 Louisiana Swamp near Pierre Part, Louisiana
(photo by the author) |
The stories and adventures of alligator hunters in Louisiana are being told in the TV series "Swamp People" on the History Channel.
The show follows a group of alligator trappers during the 30-day Louisiana alligator season in various areas of South Louisiana, including the huge Atchafalaya Swamp in the Atchafalaya Basin in south central Louisiana.
After a successful debut on August 22, 2010, Swamp People has become a runaway hit, with the third season begun on February 9, 2012 and seen on Thursday nights on History.
South Louisiana is a delicate, complex combination of swamps, wetlands, bayous, marshes, estuaries, and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. It is often called "America's Wetland", and is navigated by the alligator hunters in a variety of motor boats, airboats, and piroques.
 The Louisiana Alligator
(courtesy of the Louisiana Office of Tourism) |
Various segments of "Swamp People" are filmed around South Louisiana, including Bayou Sorrel, Bayou Pigeon, Pierre part, Morgan City, Houma, Pecan Island, Conway Bayou, and other locales.
See map below for more details of Swamp People filming locations.
Several of the alligator hunters have become TV celebrities, including Troy and Jacob Landry, Elizabeth Cavalier Choate, Bruce Mitchell, Junior Edwards, and others.
Troy Landry
"This is our life in the big swamp land ...
We live down south in Louisian!"
... Troy Landry song lyrics we love! |
Troy Landry has spent the last three decades earning his reputation as king of the swamp men. "Choot 'em" is a phrase heard often on Swamp People as Troy finishes off another prey and tags another giant gator. Troy works out of his home town of Pierre Part, a small community deep in the swamp close to the cities of Donaldsonville and Thibodaux, and Lake Verret. He always wears his "lucky shirt", a blue Ralph Lauren striped polo shirt!
In Season 3 of Swamp People, Troy is teaming up with sharpshooter helper and family friend Clint Landry to fill 400 gator tags. Clint has worked with Troy for 20 years. Troy will now need to run two boats to get the job done this season, and is relying on his sons Jacob Landry and Chase Landry to crew the second boat.
 Canal at Pecan Island, Louisiana
(photo by the author) |
Elizabeth "Liz" Cavalier
After Troy Landry hired her as his helper in Season 2, Elizabeth Cavalier quickly proved her gator hunting abilities, and earned the nickname “Lucky Liz”, and "Gator Queen".
A native of Pierre Part and now a resident of Pecan Island, Liz grew up in the marsh south of Houma, and has been around alligators all her life.
Kristi Broussard
This season, Liz is captaining her own boat and has hired her friend Kristi Broussard as helper, making them the only all-female alligator hunting team, trapping gators in the swamps near Pecan Island, and the "Monster Marsh".
Kristi was born in Forked Island, Louisiana, a small community located near Intracoastal City, between Abbeville and Pecan Island.
Kristi is a true Cajun, and former Navy veteran, who owns a ranch in South Louisiana where she breaks horses. They start the season off with the catch of a massive 13.5' foot monster gator weighing nearly 1,000 pounds! Now Kristi has the nickname of "Gator Wrangler"!
Joe LaFont and Tommy Chauvin
"Trapper" Joe LaFont is a seasoned, experienced veteran of the marsh from Port Sulphur, Louisiana. Joe works with his stepson "Trigger" Tommy Chauvin, and uses many traditional Cajun gator-hunting tricks that he learned from his father. LaFont currently resides in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.
Junior Edwards and Willie Edwards
Junior Edwards is a legendary gator hunter, and has spent over 30 years mastering the alligator, working out of Bayou Sorrel. He's well known for developing his signature three-hook “treble hook” that he uses to bag gators in open water. Last season, Junior was able to tag 252 gators, working with his son Willie Edwards.
 Louisiana bayou near Pierre Part
(photo by the author) |
R.J. Molinere and Jay Paul Molinere
A Native American hunter from the Houma area, R.J. Molinere made a name for himself in Season 2 by catching some of the season’s biggest gators amongst his 200 gator tags. A two-time world champion arm wrestler, R.J., working with Jay Paul Molinere, hopes to double his load in Season 3 and challenge Troy Landry for the swamp crown.
Bruce Mitchell
A lifelong swamper, Bruce Mitchell is a bit of a renegade, but an experienced gator hunter. He hunts, usually with his dog Tyler in the boat, in the swamps around his home in the Hammond, Louisiana area near Ponchatoula. Although Bruce has always hunted alligators alone, this season he is accompanied by Ron Methvin, a trained sharpshooter and military veteran who served in Afghanistan.
Austyn Yoches and Blake McDonald
The youngest alligator hunting team is Austyn Yoches and Blake McDonald, cousins working the swamps near Bayou Pigeon. Austyn is only 21 years old, and he and Blake live on a houseboat deep in the swamps, ready to prove they can hunt like the older teams!
To learn more about the Louisiana Swamp People, we recommend these websites ...
The American alligator is the largest reptile in North America. The first reptiles appeared 300 million years ago and ancestors of the American alligator appeared 160 million years ago.
Males can grow to approximately 13'+ in length and attain weights of nearly 1,000 pounds. Females can grow to approximately 9' in length and 400+ pounds.
Alligators have been harvested in the Louisiana swamps for over 200 years. These huge, dangerous reptiles are harvested for their skins which are used to make boots, shoes, belts, and saddles, and in years past their oil was used to grease steam engines and cotton mills. Their meat is also considered a delicacy.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries (LDWF) allocates a set number of alligator tags each season to licensed alligator hunters. To obtain a license, the alligator hunter submits an application form including a legal description and map of the property to be hunted, and a landowner’s permission for the hunter to harvest alligators on the property. Once the season begins, and as hunting occurs, a tag is attached to the tail of the alligator after the reptile is landed.
In the late 1980s, alligator prices peaked at over $40/foot, but by 2010 a big size gator went for only $15/foot. Prices went up again in 2011: 5’ gators were worth $4/foot whole, and $6/foot skinned. A whole 8-foot alligator might be worth $22/foot in 2011, and a skinned one could sell for $24/foot. Any gator 9-feet or longer was worth $26/foot whole and $28/foot skinned.
Currently over 2,000 licensed alligator hunters harvest 30,000 to 35,000 wild alligators annually in Louisiana
During filming of the episode "Something Wicked This Way Comes", the alligator hunters had to deal with another force of nature. Tropical Storm Lee reached a maximum intensity of 60mph while still in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana, and came ashore with 45mph winds on the coast southwest of Lafayette.
These are some of our favorite episodes from Season 1 and Season 2: Big Head Bites It, Rising Pressure, Gator Gauntlet, Two Captains - One Family, House Divided, Dark Waters, and Force of Nature.
Louisiana is a popular setting for the movie industry, and several hit reality TV shows on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, A&E, CMT, and other cable networks.
The state has become an exciting location featuring a diversity of towns and subjects for reality television for three main reasons: 1) tax credits and incentives, 2) mild year-round weather, and 3) interesting, likable, real-world characters.
According to a report prepared by the Louisiana Office of Entertainment Industry Development, Louisiana has had five consecutive years of economic growth in the film and music industry.
The report also recognizes Louisiana as ranked third in film and television production nationwide behind only California and New York.
Our ancestors are all Cajun, and our family roots are from the Bayou Lafourche area, the nearby towns of Paincourtville, Napoleonville, Plattenville and Labadieville ... and the Louisiana swamp.
We are a mixture of Boudreaux, Fremin, Gautreaux, Thibodeaux, Prejean, and Bourg. My grandfather worked in the sugar cane fields along the bayous and my father in the sawmills in White Castle along the Mississippi River. We love crawfish, Boudin, Andouille sausage, Crawfish Etouffee and Bisque ... and alligator!
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