As the finish line approaches...
There he is, there he is.
...Hunters go to extremes to tag out.
9,000 gators they turning loose in here.
Whoa!
Some come to a sudden stop.
Oh, my god.
This was my ace in the hole for today,
but it's stuck with lilies.
We gonna be able to tag out, joey?
And others are caught by surprise.
Everything's going through my mind.
I just hope it's something positive.
- Whoa. - Whoa!
He took off. Let me pick him up. Aah!
♪ when I was - ♪ ♪ ♪little boy ♪
- ♪ ♪ ♪
as gator season nears its conclusion,
some hunters across the bayou have plans to tag out today.
In bayou crook chene,
daniel edgar and his grandson dorien
prepare to launch with 12 tags left
to finish their season.
But dorien has more than just tagging out
on his mind.
Hey, pa, after work if we have some spare time,
I might need your help with something.
Okay. We are gonna run all the lines first.
Oh, we gonna run 'em.
You got trouble with your truck or something?
No. Oh, can't tell you right now.
Okay, pa.
Can't tell you right now, but it's important.
Well, in that case, let's go ahead run all these lines.
We'll hurry, and then I'll go with you.
We'll go take care of that. Okay, pa.
Let's go. Let's go.
When you're a parent and a grandparent,
when somebody says surprise, a lot goes through your mind.
You're instantly worried.
Thought I saw the string move, pa.
Oh. What are you feeling?
Yeah, you got a little something.
- Whoa, yeah. - Yes, sir, yes, sir.
Hold on. We're all--
give me some action, pa. Like that.
Now pull. Whoa.
Oh, you big boy. Big alligator. He's rolling.
Try to get me a shot.
Almost had that shot, pa.
Oh, that was your shot.
Hold on.
Okay, watch him, pa. Give me a shot.
[gunshot]
a bull.
Got him, pa?
Yeah, he's a young bull.
All right, I'll get us out in the canal
and start idling toward the next line.
This eight-footer
fills the first of their remaining 12 tags,
but for dorien,
he's enjoying keeping his secret
a surprise from his granddad.
He's egging me on, egging me on.
He wants to know what it's all about.
I'm letting it go on.
I wanna kind of tease him a little bit.
I don't wanna just give it away.
He's gonna have to earn the surprise.
Okay, pa, we're gonna move down to the next line.
Lock and load.
26 miles to the south,
joey edgar and his deckhand zak catchem
have only a handful of tags left.
Now they're heading to a mystic hunting ground
known as duck lake.
For joey, it's a spiritual journey
that touches him before they even reach their destination.
I got a calm that's just over my spirit this morning.
I don't know. I don't know what it is.
I feel really good about coming back to duck lake today.
I call it the holy ground
because it's just always been a special place
and a place I got excited to come to even as a kid.
It's like I'm just grateful to be alive.
Beautiful.
It's a place any time I'm around,
it gives me a calming feeling.
I lost my mother a couple years ago
and, you know, we haven't been right since.
But that swamp and just being in that area,
it just was a really, really special feeling
that came over my spirit.
As they get closer to duck lake,
they're greeted by a massive beast swimming in open water.
Oh, it was a big one!
Right here. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!
It's right there. It was. It was.
- No bubbles, nothing. - Yeah, but just throw.
I don't know if you passed him up or no.
I don't know.
I got him.
There he is. There he is.
Hold on. Hold on.
Come on. Come on. That was a big one.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait.
-[zak grunting with effort] - you want me to back up?
Yes, please, yes, please, yes, please.
Perfect.
Be ready.
He's gonna have to come up soon.
Let me just try.
Just--just on my right side real quick, I think.
I think you should just give it a shot. Yeah.
Send him up, send him up.
Oh, that's him. Uh-huh.
Get him up, get him up, get him up!
Look right there. Come on, zak.
Shoot!
How about that? Come on!
Mm-hmm. That's a big alligator.
Watch that gaff doesn't get you.
- You got it? - Yes, I do.
All right, let's go.
- All right, we got him. - Okay.
He's gonna break our gaff. Hold on.
All right.
This is a big alligator.
- All right? - Got the gaff out.
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
Come on.
All right, hold on.
Pull your--no, I got him.
- Ready? - Yeah.
Wow.
Snagging this 10-footer
on the way to the fabled hunting grounds
is a good sign of things to come,
but joey hasn't lost his sense of urgency.
Once the season's over, it's over.
You don't get a extra day to fill your tags.
I've never not tagged out before,
and I don't plan on it.
This is do or die.
We gonna get it done today.
Hopefully we can tag out, buddy.
I got confidence.
80 miles east in myrtle grove,
bruce mitchell is heading out
for his last day with 12 tags to fill.
He thinks he knows just the spot
that can produce a boatload.
Showtime! Let's go get 'em.
But the thing about these farms and ranches over here,
they're picking up 60,000 gator eggs a year.
So once these gators hit four and five foot,
they release 15% of the gators back to the wild.
So you're looking at 9,000 gators
they turning loose in here every year.
So you got to have piles of gators back here.
Line down.
Whoa!
Whoo! Burned my hand.
Whoa!
Come on. Come on, gator, calm down.
Calm down.
Oh, yeah.
I like to get that tape on him.
Then he... He can't bite me no more.
A seven-plus footer on the first line
gives bruce hope that he came to the right area
and will have no trouble tagging out by day's end.
I knew from the minute I got here
this was gonna be a honey hole.
So it looks like my plan's working.
I figured they had a lot of releases over here,
and I was right.
When you release a gator in the wild,
they take and cut a notch out of his tail.
So this is definitely farm gator territory.
150 miles west,
gator queen liz choate and her stepson destin
begin their last day with only four tags to fill,
but mother nature has thrown a curveball at them.
A tidal surge has jeopardized their chances to tag out.
That water is having chaos on our lines.
The tide got our chicken, buddy.
The surge got our chicken.
We got a handful of tags left, and we're running out of lines.
And I'm getting very worried, stressed out
that we're not gonna fill these few last tags.
There's no alligators on the lines.
The water done inundated our baits.
The chicken was in the water.
Got something, buddy?
Do not think we got anything.
Debris. A lot of debris floating around
taking the chicken down.
Get to the last line, destin and I,
and it like hits you all of a sudden.
No more lines to run, no more baits hanging,
and you're not seeing any alligators on the water.
You don't wanna give tags back in to wildlife and fishery.
It's like, holy crap.
With no more lines to run,
the team has no choice but to head to open water
and hope their rod and reels will help them tag out.
Look at him, destin. Way up there, you see him?
I was like thank you, god.
We got a chance.
Let's go, dd. Hurry up, hurry up.
Cast right over him.
There he goes. Cast.
Reel. Why you let your string slack like that?
You want an alligator too bad, that's what happens.
Ooh, destin, he's fixing to go down.
Don't hit him in the back because he will go down.
Way too far.
- There we go. - Got him, got him.
Keep a bind on him. Don't let him go!
Keep a bind on him. Keep a bind on him.
[gunshot] you kidding me?
That bullet bounced off of him.
[gunshot]
keep more of a bind on him.
- Oh, he popped it! - He popped the line!
In pecan island,
liz and destin are struggling
to land a wild beast on the open water.
[gunshot]
- keep more of a bind on him. - Oh, he popped it.
I told you to keep a bind on him!
He's floating.
Move, move!
Whoa, he's not dead.
[gunshot]
son of a bitch.
We have three tags left,
and we hoping and praying to tag out.
We have to tag out.
Let's go all the way down and work ourselves back.
72 miles east,
joey and zak are still heading to duck lake,
the legendary edgar family hunting grounds
where joey finds peace.
But getting there might test his true spirit.
- Huh? - The pipeline.
- Oh, my god. - Wow.
[groans]
this was my ace in the hole for today,
but it's stuck with lilies.
It's like football fields full of lilies.
Can't even see what's in front of you.
Let me go a little ways.
I can't help it. It's too good up ahead.
It's solid lilies. There's no open water.
And it's disappointing because I was thinking
that this spot would be all open water.
But the lilies are gonna add a challenge to our day.
[revs engine]
come on, baby.
She was running hot. Starting to smoke.
I really don't have time to be messing with all of this.
I have alligators to catch.
But we gonna do our best and try to make the most of it.
We gonna be able to tag out, joey?
I hope so, zak.
If the boys can't find a way past the sea of lilies,
their season might end here and now.
But joey hangs onto hope.
I'm telling you, if we can get to open water back here,
these alligators back here are not disturbed.
I promise you.
That's true, if we get through all this.
- Yeah, if I can get through. - No one's driving back here.
Ain't nobody coming back here.
Nobody wanna fight that.
26 miles away,
daniel and dorien are filling tags and the boat,
but daniel can't stop thinking about the surprise
that dorien is teasing him with.
Dorien, I wish he would've waited until the end of the day
to say, "papa, I've got a surprise for you."
because right now he won't give me a hint.
Let's see what you got on the line, pa.
There's something on there?
Oh, yeah. Feels heavy.
You feel something?
Oh.
Ooh, he wants to get a little mean on us.
Bring him back over here.
Oh! There he is. Hold him, pa.
Yeah.
- Whoa! - Oh!
What you doing, pa?
This is a nasty one.
Don't let him beat you up too bad.
- Oh! - Give me a shot.
Take him!
[gunshot]
good way to fill a tag.
Nice alligator.
Nice, nice, nice.
About a nine-footer.
Nice alligator.
Good job, pa. Good job, good job.
Another beast in the boat leaves the team
with only three tags left to fill by day's end.
But daniel's mind is racing
with thoughts of what dorien's surprise could be.
When your kids or grandkids say, "I've got a surprise for you",
I'm just hoping he's not gonna brace you
you know, and say you're gonna be a great-grandpa.
52 miles to the southeast, in bayou black,
frenchy crochet and gee singleton
have just a few tags left this season.
As they continue hunting,
they take a moment to reflect
on their years of friendship and partnership.
...So good of a team, we think the same
and we're two hard workers...
Whoa!
Aaow!
Whoa!
In bayou black,
frenchy and gee battle a monster.
Hey!
Oh!
[gunshot]
- psssh. - Biyah!
This 11-foot, 500-pound beast is definitely worthy
of the team's traditional salt and pepper blessing.
...For the trophy that god gave me and gee...
Biyah! Yee-haw!
92 miles away,
after their lines produced nothing but heartache,
liz and destin
have been hunting gators on the open water
and are down to their last tag of the season.
Oh, it'd be nice to see a big 12-footer swimming right there.
When you have one tag left,
it seems like it takes forever to catch what you need.
It drags on and on and on.
There to the right. You see him?
That looks like a good alligator.
- Yeah. - Get my pole ready.
Yeah, get your pole ready.
Cast, boy, right in front of him.
- Oh! - Destin.
He went down.
[sighs]
now, god knows where he went.
- Oh, he's right there. - I see him.
Yup. Too... Too far.
I could've reached him with this reel.
Going down.
You think you could've reached him,
but you don't know about it like I do.
Miss liz, I just casted like way farther than that.
[bleep] arguing you got with me, destin.
Now look what happened to me, you see?
The wind is coming towards me.
I understand that.
Thinking they've lost the biggest gator of the day,
liz is losing her patience with destin.
I'm gonna put this pole up.
You gonna snag, you understand?
But you're gonna snag!
Okay. You ain't gotta get all mad.
Well, I'm just letting you know.
Who's the boss? I'm gonna show you.
You're gonna snag him.
Okay. Calm down.
See his head, destin?
He's shining in the water, see, on the right-hand side.
See him?
Got him?
Watch your pole. Yeah, he's underneath the boat.
Hold on. Hold on to him.
Don't break your pole.
Gotta keep him away from the boat.
Watch yourself.
- Good shot. - Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
Tag out, baby.
Come here, boy. Give me some loving, goddog it.
- I'm proud of you. - Thank you.
Temper got a little out of hand, but he focused after.
Thank goodness he focused.
After a bunch of frustration, that boy got him. [laughs]
last one.
Last tag.
I looked at destin.
I said, "you grab one end and I'm gonna grab the other
and we gonna snap it together," and that's what we did.
Tag out. Whew! [laughs]
that tag sealed the deal, and we did it.
All the trials and everything we went through, we did it.
All right, I'm tired. Let's go home, take a nap.
[laughs]
that's awesome, dd.
You didn't give up. That's all that mattered.
150 miles east,
bruce is hunting in an area filled with gators.
But as the day goes on,
he realizes tagging out won't be as easy as he thought.
Left the bait hanging.
I don't like even the way that sounds.
Line up.
I mean, it just don't make no sense
that you got a line not even down over here
with all these gators.
And they just-- it's...
I don't know. I can't figure it out.
This line should be down.
I'm not sure what's going on here.
I might not be in the right spot.
I know they got gators here.
I'm just gonna have to find them.
I mean, that's how we do it out here.
We just adapt and keep going.
You can't stop, can't let it get you down.
You just gotta go, go, go.
Oh, yeah. Line's coming up.
Pretty much tell where this thing's moving.
We got another good one.
Dang, they got some gators over here.
Whoa!
Whoa, golly.
Whoa!
In an area packed with gators...
Whoa! Whoa!
Bruce is battling an aggressive fighter.
Come on, buddy.
Oh, golly.
Come on. Whoa!
All right.
[gunshot]
whew!
Oh, yeah, I'm definitely gonna need the winch on this one.
I mean, it's gonna take me a few minutes longer,
but you just gotta do what you gotta do out here.
Saving my back.
He's almost in the boat.
Big, big gator.
He's in the boat.
Getting this nine-footer in the boat
lifts bruce's spirits,
and now he feels like he's finally in the right area
to catch all the gators he needs to tag out.
Wherever the lines start biting at,
that's where I have to move all the other ones to.
That's what you gotta do out here.
You find a gator, put all your lines around him,
catch them all, and get out.
I got to hurry. I'm running out of time.
It's do or die.
80 miles to the west,
the boys have finally arrived at duck lake.
For joey, the spirit and history of the area
has returned his peace of mind,
and he's ready for the hunt.
This is the lake. This is the lake.
This is an old, prehistoric place.
It's a really cool spot. I enjoy coming here.
And like I said, it's just a calming peace
that came over me just to come to this place.
Look, look, look, look.
- Look right there, zak. - Where'd he go?
Look right there.
See if you can touch him.
Right there.
Got him.
No way, no way, no way, no way.
Get the gun.
Still got him?
Yeah, I got him.
Stay on him.
- Whoa. - Stay on him.
- Whoa, whoa! - Stay on him, stay on him.
Come on. Come on, boy.
- We got him. - Come on, boy!
Come on, pop!
Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him!
[gunshot]
[laughs] that's it, buddy!
That's it, that's it.
Dude.
- Boy, that took some time, huh? - Yeah.
- Good job. - Yeah, but we wore him down.
How about that treble?
You found him with that thing, huh?
Big one.
Wait.
- Watch your back. - Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Hold on. Hold on, we fighting.
We fighting our hook. Hold on.
Yup, yup.
Yup. There we go.
There we go. Come on.
- A duck lake dinosaur. - Uh-huh.
Give me some skin, pop.
- A duck lake dinosaur. - Give me some skin, baby.
We hunting prehistoric reptiles.
We hunting dinosaurs in this swamp.
- Dude. - It's special.
Yeah.
This 10-foot beast
finally gets the boys one step closer to tagging out.
But for zak, he's seeing a new side of joey
that has him a little surprised.
Joey's as manly as it gets,
and it's really unusual
to see him just relax and take it all in.
And he's actually getting kind of emotional.
This swamp is his home,
and you can really just see him sit back
and enjoy nature on a day like this.
I'm feeling good. Feeling real good.
Meanwhile, up north,
daniel and dorien only have one tag left
and they've run all their lines.
Now they hit the open water
to try to treble hook a monster.
It's do or die, pa. It's do or die.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
You know, we've had to fill hundreds of tags,
and there's a lot of emotion in that last alligator.
So it's really nice if he's a big one.
And it's extra special if we can catch him
with the treble hook or rod and reel.
Look what just came up right there, pa.
Young bull.
Watch. We gonna see if we can sneak up to him, pa.
I think he stopped.
Here. Let me see if I can make him move, pa.
Just watch for bubbles.
That's him! That's the one.
Man, that's a monster.
- Whoa, whoa! - Oh!
- Oh, he took off. - He turned.
He's going to those stumps.
Let me pick him up. Aah!
In bayou crook chene,
daniel and dorien are battling
what they hope is their last gator of the season.
He's going to those stumps.
Let me pick him up. Aah!
- Wanna switch? - Yeah.
- Be careful. I got him. - Be careful.
All right, tightening up on him.
Get the rifle. You shoot him, pa.
Get the rifle and shoot him.
Shoot him!
[gunshot]
now we got him.
That put a stop to all that fighting.
Oh, yeah. Bull.
All right.
- Okay. - Hold on.
Tell me when you ready.
One...Let's go.
[laughs] good job, pa.
That's the one we looking for.
Last one.
Listen, thank you for helping, pa.
Yes, sir. Thank you.
Last one.
We're tagged out. That's a good feeling.
And now dorien wants my help doing something.
I mean, you know, we're gonna hurry up, get home,
and I'm gonna go check it out.
I'll just go see what he's got on his mind.
Let's get these alligators in the cooler,
and I'm gonna check out your surprise.
All right.
Meanwhile, in myrtle grove,
bruce spent precious time moving his lines,
but finally found the sweet spot.
He now has a boat full of monsters
and only one tag left.
Well, I thought I missed them farm gators,
but apparently I'm in the right spot.
They are here.
I mean, I had a few lines way back that didn't do nothin'.
But once I got around here, this is where they at.
Kind of scary at first but, hey, it's working.
I know this is a honey hole now.
I done caught so many gators out here, it's looking good.
My hunch was right.
They got a lot of gators back here.
And that feels good when I'm right.
What we got here?
Golly!
Whatever's on here ain't moved yet.
I'm either hooked on a big log...
Whoa!
That's a dude.
Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa! He almost come in the boat.
Whoa!
I tell you what, this is fun fishing over here
when you got all these gators like this.
Unh!
This final eight-footer
has the veteran swamper feeling great
about his last day of the season.
This is the gator I've been looking for.
This is the last one we got over here.
I'm officially tagged out. Yeah.
Clicking this last tag, it really feels good.
You know, I didn't know if I could still do it.
You know, I'm a little older than I used to be,
but, hey, I still got it.
I got a boatload of gators.
I had about enough of this season.
I'm going home.
Back to the west, frenchy and gee
approach their final line of the season,
hoping to tag out
with one last salt and pepper worthy gator.
Whoa!
Hey!
Whoa!
In bayou black,
frenchy and gee battle a monster on the last line.
Whoa!
[laughs]
ah-ah, you're getting a bullet for biting my boat, buddy.
[gunshot]
this final massive 11-foot, 500-pound beast
is the icing on the cake
for frenchy and gee's successful season,
and more than enough reason to celebrate.
We winding down the season,
and we did what we accomplished and everything.
Thank you, god, for a successful season...
Safe, no one got hurt.
And we had, caught some good, great gators
- and had a great time. - Mm-hmm.
25 miles away in duck lake,
joey and zak are down to their last tag of the season.
- We only need one. - We don't have a choice.
We got to do it right here right now, bubba.
Man, zak, he broke the tree, bubba.
I hope he's still on there.
He broke that whole tree, man.
He broke the tree.
It's wrapped around all these logs and stuff.
Be careful. His head's right there.
Just move some of it.
Watch yourself.
That's a big one. That's a really big one.
Oh, that's a big one.
Whoa! There he is, there he is right--aah!
He didn't like that, he didn't like that.
No, no, no, no, no.
Aah! It's a big one.
Aah! [grunting]
- come on, come on. - Hold him tight.
We don't wanna lose him.
He does not want to come up. Come on.
Come on. Aah!
Shoot him! Shoot him! Shoot him!
All right, all right.
Shoot him! Shoot him!
[gunshot]
come on. That's how you do it.
That's the gator to tag out to, baby.
That's a good one.
Wait, wait, wait.
All right, you ready?
Unh! All right.
There we go.
- You ready? - Now we got him.
Wait, wait, wait.
Here we go. Got him.
What a monster.
This monster is longer than you'd think.
Landing this monster 11-foot, 500-pound gator
with their final tag
brings out all the emotions of a long season on the swamp.
- We tagged out. - [laughs]
that's a nice one to finish it off, pop. Perfect.
Uh-huh. Look what I got in my pocket for you.
That's right, that's right.
Last one of the season, baby.
That's right. Thank god it's over.
The last tag is in the last alligator,
and I'm done, joey's done.
I can head home happy,
and it's been an incredible season,
and I'm really happy that we finished off strong.
We got it done. You got it done.
And I'm so proud of you. Thank you.
Zak has a been a great help all season.
I'm gonna miss him going home.
I need to spend some time with my family,
and the story continues.
We'll be after 'em next year.
What a year.
It's been fun. Time to go home.
Yes, sir.
While the season has come to a close for some hunters,
with one official day left,
other hunters will have to rush to tag out
before it's all over.
Back in franklin, the time has finally arrived
for dorien to share his surprise with his grandpa.
That's dusty and an airboat right there.
Yes, sir. Let's go check it out.
So this is where you're taking me, pa?
We're here. This is it.
Hey, dust.
What's up, dust?
You're working on one of your boats, dust?
What you mean?
This your boat, pa?
- Yes, sir. - Very good, pa.
This is what I've been holding out on.
This is what I've been waiting for.
Very nice. Man.
Does this mean you're coming back home? You're gonna stay?
- Yes, yes. - [laughs]
this was the sealed deal promise.
I'm coming home.
That's what I'm talking about.
Yes, sir.
I'm certainly very proud of him.
To have him come back and join the family business
and our creole way of life down the bayou,
I'm thrilled and very happy.
These are my edgar roots, you know.
This is where I come from.
And you're coming back home, huh, pa?
Coming back home.
- I'm excited. - I love you, papa.
Love you, too. I'm excited.
I think my grandpa's excited
that, you know, I'm making steps on coming back home
and doing what we were raised to do
and brought up doing
and keeping the family tradition alive.
So it's almost like a win-win for him, you know.
He deserves to wind down and enjoy--enjoy his life.
Let's go put this thing in the water and get out of here.
I wanna go run it.
We need to get it kinda dirty.
Oh, yeah.
Nice. I like it.
- I'm proud of you, pa. - Thank you, pa.