Cold-blooded killers emerge
as a historic heat wave hits the bayou.
Why you ain't help papa?
Feel bad. Sick to my stomach.
The heat's unbearable.
Vulnerable livestock need protecting...
Hot like it is, these cows need to drink just like me and you.
And the big alligators,
they're gonna take advantage of that.
New techniques are invented...
That looks tasty.
Look at that old blood dripping.
And if the weather doesn't break soon, the hunters may.
Oh...
[gags, spits]
I gotta go to the hospital.
♪ ♪
radio announcer: But until then,
it is hot, hot, hot
out there in southern louisiana.
This heat wave just will not die
as record temperatures are expected
and humidity levels will be through the roof today.
My recommendation?
Stay indoors and keep that ac running, everyone.
Be careful out there.
Narrator: As temperatures reach dangerous levels
in bayou sorrel,
the edwards clan prepares to launch.
And willie's plan for the day
is to leapfrog lines with his dad junior edwards,
who will have little willie in his boat
to help with the extreme heat.
We got a lot of friggin' hooks to run.
- Be a long friggin' day. - Yeah.
Leapfrogging is when one person runs the first line
and the other boat goes to the next line.
And you just keep hopping back and forth like that
all day long and everything.
And between me and my dad,
we got close to most probably 70 hooks, 80 hooks.
And you gotta be back at a certain time
because you don't want your alligators
to rot out there in the heat.
Got us some weight on this.
Come on, boy.
Got a big one right here.
Look how big he is.
Oh, it's a bull.
Whoo!
Oh, this mother. This one's nasty.
Come on.
Golly.
Now it's the fun part.
Boy, I'm sure missing my son right now.
You don't realize how much help a helper is
until you get to stuff like this.
Whew!
Yeah, this thing right here, about 350 pounds dead weight.
It gets pretty rough.
When I'm fighting alligators by myself
and I'm fishing on my own, it can be very dangerous.
I mean, you could pull muscles in your back
trying to pick up on that thing by yourself.
Or it could fall on you and hurt you,
I mean, break your leg or something like that.
Yeah, it's a hot day.
45 miles southeast in the lake verret spillway,
the heat has brought gators out
in their biggest numbers this season.
So ronnie adams and ashley "dead eye" jones
have set ambitious goals.
Yeah, we got us a lot of lines set today, babe, 100 lines.
More lines than we've really ever set.
The only thing I'm worried about is this heat.
So hot right now I'm already soaking wet.
The heat, I mean, it leads on to all kinds of injuries.
And not the worst.
The worst could be heat exhaustion or heatstroke.
I mean, you literally could die out here
in this heat in the middle of the swamp.
And there ain't no ambulance can come get you out here.
They can't even find you.
You already sweating.
We gonna be really in for it.
Oh, the humidity's disgusting.
You could cut it with a butter knife.
But ashley's worried ronnie's lofty goal
may be their downfall.
We're really risking a lot by setting out so many lines.
It's hot and it's miserable, and I'm concerned
that we're not gonna be able to even finish today.
Ash, is that line down? I can't tell.
Can you see? Looks like it's down, huh?
Yeah, I think it is.
How it feels?
It feels like it might be stuck on something.
Oh, yeah, che, we got a good one.
Come on, big boy. Might have a snag on it, huh?
I need that long pole.
We ain't used that one yet, huh?
Let me see if I can get him.
She-ee!
Look at him, girl. That's a monster.
You better get that gun ready, girl.
Come on now, you gotta get him when you can.
Come on. As soon as you can get him, a.
Drop it on him, dead eye.
Whoo-whoo!
Come on, big boy, get in the boat!
Watch him, ashley, watch him.
Come on, shoot him, shoot him, shoot him.
Drop it on him, dead eye.
[gunshot] bam!
Booyah!
That's what I'm talking about.
That a girl.
Whew.
One, two, three.
All right.
One, two, three.
All right.
Whew.
Good job, girl.
This 10-foot, 400-pound giant is a great start,
but ronnie's already feeling the effects of the heat.
You okay?
- It's just hot. - I know it.
Extremely hot.
We're already soaking wet with sweat.
The humidity is just killing us
and, you know, in the past,
once we get to a certain point,
you know, it's ronnie hitting his limit.
I'm getting old, baby. Old.
You gonna be icing down tonight, ain't you?
We gotta push through, though. Be done with this.
25 miles south, in the atchafalaya river basin,
jacob landry and his deckhand don brewer
are heading to an area known for gator feeding frenzies
during the hottest days of the season.
Despite seeing signs of alligators everywhere,
they're not taking the bait.
Chicken's still up.
Not looking good.
That one's still hanging, huh, don?
Yeah, third one in a row.
Ain't producing too hot, that's for sure.
No.
You know, there's alligators here.
We've seen them while we putting lines.
They were all around us.
So we have all of the evidence we need to have bait here,
but we just not catching.
We gonna have to do something different here, jacob.
I don't know what,
but we gonna have to do something different, brother.
The chicken's starting to dry up on that hook.
Need some way to keep it wet.
The biggest problem with the bait drying fast
is just you don't have that smell in that water,
that juice dripping in the water.
So we gotta figure out a way
to come up with keeping the bait moist
and juicy and smelling good for the alligators.
Hey, I got an idea.
Luckily, don is no stranger to a little swamp ingenuity.
He's made a career inventing new ways of catching gators.
You got some juice?
Yeah. I got thinking about it, and I thought, man,
we need something that just drips on it.
Just a slow drip running right down the line,
and it just sits there and it keeps dripping on it
and dripping on it like an iv.
Like when you get an iv in your arm,
dropping down just one little tap at a time.
- Good? - Oh, yeah.
It's dripping right on it, right down the line.
Perfect. You know, that's one good thing about don.
He's always thinking out of the box.
A little chicken blood.
That looks tasty.
If it can help us, if it can be a positive help to us,
I'm willing to try anything.
Sure does look funny though.
Get this show on the road, baby.
Got a boat to fill.
32 miles south in calumet,
joey edgar and zak catchem
have prepared for the hottest day of the season
by setting lines
along the area's most popular watering hole.
You can tell it's summertime today, huh?
I can see why the cows are on the beach.
This year, ranchers have been losing more calves than ever
to gator attacks.
And with the heat rising, it's only getting worse.
Hot like it is, these cows,
they probably need to drink just like me and you.
And the big alligators,
they gonna take advantage of that.
Where cows come to drink,
big alligators tend to hang out.
So this should be a really good area,
and we need to move fast to get these lines out
to give these cows a break.
Look at all of this activity from the cows.
Yeah, there's a lot of cow patties out there.
Correct.
So they're bringing their calves out here and--
they're bringing their calves to drink,
and this is a perfect ambush spot.
Yeah. The little calves are drinking
and get eaten up by alligators.
Correct. Look right here.
Look where they walking right on the edge and drinking.
My mission is to catch these big alligators
that's eating these calves.
Try to give these ranchers a break
because these big alligators are stealing their profits.
I got a line right there.
- That us? - Oh, yeah.
Oh, that's a nice one.
We got a tree shaker.
That line is tight.
Let me see if I can get a hand on it.
It's getting me nervous in this spot.
I see him kicking up mud on the bottom.
It's big.
Oh.
What you got, buddy?
- Oh! - Watch yourself.
Watch out, watch out!
Whoa! Be careful.
Give me a shot.
- Come on! - Give me a shot, zak.
Watch out, watch out!
Whoa! Aah! Come on!
Don't let him break the line!
Whoa, there's his head.
- Give me a shot, zak! - I'm trying. Aah!
I got him. Take him out, pop, come on.
[gunshot]
whoo! Nice shot, pop.
Yeah, one like that can eat those little calves.
- Nice. - Uh-huh.
- Whoo! - Oh, yeah.
That thing was stalking calves for sure.
Catching this nine-footer so close to the watering hole
tells zak that they've come to the right place.
You could tell he was stalking them.
To be that close, he had to be stalking those calves.
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. That's why he's there.
I'm glad we got him.
Meanwhile, in the lake verret spillway,
ronnie and ashley's breakneck pace
during the worst heat wave in years
is catching up to them.
Whew! I am sweating bad, boy.
I don't like that.
Whew! I'm getting gassed, ron.
I know, babe.
Disgusting. Soaking wet.
I got 100 lines out, I gotta run the lines.
I can't leave them hanging, but, I mean, it's killing me.
I mean, I can't put enough fluids in my body.
I'm starting to cramp up.
I mean, I can feel the dehydration coming on.
I mean, it's getting scary
because we not even a quarter way through the lines
and I'm starting to cramp up and it's hot.
Looks like I see some limbs broke and stuff here, huh?
Yeah.
Let me work it out for you best I can.
Wrapped, huh?
Yeah. I'm gonna try to work it out.
I'll hold the rope. You see if you can get it.
Seem like he might've broke this part of it off.
Right there. I got it.
You got it?
- Whoo! - Oh!
Watch him, girly! Get the gun, girl.
Come here, baby.
This is a good one, ashley. Get the gun.
He's wrapped up
and I think he's getting ready to come off, che.
You are staying with me! Whoo!
Come on, baby. Whoo, we got a good eight.
That's a good eight-footer.
Boy, is he a mess.
Come on, dead eye, you got it, girly.
You got to get him going because I'm wearing down.
Oh, watch him. He's biting the gun!
Hold the gun, hold the gun, hold the gun.
Come on, big boy.
I know my body. I'm about to start cramping up.
Give me a shot.
[gunshot]
[exhales sharply]
I am dying, girl, you hear me?
I know it.
With heat exhaustion setting in,
even this eight-foot gator is wearing ronnie out.
I'm dying, a.
Oh, man, I'm gonna die.
The heat's putting a number on me this morning.
We got a lot of lines and we gotta run 'em.
Gotta get them done.
But right now I am dragging.
I'm suffering. I'm hurting really bad.
Here, come on, have some of that.
With ronnie, I wanna make sure
that he's putting in a lot of fluid.
And I wanna just monitor,
you know, how much he's sweating,
what kind of breaks he's taking.
And I can just tell when he gets irritable,
you know, he's getting to his breaking point.
We ain't even put a dent in these lines today.
Tell me about it, huh?
What we got left, about 40, 50?
At least 50.
Absolutely brutal right now, this temperature.
Whew!
45 miles northwest in bayou sorrel,
little willie and his grandfather junior
are leapfrogging areas with willie.
They're hoping to get their lines run faster
in this brutal heat.
Whew!
It's so hot, but you don't even hardly wanna be outside,
and them alligators, that's when they move.
It gets cold, the alligators go in the ground.
We gotta hunt them hottest part of the year and everything.
And it's just-- the heat's unbearable.
It's stretched all up in there.
It's all up in them bushes.
I'm pulling hard. It's all wrapped up.
Oh! Oh, lordy!
- Oh, look what an alligator. - Mm-hmm.
Tell you what. I'm starting to feel bad.
I don't feel good at all.
Trying to put him over in the boat.
Oh!
Oh! [groans]
I'm nauseated, sick to my stomach.
Really don't wanna be out here.
With little willie showing signs
of heat exhaustion so quickly,
junior calls willie back to help diagnose the situation.
What's wrong with you, boy? Why you ain't help papaw?
Feel bad.
Out here in this heat, he was feeling bad already.
Get in this boat. We gonna take you on to the doctor.
See what's going on with you.
I mean, that's my son,
and when I pulled up there and seen he was like that,
I decided to throw in the towel.
I mean, it was just way too much.
I mean, I don't want nothin' to happen to my son out here,
and nothin' gonna happen to him.
I'll take him in before anything happens.
I'll be back.
Little willie's day is over,
but now junior has a tall task ahead:
To check all his lines alone
during the hottest part of the day.
I gotta keep running hooks
until whatever happens, you know.
25 miles south in the atchafalaya river basin,
with the extreme temperatures,
jacob and don's bait continues to dry up.
So now they're going to check on don's newest invention,
the chicken-blood drip bottles.
Ain't nothin' on it.
Damn.
The drip bottles ain't working too hot yet.
- I got faith in them. - It'll work.
I think the hotter it gets, the better it'll work.
Maybe so. I hope you're right.
You know, the downfall of putting these bottles out,
it's slowing us down.
You know, for this to be productive
and to work out and for us to continue to do it,
it's gotta produce at least I would say
one in every two to three bottles.
If not, it's not worth the time of us putting into it
when we could just be running more lines.
Line's down, huh, d?
Line's down, line's down.
Oh, yeah.
We got one.
The bottle worked, huh?
Got a little power behind that bad boy right there.
Ooh.
Nice. Just made it personal.
Come on. Get him, jake, get him, get him, get him!
Aah!
Hold him, d, hold him.
Damn, boy, he's a lively little bastard.
Coming up.
[gunshot]
whew. Oh, yeah.
Good old drip.
That's what I'm talking about.
Damn old bottle dripper worked, huh?
Told you it would work.
It sit there and just drips.
And it drips on the chicken
as long as you can get it right over the line.
Plus the smell was up high
so we got fresh juice in the water.
I mean, it worked awesome.
It worked. That's all I care about.
But with so many tags left to fill,
jacob and don hope this catch wasn't a fluke.
It worked this time.
Hopefully it works again.
Meanwhile, in the canals off calumet,
with cows desperate for water and coming closer to the bank,
gators are killing the local ranchers' calves,
and joey and zak have made it their mission to stop them.
But the journey between canals in this heat is stifling.
What's the problem, pop? You hot?
This heat's insane right now.
What's wrong, bubba?
It's just a different level today.
Years of experience in the louisiana heat
have taught joey a thing or two.
Give me a pickle.
This is a savior right here.
- And then they're cold? - Mm-hmm.
- My god. - Yeah, please.
A pickle and vinegar,
hot and dehydrated like we are, it helps.
After downing their swamp remedy for heat exhaustion,
the boys continue into another adjacent canal
in search of more calf-eating gators.
Ooh, right there!
Get your rod and reel, get your rod and reel!
Where?
- He's going in front the boat. - That boy's moving.
Right in the front of the boat. Right there.
Whoa.
- He's right by the line. - Yeah.
That's what he was coming after.
I guess he's on the line.
It's wrapped up. It's going that way.
Yeah, but he's right here.
- Oh, yeah, he's under the boat. - He's under the boat?
Wait. So that was another one?
That was another one. They had two of 'em.
How many alligators are right here?
Dude, I'm telling you.
We might need to hang another line.
There's some roots down there. Watch out.
Don't let this gaff get you, pop.
All right. All right then.
Whoa, whoa!
- Whoa! - Yeah!
Give me a shot.
Aah!
- Oh, he's strong. - Mm-hmm.
Aah!
Give me a shot. We gonna shoot this one.
Death roll. Getting him up.
[gunshot]
- [laughs] - oh, yeah.
That was a shot. That was a shot right there.
Oh, yeah.
Stacking up on the calf killers, boy.
This thing's dull.
Now he's moving.
Mm-hmm. There he goes.
Yup.
- Nice. - Well done, poppy.
Nice.
In the lake verret spillway,
ronnie and ashley
are more than halfway through the 100 lines they set,
but working this hard in this heat
has its consequences.
I'm starting to cramp up.
I'm really concerned
that ronnie's getting heat exhaustion.
I'm not sure if he's just not putting in enough fluid
or something's going on.
But if we're not able to finish these lines,
we could just have dead gators on there.
We have to be able to finish them.
We got a line down right here.
What I like to see.
Come on, be something big.
That's a big one. That's gonna be a big boy.
Got it?
Oh, yo, che, this sucker feels solid.
That's a big boy. Whoa!
Let me see that hook.
No, no, no, no, no.
I wanna see the hook in his mouth.
I can't tell if he's barely hooked, huh?
Oh, yeah, yeah, he's barely hooked.
He's barely hooked, ash.
Hold on to him, hold on to him.
Shoot him!
- I got it. Just give me a shot. - Look, he's shredding up, ash.
Come on this side. Right there, ashley, hurry up, hurry up.
That's a good one there, che.
Hand me that hook.
I'm probably too weak to handle this big dude.
Ready? One, two, three.
All right. All right, one more.
One, two, three.
My body's gonna start locking up.
I feel nauseous as [bleep].
Oh!
After pulling another 500-pound beast into the boat...
I feel nauseous.
I gotta get in the shade or something, huh?
Ronnie immediately feels the effects of the heat.
[gags]
[retches and spits]
this isn't anything to play with,
especially not heat exhaustion or heatstroke.
This can get really serious really quick.
It's a dangerous job that we're doing.
You know, we gotta be at 100% at all times.
This is the most physically hardest labor I've ever done.
Boy, that heat got me just now, che.
I know it did.
Oh, my gosh, that feels amazing.
Better?
Oh, my gosh, that feels amazing.
- Thank you, ashley. - You're welcome.
Just been big ones back to back to back.
- You know? - Oh, yeah.
Ain't had a break.
I guess I'm just exerting a lot of energy in this heat,
and it's just sucking the life out of me.
He's dead in the bottom of the boat,
so you just rest up.
Meanwhile, in bayou sorrel,
junior is forced to hunt alone
after losing his deckhand little willie to the heat.
...There. He was hurting pretty bad,
and he was sick to his stomach,
so he had to go in and go back to the doctor and...
But, hey, things happen. You gotta do what you gotta do.
Aw, gol! Get over here.
Hey!
- [tail slap] - hey!
[exhales sharply]
choo-whoo!
With a deckhand, you got help to get big ones in the boat.
When you ain't got a deckhand, you can get them in the boat...
...Every time I get out the bed in the morning.
25 miles south in the atchafalaya river basin,
after a slow start, don's iv bottles
have the boys filling the boat with giant killers.
All right, don juan.
Them old drippers are making them bite.
Bottles working, d.
Look at it, drip, drip, drip.
[laughs]
we got one.
- Oh, lord, have mercy. - Oh, no.
Ooh-whoo.
Oh, no, that's a swamp donkey there, boy.
He's a good one.
- Oh, yeah. - Oh, yeah.
There he goes, there he goes, there he goes.
He wanna come up there with you.
Damn.
I can't see his head yet.
There he goes, there he goes.
Get him, get him, get him. Aah!
Hold him, d, hold him.
Coming back up. Coming back up.
Get him, jake, get him, get him, get him.
[gunshot]
fixing to get interesting, my buddy.
Big healthy gator.
On 10.
- One, two. - Gonna roll him?
- No, we gonna pull him in. - Okay.
One, two, three.
Not sure we can hold that much.
Oh, we getting close to sinking here, my buddy.
One, two, three. Ooh!
One more time. One, two, three.
I'd say he's a swamp donkey, huh?
One final 11-foot beast in the heap,
and jacob is impressed with don's new drip bottle.
You know, we ran line after line
and things were looking slow.
But then we started getting to the lines
where the bottles were set up,
and we started catching alligators.
So the proof is in the pudding.
I mean, it was there, it was working,
so kudos to him for coming up with that idea.
That's a good one there. Damn good one.
Old bottle worked.
Gator iv.
And for don, his new invention
could change how they hunt heat waves for years to come.
The drip worked.
Iv from here on out.
I mean, if we get in a situation like that again,
we'll pull them back out and we're gonna use them again.
Gator iv.
Damn old iv working it.
Across the bayou in calumet,
joey and zak are heading back to check a line they set
at a particularly busy watering hole.
Good spot.
Oh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!
He's gonna get in the wheel.
No, he's not, because I'm gonna fight him this way.
Come on.
He's gonna cut it.
No, he's not, I'm gonna fight him around it.
We're good.
Got him away? Watch yourself.
You got that.
Oh, that's a big one.
Oh, my god.
It's a calf eater, man. Come on.
Come on. Aah!
Whoa!
Whoa! Look at this thing, look at this thing.
Whoa.
Aah!
Gimme a shot, zak. Whoa!
God, he's spinning around.
Take him out. Take him out right now. Come on. Whoa.
[gunshot]
- yes, nice one, pop, nice one. - All right.
That's a big boy.
Yeah.
Ready?
Big boy, really big boy.
Oh, we got him.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Zak and I feel really good about what we done today.
These alligators been killing calves.
We did this community a service.
These calf eaters, we got a lot of 'em out.
Yeah, we did good today.
52 miles north in bayou sorrel,
willie returned to the water hours ago
after taking his son to the hospital
with heat exhaustion.
And now he continues to divide and conquer
with his father junior.
Hot day, but...
Job's gotta be done, job's gotta be done.
South louisiana,
I mean, the heat during alligator season is unreal.
You can have a heatstroke right quick out here.
And it's tough work and you gotta keep going
and just keep your head in the game and just keep rolling.
If you slow down any little bit of thinking,
you could take a chance of losing all your alligators.
Got a big one on the bank.
Oh, he's alive.
He's a good 10 1/2 foot, right at 11 foot.
Boy, he gonna break that rope.
Gotta get up here on the bank and shoot this thing
where I can get him back overboard
because he's around all kind of trees.
Big old gator.
Come on now.
Come on.
Oh!
Try to get him around there.
Come on there. Come on.
Trying to get a good shot.
[gunshot]
this 500-pound beast is a good kill,
but getting it back to the boat alone
is a challenging chore.
Now comes the job, boy.
I'm missing my son more and more every hook,
and now's the job.
I much prefer hunting with my son.
I mean, I do miss a little bit of hunting on my own,
but it's a lot easier and a lot better
hunting with a helper on the boat.
It takes a lot off your back.
Working this hard and straining on them alligators like that,
I mean, something bad can happen right quick.
This thing is heavy.
I mean, you're talking a 500- or 600-pound animal.
As willie loads his last gator of the day,
junior approaches to tally up the team's numbers.
You got it done?
Run the last one right down there.
I just run the last one right down there.
I got about seven, eight, 10, something like that.
I ain't heard nothin' yet.
Gonna find out when we go to the house
and see what's going on.
I hope not. I had one. I mean, it ain't nice.
But we gonna get these things on to the house
and get them out of this heat.
All right.
45 miles southeast,
ronnie and ashley arrive at their last of 100 lines.
And after being pounded on all day by the sun,
the last gator isn't gonna go into the boat easily.
Is it down or up?
- He's up on land, ashley. - Oh, my god.
Man, shoot.
I'm in no mood for a land gator right now.
You might as well get your gun ready.
He's still alive.
Yeah, he's all caught up.
Huh? Come on with it.
Watch that poison ivy, poison oak, girl.
[sighs]
he's right here.
Get on that side over there and get him.
He's about to pop the hook, ashley.
Shoot him. Shoot him, ashley.
- You got him? - Yeah, I got him.
- I don't know. - See how he's tightening on it?
I know, but I just don't wanna get too close, ronnie. Damn.
Look how close he's hooked.
I don't wanna get up there by him.
He's looking to get us, che.
Watch him, che.
That's gonna ricochet. You gotta get closer.
Ashley, he's trying to get that hook off, girl.
Hurry up. He's trying to get that hook out his mouth.
[gunshot]
- that a girl. Good job. - [sighs]
I'm gonna drag this dude back to the boat.
Let me put this up and I'll come help you.
I'm just worn out, girly.
This dude's so full of mud.
You okay, ronnie?
No, I'm not.
Even though this nine-foot, 350-pound gator
isn't the biggest of the day,
after all he's been through,
ronnie is struggling to get the beast into the boat.
I'm getting cramps all in my body, dude.
Here, I got him.
I was shooting blind out there.
Whew!
Hit that for a minute.
We done a lot of work today.
Ain't had a break.
Whew. [bleep].
I gotta go to the hospital.
I feel like I gotta get to the hospital,
get an iv or two in me because I'm not feeling right.
I'm drained, sucked the life out me.
And right now this is serious. This is danger.
Let's go, load up.
Dude, I'm [bleep] up right now.
Ronnie needs to go to the hospital.
He's got to go get an iv.
And we wanna make sure that he's able to finish the season out,
and I'm not sure that that's gonna happen.
But I can see all signs are pointing
towards, you know, something extremely bad happening
if we don't get ronnie to the hospital.
This has got to be the hottest day of the summer yet.
After facing the most dangerous conditions in years,
these brave hunters have beaten the heat.
It's ready, buddy.
So patriarch daniel edgar has called everyone together
while their close family friend brian
cooks up a meal of fried shrimp and etouffee.
This is great. [laughs]
this is great.
Most of the creole--
and I'm gonna say creole and cajun traditions--
are tied to food,
be it boiling, barbecuing, you know, etouffees,
because food is the one thing that'll bring you together.
I feel good. We caught some big alligators.
It's hot, it's humid, we tired.
But nobody got hurt, we had some good battles.
Brian took care of us with the food.
It's time to pack it up and go home.
My goodness, that's good.