Gator season kicks into high gear.
Hunters return
to the most gator-infested place in the bayou.
Look at all of 'em.
Would describe cow island as jurassic park.
They have no real threat out there.
[gunshots] got him!
Swampers use unusual bait to catch a killer.
He's got a appetite for chickens
and it could definitely upgrade to children
in a matter of seconds.
Oh, my god!
Some battle nature...
...While others finally let loose.
Where you going?
I'm about to throw you out this boat!
♪ ♪
another beautiful day begins
on the bayou in southern louisiana.
Just outside of violet,
ronnie adams and his deckhand ashley "dead eye" jones
are responding to a nuisance call
ronnie received from his old friend herman.
A massive gator has raided his kids' chicken coop,
and herman is afraid he's still in the area.
-Y'all come see this. -Eww!
Look at the feathers!
- Yeah, tore the whole coop up. - Unbelievable.
It was here, ronnie, in the kennel for the chickens.
He grabbed that son of a gun
and drug it the whole way over there, huh?
For herman, the problem goes way beyond
the loss of a few chickens.
I worry about the kids swimming, too.
Your youngest I see all the time.
What is she, six or seven now?
She's eight now.
- I can't get over that, bro. - She loves the chickens.
She's over here talking to them, playing with them.
If she would've been here when that gator come up,
no telling what would've happened.
Boy, would've been bad. You dang right.
So I need to see about getting this thing out of here.
There's other camps here.
There's so many people and kids and families.
I mean, it's scary, man.
That's our goal for today
is to catch this big chicken killer.
We gonna get him for you, my baby.
- I appreciate it. - You bet, brother.
Y'all be safe and all. Thank y'all.
Hey, we'll pass by once we get him so you can see him.
Aw, that would be great.
There's a big alligator out there,
and right now he's got an appetite for chickens,
and it could definitely upgrade to dogs
and even to children in a matter of seconds.
And, boy, my heart would be sunk
if something happened to one of them babies of his.
I mean, because herman's a good friend of mine,
I'm not giving up until that alligator,
that chicken eater's in the boat, baby.
Determined to snag this nuisance gator,
ronnie planned ahead and brought along surprise bait.
Huh?
Oh, my god, ronnie. What's wrong with you?
Well, we gotta catch this big boy.
I mean, he ate chickens, so why not use chickens?
This ain't herman's chickens.
This is just the chickens I got from the supermarket.
Gobble, gobble.
- I think it's cluck, cluck. - Cluck, cluck.
Ronnie is always coming up with crazy ideas.
This is... Just a chicken hanging there.
It's disgusting.
We'll know if the bait's up or down for sure.
And no binoculars needed.
None.
On to the next one.
103 miles west, off the atchafalaya river,
the king of the swamp prepares his troops
for their annual mission
to the very heart of alligator hunting:
Cow island lake.
About time y'all get here.
I got this thing going in circles.
Couldn't figure out how to make it go straight.
[laughs]
- y'all ready? - Let's do this.
Put these canes down
to keep the boat from sticking to the sand.
This is gonna help. Soap and water helps.
[starts engine]
you know, cow island is in the middle of the swamp.
So hard to get in and out of,
a lot of hunters stay away from cow island.
They don't wanna go through all that trouble.
We used to hunt cow island once every four or five years.
Now we been going back
for the last four or five years in a row,
and we always, always catch good.
We never have a dry run when we come to this area. Never.
Here we are, baby.
I'm ready. Look at all of them.
This is the biggest alligator hatchery
in the state of louisiana right here.
Give me some tags so I can show you how to hatchery.
Okay, you got eight there.
Oh, I need more than that.
You eight got out of 15.
- All right? - Let's do it.
With a limited number of tags for today,
troy only wants to snipe gators over 10 feet.
Take your time. Make every shot count.
We're gonna hug the left bank here.
Y'all hug the right bank.
All right, let's go. Let's go to work.
I would describe cow island as jurassic park.
You know, those alligators know
they have no... No real threat out there
until we show up.
Got a big one to our left about 100 yards.
[gunshot]
hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.
Get that pole ready to stick it, pickles.
Over here. To the left.
I got him.
Nice alligator. Hell, yeah.
Good job, sonny boy.
Good job.
Gotcha.
Let him turn-- ah! Oh!
Hold on. Ready? Okay.
This 10-foot beast weighs over 400 pounds
and is a promising way to begin the hunt.
One closer to tagging out.
52 miles southeast, in a bayou black canal,
frenchy crochet and gee singleton
start their day with an unwelcome surprise.
Lilies have moved in overnight, knocking down their baits.
Holy moly!
You're having nature taking its course
with the lilies moving, knocking your bait down.
It's a bad situation.
So frenchy come up with cinderella...
Fortunately, frenchy always has
his shallow water boat called cinderella
standing by ready for action.
47 miles northwest, in bayou sorrel,
willie edwards and his son are giddy this morning
as they prepare to hunt one of their favorite honey holes,
a special place they call dinosaur territory.
Bloop. [laughs]
plucked you on that nose. [laughs]
dinosaur territory is nothing but bulls back there.
And we gonna go back there
and see if we can't treble hook a couple
and see what we got on the lines.
I put a couple extra hooks back there,
knock down the population.
Their annual trip to dinosaur territory
has become a midseason adventure
where the boys can cut loose and have some fun for one day.
Keep it going. We got hooks to run.
Hate to have to hurt you this morning.
Gonna put that anaconda chokehold on your ass, boy!
Watch it, watch it.
Where you going? Where you going?
I'm about to throw you out this boat!
You going with me? What you gonna do?
We make the day go by faster by joking around
or cutting up or wrassling in the boat.
And, I mean, I love him to death,
but every now and then I gotta show him who's boss.
Where you going? You gonna stop? Sit back down.
- We got hooks to run. - Let go of the leg.
- [laughs]
let go of the leg.
Line's down.
Yeah, we got something down here.
Look like it might have something on it.
Seen that rope tighten up.
I feel him pulling it.
Oh, lord.
Oh!
Watch him, willie, watch him.
[gunshot]
he would've been 9 1/2, 10.
Oh, he'd been 10-foot.
This eight-footer with only half a tail
takes money right out of willie's pocket,
but the boys aren't discouraged.
Feeling a little spunky this morning?
Uh-uh. I'm good to go.
I mean, we can get on that dump right there.
Knock the persimmons out that tree right there with your ass.
I'd hate to put grass strains on you.
[laughs]
yes, indeed.
94 miles east,
after responding to a nuisance call from his friend herman,
ronnie and ashley are searching for a chicken-killing marauder
that threatens the area.
I feel like he's in this area.
It's real close to his house.
We gonna hunt it hard
until we pull his big ass out of here.
Yup.
The size and the weight of the alligator
that destroyed this coop is gonna be massive.
I mean, just the girth should be just blown away.
But I got a feeling this sucker's
gonna be a big, jacked-up hammer.
Right here to the left. See the cane with no string?
You see anything, che?
Not yet.
I see bubbles right there, so something's obviously on it.
Something's on there.
- It feels heavy? - Very heavy.
- Huh? - Yup.
Let me feel. Ooh, get that gun.
Get that gun, che. Get that gun.
Yeah, baby.
Ooh, girl, it's a good one, boy!
Come to papa, baby.
Whoo!
Outside of violet...
Ronnie and ashley battle a feisty beast.
Ready?
Watch him, girl!
Bring him around here. Oh, he's mad.
Hold on to him.
Pop his ass, che.
Give me some of that, che, huh? Good job, my baby!
Yes, indeed.
Ronnie's happy to have this eight-footer in the boat...
Oh, what a gator, babe.
But he knows it's too small to be their marauding nuisance.
That ain't him.
He's a big gator, but look how skinny he is.
I know. That's what I was just noticing.
He definitely ain't been eating on them chickens.
And imma tell you,
they got so many gators, so overrun with them, che,
they starving in here, babe.
Back on cow island lake,
jacob and don are trying to do their part
to hit troy's quota of sniping 15 gators.
Unlike last season, there's no official competition,
but it doesn't stop jacob
for wanting to one-up his old man.
It's always nice to catch more than my dad,
and it's funny to watch him.
The days where he knows you have more
or you have bigger ones than him,
he's real, real quiet, and that don't happen often.
Right up there. See that big cypress.
Right up there, right up there.
He wantin' to go down. He wanna go down.
[gunshot]
got him!
Still coming up, right there.
- You got him? - Yup.
That's what I'm talking about, chief.
One, two, three. Uh!
Gotta roll him.
That way at the back end, it'll swing around.
- Roll him? - Yeah.
Damn it, he's fighting us,
the big son of a... All right.
This massive 12-foot, 550-pound beast
is just what jacob was hoping for
and proves once again
that cow island is chockful of giant gators.
Aw, damn, what a gator.
It's as good as it gets there.
I mean, there's big alligators, open water.
You know, you can relax
and shoot big bull alligators all day long.
Six tags left, my boy.
Back east, near bayou black,
frenchy and gee have arrived in the marsh
where frenchy thinks plenty of gators are hiding.
He feels lucky to have his smaller boat
to navigate the shallow waters.
...And the duck ponds
is a lot shallower and everything else...
You got him, frenchy?
Boo-ooh!
Awoo!
52 miles away, on cow island lake,
troy and his team have pulled three giants out of the lake.
But for chase, having pickle on the boat
is a new experience.
[laughs]
pickle and I kept switching back and forth
the role of shooter.
I know I had a lot more experience than pickle
in that department,
but I don't wanna hog the spotlight.
I wanted her to learn
and have what input I could
on her being successful with it.
[gunshot]
[laughs]
I hate you.
Come on, pee wee.
Put the gun--
put the end of the barrel past the end of the boat.
[gunshot] now she did it.
- Good shot. - Hey, look at that, huh?
Good shot, p.
Good shot!
- I knew you could do it. - Aw, yeah.
What, brother?
Go ahead. Do you wanna try to hook him?
Ooh, there he is, there he is.
Aah! No way, jose. It's a big one?
- Mm, mm. - [laughs]
- oh, yeah. - That's awesome.
- The rope... Ah! - Oh, yeah.
Look at that shot that girl made.
Okay, on three. Ready? One, two, three.
- Gotta come up, gotta come up. - Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Whoa!
We gotta roll him.
That's a nice alligator.
Can't hold him, brother. Let me move this right quick.
Okay.
All right, let him go.
I'm good.
Good job.
That's how you shoot a alligator, huh?
Stop!
She's feisty and she's a firecracker,
but she's fun.
She's definitely a good sport about it,
and she definitely listened to what I had to say.
I enjoyed it.
♪ pee wee got a big one ♪
with massive gators beginning to pile up,
the king of the swamp is enjoying himself.
I wanna see y'all do the alligator shuffle
- up there on the front. - Oh, no.
You don't wanna see me do that, I promise you.
I'm so pumped up, dude, I could do it.
- Pickle's first. - No.
I feel like jumping overboard.
Back east, outside violet,
while still loading the boat with smaller gators,
ronnie and ashley haven't found the chicken-killing monster,
and they're worried
about the safety of herman's children.
That's the first time I ever heard him that nervous.
I mean, I sympathize for him just because I have kids, too.
I wouldn't want a big gator hanging out
where they're swimming and hanging out.
I agree with you. You got younger kids.
Yeah, perfect snack-size for a gator.
I'm telling you, man.
So you know how the boy's feeling, you know.
Just put yourself in his shoes.
Just being a mom myself,
I definitely wanna kill this gator.
I don't want him swimming around with these kids,
especially seeing how brave he is,
I mean, and the damage that he can cause.
- See this line right here, che? - Yeah.
That's herman's camp's right there.
I mean, right there. You see it?
Yeah, I see the line.
It's right up under the boat now.
Oh, I see something moving over here.
Come on, be something big here.
Get the gun. He feels heavy, ashley.
Come on, baby.
Whoa! Watch him, girl! Sheesh!
Come on, ashley, get him, babe. Get the shot.
Hold him up here.
- Whoa! - Dang!
Whoo-hoo!
- Whoo-hoo! - Hold him.
I'm trying to, che.
All right, kill that son of a gun
soon as you get a shot on him.
Hit him right there, che.
That a girl. Bolted him.
Good job, che-che.
This one's got a little size to him,
but this still ain't the chicken eater.
You got one big monster that's eating all the chickens.
That's the boy I'm really hunting.
Yeah, in between I'll take the smaller ones,
but I'm looking for the big boy.
Hey, ash, grab me one of them chickens, che.
So I'm baiting in between camps.
Anywhere I feel like I can put a line with a whole chicken
and get this big boy, we're putting it down.
Oh, this poor chicken.
Oh, yeah, watch them spurs.
Them spurs will get you every time.
Boy, this is a tough chicken, che.
Whoo!
Oh, that's perfect.
That is absolutely perfect.
Back in the edwards honey hole they call dinosaur territory,
with six averaged-sized gators already in the boat,
willie and little willie keep up the smack talk.
Keep your hands to yourself, willie.
You can't hurt that.
Keep your hands to yourself
before you get slapped in the mouth.
Pow!
Boy, you'd been out the back of the boat.
Uh-uh.
It wouldn't even hurt it.
You think?
Me and my dad, we got a relationship like no other.
I mean, the way we bond and everything,
nobody'll ever understand it.
We like to play-fight and everything.
That's just how we show
our love towards each other.
We got one right here.
Yeah.
Pull it to it.
Oh, a big one.
Big one.
- Whoa! - Watch it, boy!
Gonna let that thing pull you over like that?
Watch your fingers.
If you can get his head up right there,
I'll pop him right there.
Pull him up.
[gunshot]
hey, willie, thought you said that was a monster.
The way I seen him...
I mean, he's a good gator, but ain't no monster.
Yeah, we gonna get you some glasses.
Get you goin' somehow.
Another average-size gator
is not what willie usually catches in dinosaur territory,
but he's got a theory as to why they're coming up short.
So you lied to me yesterday, telling me
we're gonna catch bigger and better alligators today
because you bait them.
You're a jonah. That's what you are, a jonah.
You know what a jonah is?
I know what a jonah is.
Bad luck when you bring 'em in the boat.
That's what you is, a jonah.
I think he got a bad luck rabbit foot in his pocket.
And, yeah, we joke around about it
all day and everything.
He don't like me calling him a jonah,
but, I mean,
the alligators slack when they slack.
You a jonah.
Nine miles west,
jacob and don are doing their part
to fill the landry quota for the day.
They healthy, man.
Last year when we shot these gators in here,
they were skinny, skinny, skinny.
That water got real high.
I think we got some gators from the river and all came in here.
- Yeah, get some in here. - Mm-hmm.
There's one at noon, there's one at one o'clock,
there's one at nine o'clock.
They oughta call this thing bull island
instead of cow island.
I mean, that's all it is is a bunch of big bull gators.
Boy, he's a big'un.
[gunshot]
bubbles right there.
- You see the bubbles? - I see 'em.
- You got him? - Yup.
Hope that his head comes up.
Let me get down and help you.
Coming up.
- Got him? - Yes, sir.
We gonna pull him straight across, like that big one.
[grunts] mm-mm.
Gotta get him on his belly.
Ready?
Oh, [bleep].
Ready? One, two, three.
I think today's probably the best day
we've ever had on cow island.
Every gator we shot was over 10 foot long,
fat and healthy,
and we didn't pass up small gators to shoot these gators.
You know, cow island always is a big payoff for us,
and this year, it was probably the best payoff for us.
We slack off a little bit and let them try to shoot something?
- Yeah. - [laughs]
god, I love cow island.
In a remote swamp near bayou black,
after switching boats and hunting areas,
frenchy and gee are finally loading the boat with gators.
...She bring me a bigger average
over raw foot alligators.
Oh, yeah. Line down.
Oh, yeah! Unh!
He aggressive.
Ohh!
Now we talkin'!
Shoot him.
Oh! Whoa!
Whoa-ho!
[gunshot]
whoo!
This massive 550-pound giant
is by far their biggest catch of the day.
All right, you gonna hook up the gadget?
Got him?
[motor starts]
[motor strains... And stops]
with their winch out of commission,
their only option for loading a gator this size
is to drag it closer to land.
Oh...
There he go. Nice.
All right, gee!
[laughter]
...And I use it only on trophy alligators...
52 miles away, back on troy's boat,
the team is close to tagging out in the area,
and pickle is soaking up the experience
of hunting fabled cow island.
Clutch shooting from both of us.
I think me and chase is a good team.
I think we were calling ourselves the a team there.
And we both are excellent marksmen, I would say, you know.
And just to get a chance, the opportunity
to shoot these massive alligators,
it's a once in a lifetime kind of thing.
Cow island's something special.
Let's go after this one. That's a big one.
[gunshot]
- ohh, ho, ho. - Nice shot, man.
That's how you shoot 'em.
Another nice one. Another nice alligator, huh?
- Got him. - You got him, baby.
- Good-ass shooting. - Want me to take the hook out?
- Mm-hmm. - Oop, right.
This boat is so slimy. Ready?
On three. One, two, three.
You all right?
Look at the hole you put in this thing.
You broke his face.
All right, pee wee. Let's do our thing.
Going in. He's coming in.
Good alligator. Big alligator.
This final 11-foot beast
completes a successful day on cow island lake.
What I'm talking about, dude.
I feel like today's been a big success.
We filled all our tags at cow island,
and this place just never seems to let us down.
Year after year after year,
we never get let down over here.
Hey-hey-hey-hey!
- That's it, huh? - Y'all know what this is.
- Huh? - Huh?
Boatload of alligators, the last tag, baby.
Thanks to y'all good shooting.
I don't know who killed the most.
It look like it was a tie to me.
103 miles east,
ronnie and ashley are running the lines
they baited with whole chickens near herman's camp.
We dedicated this whole day
to fish this gator out until we catch him.
I'm not giving up until that alligator,
that chicken eater's in the boat, baby.
The whole chicken right here, che, it's gone.
I see a couple feathers on the water.
This could be him.
Whoo! Look how big that big mother humper is, che.
- Look at that wave! - That is monstrous, girl.
Feels like he's coming straight to me.
Now we in business, girl.
Whoo-whoo!
Golly, this is a big one, girl.
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
- This is a monster, girl! - Oh, my god.
He's barely hooked in there, and he's shredding.
He's shredding, che.
Hold him.
Come on, a.
- Whoo-hoo! - Whoa!
Jeez, big boy!
Come on, get him. Just shoot, shoot!
Oh, my god!
Quit panicking and just crack his ass!
- I'm not panicking. - He's barely hooked.
Come on, girl, get that shot on him.
[gunshot]
- yes! Yes! - What a gator, baby!
- Oh! - Whew!
That hook sure comes in handy.
- All right, you ready? - Yup.
One, two, three.
All right.
Can you grab that on his leg or the rope?
- This. - Okay.
One, two, three.
There we go.
One, two, three.
We got the chicken one, baby.
This is the chicken line!
We caught him on the chicken, girl. Huh?
Yes! It worked.
I told you the damn whole chickens were gonna work,
and you all disgusted out, you know.
- I still am, but it worked. - Whoo!
With this 11 1/2-foot, 550-pound monster
finally in the boat,
ronnie and ashley make the short trip back to herman's.
I wanted herman to see this alligator
to let him know that he ain't have to worry
about his children or his farm animals or anything anymore.
Because we got the big boy
that put the hurtin' on his chicken coop.
Look at that, babe. We got him for you, my man.
- Oh, you got him. - Yeah, he ate his last chicken.
- He's big, huh? - Oh, a beast, bro.
He's 11-plus, no doubt.
- And aggressive. - Oh, aggressive, man.
With the kids, they don't fear nothin'.
And they swim here all the time.
Well, tell your kids we got him out of there,
and now they can get back in the water.
I know they waiting and ready to.
It's just a pleasure to help out a partner of mine.
You know, the only downfall,
I wish I could bring back his chickens.
But I can't, you know,
because this dude done put a hurting on them.
You need any eggs, let me know.
I got you, baby. I appreciate it, brother.
Y'all take it easy.
- You take care, herm. - Bye. Nice to meet you.
Y'all need anything, let me know.
You bet, herman. Thank you, my boy.
Call me for anything.
All right, buddy, same here.
You bet.
Meanwhile, in dinosaur territory,
willie continues messing with his son,
blaming him for the boatload of average-sized gators.
You a jonah.
I was trying my butt off.
Daddy started calling me a jonah.
That means you're bad luck.
Oh, I ain't no jonah.
I ain't bad luck. I don't believe in bad luck.
Up in front of us, up in front of us.
Going up, on up the bayou. Get your hook out ready.
When you feel the first bump, try and snatch that thing.
Right there.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Let some slack in it. Don't hold him tight.
Don't let him pull, boy.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Golly. - It's a big one.
Gotta hurry.
Oh, that's a bull!
What a alligator.
Didn't feel like he was that big.
Oh, yeah.
Underneath the boat, he don't wanna come up.
- That's a alligator, son. - That's a big one.
Get him up there.
Here he come, here he come.
[gunshot]
whoo!
That's a big one.
Look what a alligator.
He gotta be 12 foot.
Shove it down.
What a alligator.
Good lord.
Landing this massive 12-foot, 500-pound dinosaur
finally satisfies willie
and has him reconsidering
little willie's nickname for the day.
I called you jonah.
I'm gonna go ahead and take that back.
Because I think you got a big enough one underneath your belt,
you graduated.
He catches a big one,
and he kinda surprised me a little bit
the way he caught him, and, uh...
I think I can take and lift that jonah off his head
and kinda get that off his back.
As the boys head home,
they celebrate a good day in dinosaur territory
in a way only they can.
Gonna put that anaconda chokehold on your ass, boy.
[laughs]
what you got?
- Let go of the leg. - [laughs]
back in pierre part,
to celebrate their successful day on cow island lake,
troy has gathered the entire landry clan
to wrap up their annual day of family fun,
a tradition troy wouldn't skip for anything.
[laughs]
the more you go out your way to do things with your family,
the closer the family's gonna be
and the better the family's gonna be.
I think that's what makes us unique.
We work at staying close.
"this is a colorful motorbike. Please like it for me.
I am five years old."
I like it. I love it.
Papa love it. Good job.
What you put in here?
- It's some local venison. - Yeah?
- Local deer, wild hog. - Mm-hmm.
We ground them up, put them with some deer.
Y'all mix it, too, the hog and the deer?
Us, too, that's what we do.
You know, the cajun culture
all revolves around food, cooking and get-togethers.
- Thank you, ma'am. - You're welcome.
- Smells good. - I know. They delicious.
Y'all come, I'm gonna cook enough for the whole family.
And the whole family comes and we cook,
and it's usually always good.
That one looks done. Take it out.
But I don't know
how much of the get-together is for the food.
I think the get-together is for the family.
Just figuring you needed something to wipe your hands.
Aw, thank you.
You're so sweet when we not in the boat.
Huh? It's not an accident
that a lot of cajun families like the landrys
are close together.
We do things to make sure it stays that way.