dates for each application phase, according to the FWC:
- Phase I: May 2 through May 12, anyone may apply
- Phase II: May 16 through May 26, you can’t apply in Phase II if you were awarded a permit in Phase I
- Phase III: May 30 through June 9, you can’t apply in Phase III if you were awarded a permit in Phase II
- Phase IV (Leftovers): June 12 until all permits are sold out. Anyone may apply in this phase. If you were awarded a permit in any of the first three phases, additional permits drawn in Phase IV will cost $62, regardless of residency.
“Applicants may submit one application per phase and receive up to one permit in Phase I, II, or III of the application process. Those successful in any one of the first three phases cannot apply for additional permits until Phase IV Leftovers,” the FWC says.
“In the Phase IV Leftovers period, applicants can be awarded up to 10 permits cumulatively. Permits are issued by random drawing during Phase I, II, and III and issued on a first-come, first-served basis in Phase IV Leftovers.”Alligator mating season: Can I shoot a gator in my yard? Florida wildlife laws to know
How much is an alligator tag in Florida?
There is no cost to apply for an alligator trapping license in Florida, but if your application is approved you have to pay. And there are different prices for out-of-state hunters and Florida residents.
Applying does require credit card information so that your card can be authorized, but you won’t be charged unless you’re approved and picked in the drawing.
If you’re a Florida resident, an alligator trapping license, a permit and your two permitted alligator tags will cost you $272.
If you already have a valid alligator trapping license, your permit and tags for the season will only cost you $62.
If you’re not a Florida resident, an alligator trapping license, a permit and your two permitted alligator tags will cost significantly more, at $1,022, according to the FWC.
How many gator tags does the FWC give out?
Florida’s statewide alligator hunt is highly-anticipated for a lot of Florida hunters and there are typically more applications than licenses and tags permitted.
According to the FWC, there are often more than 15,000 applicants who will apply for the approximately 7,000 permits available each year.
Who can apply for a gator hunting permit in Florida?
The only requirements to apply are that the applicant must be at least 18 years old by the beginning of alligator hunting season on August 15 and have a valid credit or debit card.
How many alligator tags do you get in Florida?
Each approved applicant will only get two tags each alligator hunting season, permitting each applicant to only harvest two alligators.
Can you shoot alligators in your yard in Florida?
It is illegal to kill, injure or possess an alligator without a permit in the state of Florida.’Never in my wildest dreams’: Watch barefoot Florida man wrangle alligator on I-95
When, where can you shoot alligators in Florida?
Each alligator hunt applicant who is accepted will receive an alligator trapping license, an area-specific harvest permit, and two tags, authorizing the holder to hunt and kill only two alligators.
The harvest areas and hunt dates are specific for each permit, and the permit specifies the boundaries or limitations of the harvest area. The first four weeks of the season are divided into four quota weeks, and each permit is assigned one of those weeks.
Alligator hunters can now hunt anytime during the day or night that they wish, 24 hours a day, in most of the designated hunting areas. In 2022, the FWC made the switch to allow for day hunting.
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FWC alligator harvesting methods
Here are the legal methods of harvesting alligators in the state of Florida as listed by the FWC:
- Fishing rods using a weighted treble hook
- Fishing rods using artificial lures
- Baited wooden pegs (must be less than two inches long) using a fishing rod or hand-held line
- Hand-line snatch hooks
- Hand-held catch poles or similar devices
- Bang sticks (the only firearm you’re allowed to use for alligator hunting)
- Bows
- Crossbows
- Pre-charged pneumatic airbows
- Gigs
- Harpoons
- Spears
- Spearguns
Exposing the Big Game 
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