Prehistoric beasts prowl the bayou,
threatening workers.
Look at the size of this crane.
Biggest machine in north america,
and we stopped because we got a gator problem.
Oh, my god, look! He's huge!
The king of the swamp finds new hunting grounds...
My daddy calls it dead man's slough back here.
Shorty, it better pick up quick.
While others get lost in the maze.
I ain't got a clue where I'm at.
I don't know how I'm gonna find my way back out of here.
Crap. More lilies.
And the battle rages on.
Oh, no!
Don't let him pull you off the boat! Hold on!
♪ when I was ju♪ ♪
♪ ♪
it's morning on the surface.
The bayou seems quiet.
But below...
Gators lay in wait.
In a remote canal off the atchafalaya river,
king of the swamp troy landry surveys a new hunting spot
that was recommended by his deckhand pickle.
I'm not crazy about your hotspot,
whatever the hell you call it.
Oh, I call it my little honey hole,
but my daddy calls it dead man's slough back here.
I think we're gonna do pretty good.
I think you need to stop being so skeptical.
Well, listen, I done got burnt so many times
by listening to other people.
That's why I like to do my own thing.
Pickle's been bugging me and bugging me
about going to a place, they call it dead man's slough.
But I got my own places to hunt,
so the last thing I wanna do
is waste a day or two going on an adventure
to some place that I'm not used to hunting.
I don't know if we can get in there.
Dead man's slough look like to me it's choked with grass.
Got gators back here.
Well, I'm sure they do got gators,
but, man, is it worth the trouble?
My daddy always told me about this place out here,
and if my daddy tells me something,
I kind of take it to the bank.
I take my daddy's word to heart.
And so I know for sure
that we're gonna get some alligators back here.
And mr. Troy, I just gotta gain his trust
and get him on my side.
I hope it's worth coming back here.
It's definitely worth it.
Let's run these first couple lines.
You about to see.
In preparation for today,
pickle set lines up and down dead man's slough.
Imma show you something.
- Okay. - Let me learn you something.
Confidence. You gotta have confidence.
I got confidence. Patience, troy, have patience.
What we got?
Let's see.
Uh-oh. Look at it.
Oh, saw the line moving.
That line's real tight.
That look like a good'un.
Pull him up slow, slow.
Yeah, we got a small one on this line.
Give me a shot.
This one looks like he wants to fight.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, watch him.
Give me the shot.
You ready? You gonna shoot him?
Yeah, I'm gonna shoot him.
Get him, quick!
[gunshot]
oh, that's not good.
It was a small one. It's nothing to brag about,
not according to the stories pee wee was telling.
With that being said, at least we didn't come for nothing.
I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt.
Until you run the last line,
you don't know what you're gonna catch.
That's right.
106 miles to the east in biloxi marsh,
ronnie adams and ashley "dead eye" jones
are heading into a remote area
they hope holds unlimited potential.
We in a new area today, baby.
We in the biloxi marsh wildlife reserve.
I been waiting my entire life to come hunt this area
because I just know about the big son of a guns in here.
And I never thought they were gonna open it up,
but, boy, when they did,
I made sure I got my grips on these tags.
I like the sound of that.
It's like a dream come true.
Alligators ain't been hunted in here for years.
I mean, years.
So the only reason they got us in here
because they being overrun by big, aggressive alligators.
But we gotta be in and out, one day.
And, hopefully, by the end of the day,
every one of these tags
is sitting in an alligator's tail, baby.
After today, when the sun sets, it's over.
This is a once in a lifetime chance
and I gotta make it work.
Oh, I see it over there, way stretched out.
See what we got here, baby.
Grab me that line, che.
Oh, let me feel it, baby, huh?
Boy, you better get that gun ready.
Oh, this is a big motherhumper.
- Whoa! - Whoa!
Whoo-hoo!
Come on, big boy!
You better get on this side of me, che,
soon as you can get a shot.
- This is a thin line, too. - Kill him.
Come on, baby. Come on, get that shot!
- Get up here. - He's under the boat.
Whoo-hoo!
He's gonna tangle up and pop. Soon as you get a shot.
Kill him?
Yeah, soon as you get a shot, kill him.
That a girl.
Somebody done shot this dude with a bow!
- Trying to bow hunt him. - Oh, my god.
He's got a freaking broadhead in him!
Jeez!
Give me his head, babe.
I need you to come on this side of me, my baby.
I got him. Go ahead, let him go.
So when I get him going, one, two, three.
Slide, there we go.
Now we got him.
All right, we got his ass.
- We got his ass. - Oh, yeah.
Yes!
Whoo!
Wow! That's better than coffee.
So some kids or somebody was messing around
and shot this poor alligator.
The broadhead snapped off into the alligator's head
and no telling how long it's been in there.
It's done healed over and it's sticking out.
That gator could've got shot 20, 30 years ago.
Them kids could be my age right now,
could be some people I knew back in the day
out here fooling around.
Could've been us as kids. Who knows?
I hope we got a bunch more of them
on the line today, baby. Bam!
31 miles to the southeast,
veteran swamper bruce mitchell
is running lines in an unfamiliar area
locals refer to as the maze.
He's already landed a few gators,
but he's quickly realizing how the area got its name.
You can sure get turned around back here easy.
This is an old cypress forest back here,
but there's no trees here no more.
You can't tell where you at.
There's runs start here and then they stop.
You set a line and you keep going.
You set another line, next thing you know,
you're looking at the line you just set.
I mean, it's just... You cannot pattern this thing.
I think I need to go that way.
There's not that many people hunt over here,
so I'm gonna take a gamble and go in here,
and I know I can get some big gators.
Got something.
Got a gator on here somewhere.
I just touched his head.
All right, come on, buddy.
[grunts]
whoa. Gol.
Watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it.
Whoa!
That son of a gun about jumped in the boat.
Come on, big boy.
[gunshot]
don't got to worry about him no more.
Come on, buddy.
This seven-foot gator has bruce feeling good,
but he knows one wrong turn could get him lost.
Let's ride.
I know if I had to tell somebody where I was at,
I'd be in a heap of trouble.
I just hope I can find my way back.
185 miles to the west,
joey edgar and his deckhand zak catchem
are heading to the edge of the rockefeller wildlife refuge
to meet up with a family friend, cody fortier.
He's running a crew
building a new rock levee along the coastline.
Here he's laying these big rocks down, coastal restoration,
trying to save the coast.
But we're gonna pull up to him and talk to him
and see what's going on.
We've been knowing cody since he was a little boy.
My dad and his grandpa were friends,
I'm friends with his daddy and his uncle.
They just like family.
Oh, my god, dude,
look at the size of this crane.
This is magnificent, cody.
This is the biggest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Biggest machine in north america,
and we stopped because we got a gator problem.
- Are you kidding me? - Really?
We can't do anything because my guys won't get in the water
because it's full of gators.
I need them in the water
showing us where to put the rock
and then surveying it afterwards.
They want no part of it.
You know what it cost to have this parked every day
and not be able to work?
Don't know and I couldn't even imagine.
I tell you what, you have been there for us in the past.
So cody, being that he does favors for me all the time,
I cannot say no.
In the swamp, one hand washes the other,
and that's how we keep things moving out here.
We gonna do everything in our power
to make your problem go away.
I sure appreciate it.
Oh, we're gonna find them, cody.
We're gonna make that happen, cody.
Really appreciate the help. Thanks, guys.
I'm thinking the bulk of these alligators
are a little short ride away,
and that's where I'm gonna put my lines and start my hunt.
And we gonna hunt with the rod and reel
and treble hook if we got to also.
Joey and zak head out to set lines in nearby canals,
but as they reach the edge of the bayou,
they spot a giant gator swimming in open water.
Oh, my god, he's there.
Straight ahead, straight ahead!
He's huge!
He's going down. He's going down, zak!
Cast! Cast, buddy!
Come on, come on, come on.
You oughta get him with that one.
Go ahead, do you.
Oh, no! I got it, I got it.
You need help? Don't let him pull you overboard! Hold on!
Hold on! Don't let him pull you overboard!
Which way I gotta go?
Aah!
Let me throw the treble hook at him.
Come on. Come on.
Come on.
Aah! I got him!
Get the gun! Shoot him!
[laughs] that's it, buddy!
Like fighting a whale. Whew.
Choke strap. Where's the choke strap?
Got it in my hand.
There you go.
- All right, you ready? - Mm-hmm.
That's a big alligator, though. Whoa!
This 10-foot behemoth weighs in at 400 pounds
and serves as confirmation
of the troubles cody and his crew are having
near the worksite.
That was a big, big surprise,
and that's a problem.
98 miles to the northeast,
pickle's got the king of the swamp
hunting in an unfamiliar area
locals refer to as dead man's slough.
But so far, troy's not convinced
they made the right decision.
- Shorty. - Huh?
We catching a couple,
but, man, we come way back here out the way for this?
It better pick up quick.
Mr. Troy's got a lot of pressure on me right now.
He thinks we just wasting our time back here,
but I need to prove to him
that he can trust me and listen to me
and take some of my advice because we a team now.
I know they still got alligators back here,
and we gonna get them.
You see the line?
I don't see nothing.
- Maybe behind the tree. - Oh, yeah, look.
Got one?
- What is it? - I don't know.
We wrapped around the tree for sure.
It's wrapped around the tree?
That's a good sign.
Oh, right there, look right there.
You just pulled it out the water.
Yup.
I'll take it from here.
It's pulling. Get your gun.
He's coming up. Get ready.
Oh, lord.
What you thinking?
Aw.
Oh, he's mad.
Give me that shot, give me that shot.
This one got some fight in him.
You ready? He's coming up. Right there.
[gunshot]
ho-ho-ho.
One shot wonder, huh?
That's it, huh?
No.
Ain't going home with nothin'.
But that's a little one, huh?
We never catch little ones like that in my spots.
Feel like we in a hatchery over here.
You know, when we having a day like today,
I let myself get talked into doing something
I don't wanna do to start with.
My patience gets short,
and I'm mad at myself more than anything
for letting somebody talk me into it.
Every time I listen to women, I get in trouble.
I let y'all sucker me in.
No, it's gonna be worth it, I promise you.
They got some big boys back here.
All right.
Back east in a remote marsh outside myrtle grove,
bruce is struggling to find his lines in the maze.
Now he's discovered another problem.
The marsh itself is always moving.
It's full of lilies or flottant and...
It's just this marsh over here is steady moving.
Nope.
Crap!
More lilies.
I have to find a new way
to go completely around to get to my lines.
It's showing canals, but I ain't...
I can't find them.
To read this map, you gotta find some landmarks,
something you know for sure that's on the map.
In my case right here,
there's just not a lot of landmarks here.
I mean, there's nothing to go by hardly.
Damn.
Everything looks alike.
I ain't got a clue where I'm at.
I could be in a lot of trouble. I don't know where I'm at.
I don't know how I'm gonna find my way back out of here.
I just got to keep moving to move
and try to find my way back out of here.
I definitely don't wanna spend the night out here.
Back in the biloxi marsh,
ronnie and ashley have only one day to fill their tags
in a never before hunted nature preserve.
Despite a promising start, ronnie's concerned
his lack of experience in the area may be an issue.
Che, I've been waiting my entire life to come hunt this area.
But to find these alligators, you got to find the deep cresses
and the holes that they go in and these deep sloughs.
And, you know, I don't know the area too well for that,
and I'm learning it, and I hope it works.
This area, it's always been blocked off,
no alligator hunting,
so you never really have a chance
to scout it for alligators.
But, hey, I only got 12 hours of daylight
to make it happen, and I got to make it happen.
Line's down.
It's down?
Yes.
Oh, I seen something.
Oh, I see him, huh?
Get the gun, che.
Whoo, man!
This son of a gun's got some fight in him, babe!
Whoa! He almost grabbed my foot!
Come on, baby. Come on, big papa.
Whoo-hoo!
Hold him. Whoa!
Oh!
That son of a gun's working me, baby.
- Watch him, ashley! - Don't pull him in here.
Dude's trying to get in the boat.
Whoa!
Come on, big boy.
Get me one.
Whoo! Don't let him get the gun, babe.
Right there, che.
[gunshot]
that a girl! Whoo-whoo-whoo!
Good job, baby.
That's a good little seven-footer, che.
One more gator closer to tagging out
in this special area.
But ronnie knows they've got to keep hustling.
Hey, we barely made a dent,
and I gotta return these tags after today.
The clock is ticking.
200 miles west,
running lines they baited earlier
near cody's massive work platform,
joey and zak know there's more at stake
than just catching gators.
If I was one of cody's guys
and I'd be on the bank surveying and doing what they doing
and see a big alligator coming at me,
I wouldn't want to work either.
So now we got to buckle down
and get the rest of these lines run.
Because these alligators are aggressive,
and they running his men back to the boat.
Line's down.
Is that him? Is that him right there?
That's him right there. He's all wrapped up.
Let's see if we can get the line.
Okay.
Whoa.
He's gonna pull this pole out of my hand.
Yeah, you can't hold him like that.
That's a nice alligator, dude.
- Be careful. - Whoa!
Hold on, zak!
Aah!
Whoa!
Oh, he's strong.
This pole's holding pretty good.
Come on. You got the rifle?
Yeah.
All right, I'm gonna try to get my hand on it.
All right, I got the pole. Watch that hook.
Give me a shot.
Oh, that was my shot right there.
Be careful, be careful, be careful.
Get him!
[gunshot]
there you go.
Not a giant, but we'll take him.
- Wanna help me with this one? - Yeah.
This has gotta be one of those gators
that are attacking cody's people.
Yeah.
Another eight-plus foot beast
removed from the area near the worksite...
...And zak is feeling a sense of relief
in helping a friend.
It makes me feel great to finally help cody back out.
You know, joey always says one hand washes the other,
and that's how I feel that we're doing today for cody.
98 miles away in an area known as dead man's slough,
pickle's family honey hole
has yet to produce any big alligators,
and the king of the swamp is losing his patience.
We got half our lines ran.
We got three alligators in the boat.
Hey, I don't know about you,
but I ain't ready to give up this little spot yet.
I know better than that. We're gonna catch a big one.
I just got a feeling about it.
All right, all right. You might be right.
When you go on an adventure,
you follow somebody else's tips or somebody else's lead,
most of the time it's a waste of time.
I'm ready to get the hell outta here and go run my lines.
But I don't wanna hurt her feelings,
so I'm trying to stick it out.
But I'm ready to get out of here.
Whoa, look-a here.
Oh, I see a little action over there.
We got a good one on this one.
Grab your pole.
Oh, there you got it. There you got it.
- Ready? - Ready.
- Whoa! Whoa! Watch him! - Whoa!
Whoo!
Be careful, watch your hands.
Get him! Shoot, shoot!
- Whoa! - Whoa!
Oh, boy.
You're gonna have to shoot this one.
Oh! That was your shot. What you doing?
Bring him up!
- Watch him! - Whoa!
- Whoa. You all right? - Yeah.
Watch him, shorty, watch him!
Give me a shot!
[gunshot]
what? What?
Boy, that one put up a good fight there, huh?
Lights out, baby.
This is exactly what I thought we'd catch back here.
On three, ready? One, two, three.
Oop.
Okay, one more time.
Let me grab this leg, you grab that one.
Gotta pick up and in. One, two, three.
All right.
Up until about 12:00, 1:00,
I thought I was here for nothing,
but we caught a big alligator.
It was a nice size alligator,
but it's nothing to brag about it.
You know, if we don't catch
more than we got in the boat right here,
it's a lesson learned.
I'll just write it off.
But I'm ready to get back to my lines and run my lines.
Well, you still doubting my alligator skills?
Your little honey hole's starting to pay off, girl.
106 miles east,
with just under half their tags left for the day,
ronnie and ashley have hit a dry spell
in an area that hasn't been hunted in over 20 years.
Ronnie's stumped as to what's going on.
Che, I'm gonna tell you, man, I'm nervous about today.
I'm afraid about these gators not biting, you know?
I don't feel like they are, you know.
It's crazy to me
that we don't see them swimming around out here.
- Because they're here. - Yup.
Right now, it's getting late in the day.
I still got a bunch of tags left in my hand.
I wish I had more time in here,
but I only got one day to hunt the area.
So, hey, I gotta make it happen.
Where we at?
Yeah, we're gonna slide up a little bit.
Oh, I see the line over here. Oh, I see the gator, baby!
Right here. Give me that stick.
- You see him? - Oh, yeah.
You see his tail in there?
Looks like a real good gator, che.
Is he just hiding up under here?
Oh, yeah. That might be a 10-footer.
Just hope and pray he ain't dead.
Oh, no, he ain't dead.
No. He just growled at me.
Yeah, he ain't dead, che.
Uh-oh!
Watch him, che.
Whoo! I got him, baby.
Whoo-hoo! He's got the side of the boat, che.
Get the gun, baby. This is a good one!
Come on, che, soon as you get the shot.
Come on, big boy.
Pull him up here
and I'll pop him.
Get on his ass, che.
I'm trying.
Right there. Pop his ass.
That a girl!
Whoo-hoo! This is a good gator, che.
All right.
This eight-footer has lifted ronnie's spirits,
but he's still concerned
about filling all his tags by day's end.
After today, when the sun sets,
the only opportunity I'm gonna get to hunt this area
will be if they open it back up
and if they decide to let me come hunt it.
This is a once in a lifetime chance
and I gotta make it work.
Come on, ashley. We only got a couple hours to go, baby.
31 miles away,
bruce is back on track
and successfully navigating the maze.
But just as he licks one problem,
another is beginning to rumble.
[thunder]
ooh! That looks bad there.
I'm worried about a tornado
or something coming out of this stuff.
Wind's starting to pick up.
I better hurry up and run these lines
before something bad happens.
This weather don't look too good at all out here.
[thunder]
terrible.
This is a lot of good fishing right here,
but the last thing we need is what I see coming.
I mean, it's big black clouds.
We fixing to get a big bad storm in here.
Like it's not hard enough figuring out where I'm at now,
when you get this big rain storm, it's gonna be even worse.
Whoa, I just seen a big gator there!
He just tore all this up. Gol.
Come on, big boy, get over here.
Oh, gol, he's pulling hard.
[gunshot]
oh, boy.
Well, looks like I get to use my winch again.
Unh! See if I can get him around on this side.
He's definitely coming home with me.
I'm tying it off right here,
and it's gonna help me get this noose around his neck.
All right.
Whew!
This 11-foot, 400-pound beast
is bruce's biggest of the day
and makes the trip to the maze well worth his time.
But now he's got something else on his mind.
[thunder]
I got to find my way out of here.
I mean, they got storms around here.
You don't wanna be out here with lightning and thunder.
Good chance you'll get hurt out here.
I just got to keep moving to move
and try to find my way back out of here.
I had enough of this place.
I'm done with the maze.
Across the bayou
on the western coast of louisiana,
joey and zak are filling the boat
with aggressive gators from around cody's worksite.
For joey, it's been an eye-opening experience.
Man, we really starting to stack up a bunch of gators.
Pulling up to the worksite,
I didn't see cody's problem at first.
I had to put lines out and start fishing it
to really understand how bad his problem was.
These alligators now
are becoming more and more aggressive
and are following men out to the worksite.
It's unbelievable to me.
Line down. I don't know how big he is.
Might need our little gaff.
Looks pretty tight.
Oh, yeah.
It's a big one, man.
Aah, god! Aah!
Right now, right now. Do it right now.
Right now, right now. Right now, right now. Aah!
Come on.
Come on! Come on, that's a big one.
- Aah! - Whoa!
We gotta stop him.
That's a big one, pop. Aah!
Give me a shot, give me a shot.
Shoot him! Shoot him!
Right there, right there.
[gunshot]
dude.
Oh, we better get the choke strap on this big boy.
Gosh. Whew.
Cody's gonna be happy about this, huh?
Yeah, real happy.
All right.
Catch this side.
Wait, wait.
He's bigger than you think.
All right. Aah!
God, this thing is a monster.
Gol! Pull-ups, baby.
Roll him. He wanna roll, let him roll.
With this 12-foot, 500-pound monster in the boat,
joey feels confident
that they've accomplished their mission for the day.
I think cody's gonna feel really good
when he sees all these alligators that we cleared out.
I think he's gonna be happy and he's gonna feel truly
like we returned the favors that he's done for us,
and that's what's most important to me.
It's nice to help cody.
Oh, yeah, we did our job.
200 miles east, in biloxi marsh,
after a rough patch in the middle of their day,
ronnie and ashley see light at the end of the tunnel.
Last tag for the biloxi, baby.
I got this one tag left in my hand.
We got to fill it.
I'm not giving a tag back to the wildlife.
But I gotta do what I gotta do to make it happen.
But we shall see.
Oh, we got some serious damage here, che.
Got some serious damage here, girl.
- Here we go. - Give it to me, che-che.
Please be the line in there. You feel it?
Yes, it is, che.
You better get the gun
and make sure you got plenty ammo in it.
Come on, babe.
Whoo! Motherhumper, this is a big boy!
Golly. Come here, boy.
Ashley!
- I got it. - This is a monster, girl!
Whoo-hoo-hoo-whoo!
Dang!
- Golly. - He's strong, che.
- Watch him, ashley! - Whoa!
God, don't let him get your leg.
- Whoo-hoo! - Oh, my god.
Go ahead. Kill him, kill him, kill him.
[gunshot]
jeez. All right, che, let's grab his legs.
I tell you what, I feel unbelievable proud,
because ain't nobody else
that got the chance to hunt this in 20 years.
And I'm so privileged and got picked to hunt it.
One, two, three.
And I'm praying and begging next year
they give me another opportunity at the same piece.
Last tag for biloxi, baby!
Click.
That a girl.
This 10-footer puts the finishing touches
on a successful trip to the biloxi marsh wildlife reserve.
Got him, baby.
106 miles west,
troy started the day skeptical
that pickle's family honey hole would be worth the trip.
But after catching a few monsters,
he's starting to come around.
For a little while, I thought
we had wasted our time this morning.
Well, I'm glad you didn't give up on me.
We doing good. I like this little spot.
So you're saying I was right. I told you.
Oh, lord.
You gotta learn how to trust your deckhand.
All morning you complained, all morning.
Now look at it.
You've got a boatload of alligators. Come on.
We did good. Did good.
Thank you.
It's coming down to the end of the day,
and mr. Troy's warming up to my spot,
my little honey hole back here, dead man's slough.
And it feels great
to bring something new to the table, you know.
For him to be able to trust my opinion
and stuff like that now, you know,
I kinda got a lot more confidence.
And it's something to see for him to back down
and let his guard down a little bit, you know.
I like what I see here.
Look like a crime scene.
- What we got? - Boy, he's pulling.
Whoo, he's pulling hard.
Whoo!
Got it under control?
Boy, he's pulling.
Whoa!
He's heavy.
Oh, watch him, watch him!
- Whoo! - Oh!
- You got it now? - Yeah, I got it now.
He ain't going nowhere now.
[gunshot]
whew.
That's right. Get him in here. Oh, look at him.
On three. You ready?
One, two, three!
That's what I'm talking about, baby girl.
The first part of the day,
I was really worried, but finally it paid off.
We started catching 'em. We caught some nice alligators.
It's a place I'm gonna remember next time.
I'm glad I came.
I'm not gonna tell her that, but I'm glad I came.
- Dead man's slough paid off. - I told you.
You gonna start listening to me now or what?
I don't know about all that.
Aw, come on.
[laughs]
I got so many new ideas for you.
Whoa-ho-ho-ho. Whoa, whoa.
Let's not get carried away.
Down south on the edge of the rockefeller wildlife refuge,
joey and zak return to cody's worksite
anxious to show their friend
the results of their long day of hunting.
Cody's gonna be stoked to see this boat.
Come on.
Wait until he sees
the alligators in this boat right now.
These alligators were too big and too aggressive
for cody's men to do their job.
We've cleared the worksite of danger,
and I can't wait to show cody the catch.
We got a surprise for you.
Damn.
- Oh, my god. - How about that, baby?
Wow. I guess they were thicker than I thought.
My guys were right.
There was a reason your men didn't wanna get in the water.
- Yeah. - God bless.
- Yes, sir. - With gators like this,
I wouldn't wanna be in the water either.
Hopefully, your men can go back to work and everything.
We're going back to work now.
Finish the job, go back home.
Yeah, yeah. You've been a good friend to us.
You've always been there for us. That's why we're here today.
Happy to return the favor, brother.
Yes, sir.
Well, I knew you two guys could get it.
- Thank you. - Thanks, cody.
- No problem, brother. - Got work to do now.
Yes, sir. It feels really good to give cody a hand finally.
He's been doing me favors for years,
so we returned the favors that he's done for us,
and that's what's most important to me.
I'm glad they were able to go back to work.
One hand washes the other in the swamp, son.
One hand washes the other.
- Let's go home. - Yes, sir.