As gator season gets back on track...
Oh, that's that pipeline leaking, dude.
It's an explosive day on the bayou...
I'll wrestle a gator, but I didn't sign up for blowing up.
We could be floating around on a ticking time bomb.
forcing hunters to take extreme measures.
I've never hooked a gator up and drug them
to get them out of harm's way just to kill them.
While one swamper
faces the biggest challenge of his life...
I gotta help myself today. Today it's all on me.
another calls in reinforcements.
Come on, pull. Come on, Porkchop.
Get him up there, man.
I'm trying.
[Blues guitar plays]
Two weeks into alligator season,
Mother Nature's already claimed this one for the history books,
but the hunters need to keep moving forward.
In Violet, Ronnie Adams and Ashley "Deadeye" Jones
are leaving familiar waters behind
to explore a promising new hunting ground.
So Ashley, my partner of mine that's working on the pipeline
has told me numerous times for the last two months
they've been seeing some serious dinosaurs out there.
They got big gators.
Hasn't been hunted in a few years,
and I'm excited about big gators being in there.
I'm hoping they hungry today. We gonna see, baby.
I'm jacked up and I'm ready to rock it out.
Everywhere in Louisiana,
you got pipelines running here and running there.
But this area here is loaded with big gators,
and we get to hunt this pipeline
that's running through the marsh,
and I'm telling you, I am stoked about this area.
Nothing but big gators.
I just feel like they're gonna pull 'em out of here, baby.
It's gonna be a good day today.
The oil and gas industry in Louisiana
dates back over 100 years.
In the 1920s, the discovery of underground salt domes
rich with oil and gas deposits led to a boom
across the waterways of southern Louisiana.
The invention of barge-mounted equipment
opened up thousands of miles
of marsh and swampland for drilling.
Today more than 50,000 miles of pipeline crisscross the state,
generating billions of dollars in revenue every year,
and employing nearly a quarter million workers.
I got a line right here, baby. Look at it.
Ooh, it's just straight out, isn't it.
Come on, be a big boy.
Hey, look, it broke the one cane I had holding him up.
Look at him. He's getting so mad.
Get it, girl. Get, get, get, get it, girl.
He's furious.
Yeah, baby, give him to me.
- Ooh-whoo! Get the gun, girl. - I got it.
- Yo! - Oh!
What's wrong with that sucker, huh?
No. As soon as he pops, you shoot him.
Get him right there. Get ready.
He's rolling. Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Soon as you can see his head, you whack him.
Look at his head right here, Ashley. Shoot him.
Whoo!
- Yes! - Dude!
Yes! Oh, my gosh!
Nabbing an 11-footer on the first line of the day
is Ronnie's proof
hunting the pipeline was the right move.
We off to a good start, my baby.
The first line's got a nice gator on it.
You know, it's looking so good already.
We got a monster gator here in the pipeline.
I am so stoked.
Ah! Today is gonna be an amazing day, my baby.
The pipeline is gonna pay off.
- Click-click. - Clickity click.
- Man, what a gator. - First of many.
- Whoo! - Yes!
97 miles west, in Pierre Part,
Troy Landry's deckhand Pickle called in sick.
The King of the Swamp will have to hunt alone today.
I'm too old to be hunting by myself,
but it is what it is.
Pee-wee got sick.
Pee-wee didn't show up this morning,
and I'm worried about her,
because for her not to show up,
she really gotta be feeling bad.
And it's late for me to try to find somebody to help me.
All right, I got hooks, I got bait, I got tags.
The only thing I don't have is Pee-wee.
I used to love to hunt by myself years ago.
I enjoyed going by myself.
It gave me time to be alone
and do my work the way I wanna do it by myself.
There's no other place like the swamps.
It's the land that time forgot.
You know, if you go in the city and you come to where I live,
and you take the country roads, it's all different.
But when you get out in the middle of them swamps,
it's just like it was 300 years ago.
Nothing's changed.
It's so pretty and peaceful.
There's no other place like it.
What we got here? Let's see.
There's a alligator right there.
Whoa!
Damn, damn. Aah!
Whoo!
[grunting]
[gunshot]
All right, first alligator of the day
without my little Pee-wee.
She's fast.
She's like a little squirrel in the front of the boat,
jumping around.
And it makes the day go by good.
She helps me a lot.
This is the first alligator I loaded by myself in a boat
probably in 30 years.
Today it's all on me. There ain't no help.
I gotta-- I gotta help myself today.
♪ I'm alone and so blue ♪
♪ Without Pee-wee today ♪
Just five miles away,
after falling behind on their tag count
in the wake of Hurricane Ida,
Jacob Landry and his deckhand Don Brewer
are heading to a hunting ground known as the Spillway.
Let's go to the old honey hole.
Let's go get this party started, baby.
Me and Don's going into an area
that's been reliable the last several years,
and this year should be better than ever.
A lot of crawfishermen are saying
how big gators that they seen while running their traps
have been around there in all these swamps.
It should be an area
we can put a lot of alligators in the boat today.
But as they arrive at the entrance,
they're reminded that nothing comes easy this season.
I don't know if we can get in here or not.
Might have ourselves a bingo right here there, boss.
We'll have to get rid of this to get through here.
Look like they got something built up right there
- holding us back. - Yup.
We knew that there was a possibility
that we'd have trouble to get in there,
but we didn't realize it'd be this bad.
There's lilies everywhere,
and from what it looks like, a big tree that fell across.
Might have been the hurricane dropped all them limbs.
Yeah. Got a bunch of branches going across right there.
Wish we could get back there.
You can see it opens up from there.
I got something at the house that'll get us in there.
Something like that.
The only downfall is to it that we can see
that across this tree it's wide open.
It's clear as can be. It's where we want to be at.
So we just have to figure out a way
how to get beyond that point.
Don says he has a solution,
and, you know, just like every other solution he has,
sometimes I scratch my head and think,
"Oh, Lord, what is he gonna come up with next?"
You think it'll work, let's do it.
I'll give you the credit if it works.
- 40 miles east... - Ready, buddy?
In Bayou Sidney...
After Hurricane Ida delayed the start of their season...
We got plenty of tags to fill.
veteran alligator hunter Leron Jones
and his deckhand Anthony "Porkchop" Williams
are anxious to make up for lost time.
But with dark clouds in the sky,
they might be in for a rough day.
Can't control that.
Mother Nature you can't control,
but when you're dealing with the stuff we dealing with,
hunters, we not going home.
The job gotta get done.
I do this to make a living.
You know, I don't try to predict the weather.
I'm not a meteorologist, I'm an alligator hunter.
So I just don't let that interfere with what I gotta do.
Porkchop, you see what I see up there?
Oh, yeah, up there, cuz, look.
Right up there.
All right, you ready?
Come on up, baby.
Come on. Come on to daddy.
Come on up for daddy. Come on up.
Give me a good, clean shot, Porkchop.
I'm gonna get you one.
Whoo!
Come on now.
Come on! There we go, there we go.
He full of energy.
Come on.
[gunshot]
- Hold on, bro. - What you doing?
Whoo, man! He regurgitated something
when you was pulling him to the boat.
This 11-footer is a great start,
but for Leron, victory is bittersweet.
And when I shot him, some of that puke
splashed from the water all in my mouth, man.
Being an alligator hunter is not a job in the library.
A big gator that size up in my mouth.
When you sign up for this,
you thought you going to a reception?
My job is to kill 'em, not drink their vomit, Porkchop.
Oh, come on, young man.
But gotta do what it takes to get it done.
Put him in the front, cuz.
I can't even get myself together, Porkchop.
That [bleep] stinks so bad, it's starting to burn my eyes.
We ain't finished.
In Violet,
Ronnie and Ashley are hunting along a pipeline
that runs through the marshes of St. Bernard Parish.
They doing work. You see all the cane poles?
This line's down, Ash.
Ronnie is really excited about this area.
He's had some friends calling him
that work on this pipeline, and they're seeing big gators.
So for him to have this kind of intel,
we definitely don't wanna pass it up.
Oh, I think I see it up there.
Right up there in them bushes.
See them bushes up there to the side?
Tight in the water, baby.
That look like a good one off the banks.
Ooh-whoo!
Oh, yeah, baby.
This one looks down-down, baby.
This has gotta be a big gator, huh?
Oh, yeah. He looked big.
They working on this pipeline.
Let's get in and out of here quick, my girl.
Give him to me, baby. That's a big one.
Got it?
Whoo! That's a big one there, papa!
Go on. Go, che!
Golly. Get him!
Come on, get the shot, che.
Whoo-hoo!
Boy, that's a big bad boy there, papa.
- Come on, che. - Oh, my God.
That's a hammer there.
Come on, shoot him!
That motherhumper's pissed, boy.
Come on, get your shot right there.
Come on, shoot him as soon as you can.
- Hold on to him. - Yee-ee!
- That a girl. - Whoo!
- That a girl, baby! - Yes!
This 10-foot beast
is another encouraging sign for the hunters...
that they're in the right place.
What you say about that one, papa?
I'm excited to see that this area has already paid off.
There's an oil platform out here.
I mean, a gator that close to people
that are right there working?
This area is where it's at.
That's it.
What a blessed year we have.
Whoo! Watch him, che.
- He about to get you? - Look at this dude, boy.
He's gonna get you.
Boy, just opened his mouth up real, real big.
I told you, che,
this is gonna be a good spot, this pipeline, huh?
97 miles west, in Pierre Part,
Troy is hunting on his own
after his deckhand Pickle called in sick.
I haven't hunted by myself I bet you in over 20 years.
Hopefully it's just for today.
Years ago when I'd hunt by myself,
I was geared up to hunt by myself.
My boat was set up to hunt by myself.
Now it's not.
You run your lines,
you set your lines in the front of your boat.
And I'm driving from the back,
so it's a lot of traveling back and forth.
I got a much bigger boat now,
and you can't run your lines from the back.
It's too close to your propeller.
If you got an alligator on a line
and you try to get too close with your boat,
then you're gonna cut the line in your prop
and lose your gator.
I don't see the line. I don't see nothin'.
Oh, oh, I see splashing.
We got something.
Ooh, we got a big one here.
He's wrapped up. He don't have no slack.
He's gonna pop it.
Nice alligator.
Now the fun begins.
I don't know how the hell I'm gonna get him in the boat.
Where the hell is Pee-wee when I need her?
All right.
[grunting]
All right.
[breathing heavily]
I think I got him.
Think I got that big boy.
Whew!
I'm wore out.
Whew!
He's heavy.
This 11 1/2-foot behemoth is a good catch,
but for a solo hunter, loading it in the boat
is a true test of strength and stamina.
He's a big boy.
I really, really miss Pee-wee.
If I thought she was feeling better right now,
I'd go run to the boat ramp and get her.
I'm gonna let her rest.
Hopefully she'll be back tomorrow.
[exhales sharply]
I'm definitely not the bumblebee I used to be.
Meanwhile, across the swamp,
veteran swamper Bruce Mitchell
is on his way to meet up with Leron and Porkchop.
Well, I'm supposed to be coming down here
to meet Leron and Porkchop.
And I ain't seen them in a while,
but I talked to them yesterday,
and they said they'd hook me up with a gator.
Normally, every year I kill two or three gators
and put them up in the freezer for me to eat.
Me and Miss Janet love to eat alligator.
But this year with things going on,
I wasn't able to fish
because of the hurricane tore up everything around my house.
I couldn't even go down the river.
I just turned all my tags in.
I've been helping people cook and this and that, you know,
and whatever I can do to help people.
And I just don't have time to fish this year.
I just can't do it.
Leron and Porkchop, they're out there hunting right now.
Hopefully, I can get out there in a little bit and find them.
If I can find them, they're gonna give me a tag.
We gonna catch a gator, put some meat in my freezer.
I met Leron and Porkchop years ago.
I used to deliver alligator meat and turtle meat
down here to Vacherie,
and that's how I met them years ago down here.
And we just kinda hit it off,
been kinda friends all the time, you know, all these years.
They doing me a big favor, so I'm gonna do them a favor.
I'll probably go to their house and cook 'em something.
Back in Pierre Part,
Jacob and Don are returning to the entrance of a honey hole
that's blocked with storm debris,
and Don believes he might have a potential solution.
Hey, Big D, show me what you got there
that's gonna make this disappear.
This'll work. It's gonna make a boom, I'm telling you.
It's gonna clear it all out.
Boom-chicka-pow-wow?
Got 10 pounds of boom.
I think I'm gonna get off on the bank
and start walking back.
So Don goes into the front deck
and he pulls out this jug.
And number one, I start wondering,
well, just how much of a boom does this thing make?
But at the same time, this could be a very good fix.
All right, back it out.
Think that'll do it?
I'm telling you right here,
this'll take doors off a Volkswagen.
We got to get a little farther back to shoot it,
at least a couple hundred yards.
Boom-boom powder is something else.
When you shoot this stuff, I'm gonna tell you,
you better be back a couple hundred yards.
Because, I mean, when it goes off,
you're gonna feel a shockwave,
and it's gonna send [bleep] flying.
Let me get into position. Brace for impact.
[laughs]
Boom-shaka-laka.
That should do it.
After seeing that explosion,
I think we can go in there with a 30-foot boat,
a yacht almost,
after seeing what that thing done did.
There was water lilies flying a hundred foot in the air
and stuff flying everywhere.
And luckily, we backed off as far as we did,
'cause it was a lot louder than I expected.
Look at all the [bleep] up in the tree it blew.
Dude, look. It blew that log in half.
That's what was holding everything back.
Yeah. Blew that straight in half.
Look at all the water lilies all the way up through there.
Them water lilies up 50 feet.
[Jacob laughs]
Wow.
Oh, man, we're cooking now.
Put that on a cracker.
Don's explosive solution
cleared the path to the honey hole.
We made it.
Look how pretty it is in here.
We're in the money, baby.
Now the duo will set lines
and take their treble hook for a spin
while they wait for gators to bite.
Look way down there, D, towards that big cypress tree.
What's that?
That's one swimming across, ain't it?
Yup, he poked his head up, went right back down.
Right through here, right to the lilies.
- Yeah, he just popped back up. - Did he?
Look, look, look, look.
Yup, yup, yup.
He stopped right there.
Right where them big bubbles are.
You just bumped him.
Pull us closer.
Got him!
Whoa, boy.
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
[chuckles]
Good one, boy!
Look at the bubbles coming up on this thing.
Looks good, boy.
Heck, yeah, he's a good one.
[whistles]
Aah!
[gunshot]
Hell, yeah!
Good job, D.
That's what I'm talking about.
Whew! Damn, that's awesome.
That's the way to do it.
I can't believe that worked out the way it did.
With this 10-foot brute,
it looks like their honey hole is paying off already.
It's like we know what the hell we're doing around here, huh?
Yeah, watch that.
It was hard to get in, but at the same time,
we just caught the first alligator, and it's a giant.
We knew it was gonna be good.
We've caught gators here in the past.
It looks even more promising than ever.
We see gators swimming around.
Can't wait to see what we catch.
Good job, buddy.
That's what I'm talking about.
That was good right there, though.
97 miles east, in Violet,
Ronnie and Ashley are hoping to continue their success
hunting along the pipeline.
This is the platform here.
- No trespassing, no smoking. - Nope.
We hunting in this pipeline today, boy,
and it is paying off, my baby.
We are loading the boat up with gators.
I'm so jacked up on this pipeline.
Damn, what is this?
Oh, that's that pipeline leaking, dude.
It's gotta be leaking natural gas.
Oh, [bleep].
Oh, my God, that is terribly bad, my baby.
Oh, something's going on, che. Something's going on.
We gotta let somebody know this.
Bubbles are rolling up from one of these pipes under the ground.
And it's not just one bubble.
I mean, it's just steadily flowing
like something burst up under the ground--
Up under the water,
and it's all coming to the surface in clumps.
We got a serious problem right now, and I'm scared.
I'm gonna go towards it, Ash. We gotta mark this
for these people, because this could--
If this thing was to blow, we all gone.
Yup.
We are all dead.
Just stick it, my baby.
Right there. That's fine. That's fine.
We gonna let them know it's got the double green.
But it's bad, boy. That's bad.
I don't want to start up.
You can't smell it, but look at it, dude.
The gas coming out your pipes at the house,
they add a smell to it so you could smell if there's a leak.
The gas coming out these lines in the wild, it has nothing.
It hasn't even been refined yet.
So right now, we could literally
be floating around on a ticking time bomb.
I just gotta figure out what's gonna happen right now,
because we got a serious problem.
I mean, I'll wrestle a gator,
but I didn't sign up for blowing up.
I'm not... me neither, baby girl.
I would be liking to get the hell outta here.
I got kids to go home to. I don't want to blow up.
Back in Bayou Sidney,
with a storm closing in,
Leron and Porkchop are working fast
to finish running their lines.
We gotta roll, baby.
When we out there hunting,
that's my main concern is the weather.
You gotta run these lines and you gotta keep moving fast,
because it can come on you quick, man.
You see him over there?
- Right there? - Yeah.
- See him pulling? - Yeah, I see him.
Oh, yeah, cuz, got something.
Come on back up.
Get ready.
Come on.
Whoo! Look at the size of that gator.
Whoa, whoa.
All right, I'm ready.
Give me a shot, Porkchop, give me a shot.
Oh, man.
Come on now.
- Man. Whoo! - Whoo!
Come on, give me a shot, Porkchop.
Come on, give me a shot.
Lord, it almost like he hear me asking for a shot.
Hold on, cousin.
Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Hold on.
What you waitin' on?
Be careful now, Porkchop.
Hold on. Hold on.
Give me a shot, Porkchop, give me a shot.
I'm trying!
Hold on.
What're y'all doing over here?
What? What the hell?
What're y'all doing, man?
Whoo!
Hold up. Whoo!
Go ahead, take care of business.
Come on, Porkchop. Get him up there, man.
- I'm trying. - Whoo!
Come on now. Get ready, cuz. Whoo!
He's coming up. Get ready, shot boy.
[gunshot]
Ah! Whew!
That slow him down a little bit?
Oh, that's a big gator.
I'm glad I ain't gotta help y'all pick that thing up.
Oh, man.
All right, hold on. Let me help you.
We're just--come on.
We gotta pick up this big boy.
Hold on, cuz.
Come on, hold on.
[laughs]
Come on, man.
Man, you're killing me, Porkchop.
Our good buddy Bruce come way up from Hammond.
I'll tell y'all what. Here I come.
- Come on. - Y'all both grab a leg.
Ready? Two, three, go!
Okay, it's on now.
Oh, man.
Come on, come on. Pull.
Whoo!
That's a big boy, ain't he?
Good thing I found y'all.
[laughs]
He must've knew we'd need help with this, Porkchop.
- That's a big gator. - Oh, I gotta sit down.
That's a big gator.
Oh, man.
Okay, y'all got a boatload now.
I've been knowing Bruce for a couple of years.
You know, he used to always come deliver seafood
out in Vacherie where I live at,
and he's a real nice guy.
Bruce taught a lesson, and I just soak everything in.
He's been doing this way longer than me,
and there's a lot I can learn from him.
And he's a legend.
Bruce is happy to lend a hand to his good friend Leron,
but that's not the only reason he stopped by.
Can y'all help me?
I need an alligator.
I need some meat. My wife wants some meat.
I'll even come to y'all's house
and cook you something if you want me to.
Bruce, come on.
He's one of those guys
that he'd give the shirt off his back,
even when he's not wearing a shirt, which he never do.
So if Bruce want an alligator,
of course I'm gonna give him one.
So I give him a tag, I showed him where the line was,
and I'm, like, "He's all yours, buddy."
You must save a lot of money a year
- by not buying a shirt, huh? - Yeah.
Man, you got to teach me that process.
Save thousands of dollars, huh, buddy?
Just don't wear it. I don't never wear one.
[all laugh]
That means he's eating good.
All right, man, we out of here, too.
Y'all be careful, now.
All right, my man. Take care now.
Don't catch 'em all.
[Leron laughs]
In Violet, Ronnie and Ashley's successful day
hunting the pipeline has quickly gone south
when they discovered a dangerous natural gas leak.
This has gotta be from the hurricane, dude.
This has got to be from the hurricane.
I guess so much water and pressure,
maybe that pipe's trying to come to the surface.
Something's going on,
because it's rolling out of there, whatever it is.
Dude, I'm 47 years old.
I've fished alligators up and down this pipeline
every year of my life.
Ain't never seen it like this. This is bad.
- I don't like it. - I'm afraid to start the boat.
Right now, gators is the last thing on my worry.
I gotta let somebody with authority know
what's going on with this pipeline,
and let him know
that there's fixing to be a serious eruption right now
if somebody don't get to this area and check this out.
If this goes, whatever's in the vicinity is gone.
Something happened, 'cause that's the platform down there
that the thing ties into.
But this pipe runs all the way
from here to Biloxi, Mississippi.
Well, let's go find out who can we talk to.
Are those guys the ones working on it?
Yes, but I think I just wanna drift.
Let's just drift for a minute,
because I'm afraid that if it's natural gas,
you know, you don't smell that.
Drift as far as you want to.
Hey, my baby. The pipeline right here,
I got a bunch of gator lines running it.
Dude, it's bubbling bad. You got a leak bad.
I don't know what kind of gas is in that pipeline.
Is it shut down?
I remember working a job with you downriver.
- This is my partner Ashley. - Hey.
We got a bunch of lines set this way,
and they got a serious leak.
It all went out the ground,
two different spots about 25 yards away.
But I just wanted to let y'all know
'cause that could be dangerous.
I would stay away from it if it's a natural gas line.
I don't know what it is, so we just--
I'm gonna go idle by it and just kill the motor.
But, man, I thank you for everything,
and let me know how it turns out.
All right, buddy.
Hey, I let them know what's going on.
It's out of my hands now.
It's on them, the professionals.
Let them handle it.
I don't want nothin' to do with an explosion.
Me neither, but we gotta get past it
'cause that's the only way in.
40 miles away, in the Spillway,
Jacob and Don blasted their way into a honey hole.
And after setting lines earlier,
it's already paying off.
Don't know if we brought enough tags.
Gonna be a long way back home to go get some more.
When you get in the area,
you never know what you're gonna see.
You don't know
if the gators moved out of there for some reason,
if there's been a lot of activity
with people in there.
But when you pull up to them first couple lines
and catch a couple big alligators,
you're pumped up, you're excited,
'cause them gators have been in there recently,
everything looks fresh.
It's gonna be a long, long day
because you got a lot of fighting on your hands.
Looks like the line's tight.
Oh, yeah, look like he got on the bank.
Oh, got a tree-shaker, baby.
I don't know how big he is, but he's a-moving it.
Might be a big'un.
Aah!
- Honey hole, baby! - That son of a bitch is pissed!
Whoa, big boy.
Oh!
[gunshot]
That'll do it, huh?
Tell you what, D. Let's get him on the left side of the boat.
- What side? - Left side, left side.
Damn, you're sure picky.
You know, it was a lot of work to get into this spot,
and sometimes you kinda wonder if it's worth all the effort.
You know, will we catch enough to justify it?
But I'm looking back now and saying definitely.
It was definitely worth the while,
the effort to get in there,
because we gonna fill some tags in this spot.
Good, big D?
Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup.
Getting warm.
In Pierre Part,
Troy has bagged 12 gators by himself,
and his last line of the day is in sight.
Last line. Thank you, Jesus.
I was hoping to have a bad day today,
but I'm actually catching pretty good.
I'm catching more than I would like to catch.
And I'm beat. I mean, I'm wore out.
Alligator hunting is hard. It's hard on your body.
It's hard work, it's heavy work.
Every day. Every day, every day.
But it's also, you gotta get a game plan.
It's mentally challenging.
Ooh, we got a big one here!
Whoo, he look like a nice one.
He's a big boy, he's a big boy.
Oh! Ooh!
Whoo, it's a big one, it's a big one.
Oh, he's gonna pop the line. He's gonna pop it.
[gunshot]
That's a big alligator.
Oh!
Ah...
Need to get him in a little bit more.
He's too heavy.
Big son of a-- Whew.
With his last gator on the boat,
Troy has a renewed respect for solo hunting.
When I see Pee-wee,
I'm gonna give her the biggest hug I ever gave her
because I really missed her today.
I missed her big time.
I didn't have nobody to yap to,
I didn't have nobody to fuss,
I didn't have nobody fussing me.
And most important, I didn't have no help.
Had to do it by myself.
Meanwhile, in Violet,
earlier, Ronnie and Ashley discovered a gas leak
coming from the pipeline, and alerted the authorities.
But in the meantime,
they still need to come up with a plan
to safely run their lines.
Look at all this bubbling.
Look, there's another set of it right there,
50 yards from where that line is.
Look at it, dude.
Hoo-whoo.
Yeah, we don't need to be shooting
within a hundred yards of this.
I gotta get back to running my lines,
but I got a serious problem.
I mean, we gotta kill these alligators with a gun,
and we cannot discharge a firearm right now.
I will not let that happen because we got a leak back here.
If a spark or anything ignites it, it's over with.
Just as much as you don't want the gun going off,
I don't want it going off, babe.
I got three daughters and a wife and my family
I wanna go home to.
We can cut the line, tie it off to the boat,
and putt them out of here.
Just idle out and get 'em away from here
and then shoot 'em.
Let's get 'em and get out.
I'm pulling the lines
regardless if they got gators on them or not.
But I think we just need to get 'em and get outta here.
- What you think? - Yeah.
And then we'll kill them at the other end of this
when we get out.
- Okay. - All right?
- Let's do that. - Let's do that, my baby.
The plan we're gonna do
is we're gonna cut the gators off the line,
tie them off on the side of the boat,
and we gonna drag them to safety,
where we can discharge the firearm
and we ain't gotta worry about blowing ourselves up.
Good Lord, please forgive me, for I've sinned.
I love you so much, Lord Jesus Christ.
I love you, I love you.
Please keep look over us.
Keep us safe today, good Lord.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This line's down, Ash.
Let's be quick on it, okay?
Yeah, plan to be. Trust me, I know firsthand.
I met people that's families were killed.
I know you did.
But let's make sure we get him secured
before we cut the line.
You got the line, huh?
Let's see what we got here, my baby.
Whoo-hoo! I got him, baby!
Come on, big boy!
Whoo! Come on.
Jesus.
Whoa!
This is a good gator, girl.
All right, let's tie his ass up.
Make sure he ain't by that fin where he can cut it.
Or roll himself up into the boat.
All right, Ashley, cut my line.
That's perfect.
That way I can tie his butt off some more
and he's on the boat, we good to go.
Let me pull this cane pole.
Let's get outta here.
That's a big gator.
I hope we don't lose him.
With the gator tied off to the boat,
Ronnie and Ashley have to get a safe distance from the leak
in order to finish what they started.
Oh, yeah, che, we good to go now, baby.
Yeah, we good to go.
We can shoot him and put him in the boat.
100% agreement.
Yeah, get it on him.
[gunshot]
There you go.
Though their strategy of shuffling gators
away from the gas leak is a good one,
Ronnie's thankful he's down to his last few lines.
I tell you, I am so relieved.
But I just wanna run the lines and be done with this day
and just, just get back to our vehicle safely.
I just wanna be done with this day and run the lines.
If it ain't a storm or Mother Nature, it's man-made.
It's like, God, can we get a break?
Blows my mind.
Back at the Pierre Part Spillway...
I don't know where the hell we're gonna put them at, D.
Jacob and Don have run into a bit of a problem.
- They sure look pretty. - Kinda like me.
Their honey hole has paid off so well,
they're running out of room for gators on the boat.
You didn't know that, did you?
- I sure didn't. - I got some pull.
Called them in, said, "Hey, I got a boatload
and you can pick these sumbitches up."
She be loaded, baby.
Be loaded.
It's a little different from the last spot we hunted, huh?
But the veteran hunters know
days like these don't come often,
so they aren't taking their foot off the gas.
Across the swamp...
After getting a tag from his friends Leron and Porkchop,
Bruce is looking for a giant
to fill his pantry with fresh meat.
I don't have no gators this year,
but I want some alligator meat.
I love to cook alligator
because if you cut it the right way,
you can make it taste different.
And I've done alligator my whole life.
For 33 years, me and Miss Janet owned an alligator farm.
And I got fresh gator every day and I cut it certain ways,
and tried it this way, tried it that way,
and I found the best way I can cook some alligator.
There's the line.
I don't know where the string's at.
I wonder what size gator I got here.
I know what I need to do.
Before I get started, I better load this gun.
This is my old grandpa's gun.
A few days ago,
Bruce was able to salvage his grandfather's lucky revolver
from the wreckage of his family's camp,
which was obliterated by Hurricane Ida.
Wow.
- Whoa! - All right!
Whoo!
We kinda lost this gun the other day.
And with the Hurricane Ida,
out of all the debris and stuff, the whole camp's gone.
Totally tore down.
But we was able to find this pistol,
my grandpa's pistol.
And I just thought, you know, thought it'd be a good deal
to bring it out and shoot a gator with it.
See what we got here.
All right. Oh, this feels like a--
Ooh.
Yeah, this is a pretty good gator I got right here, I think.
Oh, boy, here we go, y'all.
Oh, boy.
Whoo, that's a big one.
Whoo, burning my hands.
Oh, yeah.
Come on, boy.
Whoo!
[gunshot]
Oh, yeah. Hopefully, I can hurry up
and get this thing in the boat.
That's all right.
Gonna get this gator up in here.
With the help of his friends and his grandpa's pistol,
Bruce has the perfect gator for a family feast.
I like the smaller gators, seven, eight foot down.
Seem like they just cook better.
Now, you can cook the big ones,
but the little ones taste better.
It's gonna put a lot of meat in my freezer.
I have enough to cook a couple sauce piquant,
some jambalayas. I got enough meat to fry.
I got the whole gator.
So it's just the perfect size gator for me.
Whoo! Got me a gator to eat now.
Down the bayou, Leron and Porkchop
are rushing through their lines before the weather gets worse.
All right.
Yeah, you think we gonna get a wet ass in this rain, man?
If it come, it come, but we gotta run these lines, cuz.
Come on, we gotta finish running these lines.
The weather man said they got 20% chance of rain.
But he ain't telling you
where there's a 20% chance of rain at.
And, man, you will get soaking wet.
Look where the line at, cuz.
Go see where the line at over there.
I see it, I see it.
All right, stop. Cut it off.
Cut it off.
All tangled up.
Hold on, cuz. Hang in there.
All right.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Nice one there. Whoa! Look at him, boy!
Come on, big boy.
Gotta get ready now. Whoa!
Hit my head on the tree.
All right, cuz.
Come on, get ready.
You gotta get a shot on him.
I can't hold him that long.
There he is.
[gunshot]
Gimme some.
Whew!
This big boy wearing me out.
This 10-footer is a solid catch,
but Porkchop's getting worried about the incoming storm.
Man, we got to hurry up and move.
The weather's unpredictable. Prepare yourself,
because the conditions can change at any minute,
at any minute.
But you got to do what you got to do
when you're alligator hunting.
Come on.
Back in Violet...
After a dangerous natural gas leak
spoiled their perfect day,
Ronnie and Ashley are finally down to their last line.
All right, che, let's us do this to it.
Let's get outta here and go knock this out.
I wanna get outta here quick.
We catching well, but right now
I'm just ready for this day to be over.
It's nerve-wracking.
I'm just a wreck right now
because of the explosion that could happen.
I'm a nervous wreck.
Ooh! Look at the tree.
- Yes! - Ooh-whoo!
We got us a good one here.
Oh, this is a good one here, che.
Look at that line straight out!
Ooh, let's see what we got, girl.
- Come on. - Give it to me.
Ooh...
Oh, yeah.
Yes, indeed, that's a monster there, baby.
We gotta drag him out.
All right, I need you to hold him.
Okay.
- Oh, God. - Watch him.
Give me some more slack if you can.
Once again, Ronnie and Ashley must get
far enough away from the gas leak
to shoot the gator without causing a giant explosion.
So this is where it's gonna be crucial.
Right here, my baby.
Hold on, che.
'Cause we gotta go through that dam
like a slow boat to China.
All right, here we go.
This is the hard part right here.
Oh, gosh.
How you looking?
I'm good.
- He's good? - He's good.
Ooh, Lord, we made it through.
Let's shoot this son of a gun now, che.
Yeah.
Ain't much left in him, huh?
[gunshot]
That a girl.
This 11-footer would normally be a cause for celebration.
Whoo!
But Ronnie and Ashley are just happy to avoid disaster.
I'm gonna tell you, I'm so relieved that today's over with.
I'm ready to get back to the house
and be done with this area altogether.
Click, click!
That's what I'm screaming, my baby!
Whoo, let's go home.
Let's get outta here.
In Bayou Sidney...
I ain't set a line in this spot in a while, man.
I'm a little rusty on this area.
With bad weather approaching,
Leron and Porkchop are trying to run their last few lines
and get off the water.
Don't worry about that. You just keep going
till I tell you turn back around.
We going right where we need to be at.
Mother Nature you can't control,
but when you're dealing with the stuff we dealing with,
hunters, we just--
We can whine, but we not going home.
The job gotta get done.
Alligator hunting in the rain,
you're still out there alligator hunting.
See they got a gator on there.
That's why I'm coming in here.
I got better eyes than you, Porkchop.
Do what you do, Porkchop.
Get ready now, cousin. Watch yourself right here.
Oh, hold on. Hold on.
Oh, man, whirlpool all day.
- Whoa. - Watch your hand.
Oh, that thing is massive, man.
Don't let him pull you in the water now.
Whoa, whoa!
[gunshot]
We gotta keep going, we gotta hurry up.
Gonna start-- Gonna start doing it myself.
You got him?
Gonna start doing it myself.
This nine-foot gator
caps off a successful day for Leron and Porkchop.
Now the hunters just need to get back to their launch
before the bad weather hits.
Let's go. We gotta roll, cuz, we gotta roll.
[thunder]
But Mother Nature has other plans.
You went out there doing 50 mile per hour.
Now you're doing five mile per hour,
so you gonna get a wet butt for about 30 minutes going slow.
But who gonna be mad at that with a boatload of gators?
Who worried about the rain at that point?
Back in the Spillway,
earlier Jacob and Don
blew their way into their favorite honey hole...
[laughs]
And they've been on a roll ever since.
Now Jacob is concerned the boat may be overloaded.
Sure does look familiar right here for some reason.
Yeah, probably one year to this day,
right here is where we sank the boat.
She's overloaded.
[sighs] Son of a--
Just gonna have to flush everything out.
Ahh. Damn it.
You know, we getting pretty low to the water.
I'm getting worried.
Them sandbars are out there,
and nine times out of 10, there's another one
just lurking underneath the water that we don't know about.
And if we hit it with a load like we have,
I promise you we will sink again.
- See the line, D? - I see some bubbles.
Oh, lookie there.
Broke the damn branch. Look.
Broke the branch, huh? Look at that.
- Yeah. - [whistles] Tree-breaker.
Thought there was one on. I saw some bubbles down there.
Looked like it, huh? [thump]
Oh, hell, yeah.
[cocks rifle] Don't know how big he is,
but he's a-moving it.
Aah!
Whoa, big boy. Whoa, big boy.
- Hold him, D. - Ooh.
Hold him, D.
Better slow him down! Aah!
Aah!
- Aah! - Hold him, D, hold him, D.
Hold him, D, hold him, D.
Shoot that mother [bleep]!
[gunshot]
Whew!
That's what I'm talking about.
Give me that damn cowboy hat.
- Hot damn. - Hot damn.
I feel like John Wayne now.
I don't know where the hell we're gonna put him at, D.
He didn't brush his teeth this morning, that's for sure.
This behemoth is another sign
their gamble to blow their way back here has paid off,
but now their boat is dangerously low in the water.
Finished running our lines,
and I just wanna get back to that dock
as quickly as possible.
Our boat is filling up,
and it's really getting too full.
I hate to say that, but at the same time,
I don't wanna have a relapse of what happened last year.
The honey hole's producing a little too good.
If that's such a thing.
Meanwhile, in Vacherie,
after a long, hard day on the water...
Man, look at this.
Leron and Porkchop
return home to a welcome sight.
- Man, what up, Bruce? - What's up, man?
Y'all got lost, couldn't find your own house?
We see you a man of your word, huh, buddy?
Man, you beat us here.
This ain't the first time I gave people alligator.
They never offered me a plate.
But I gave Bruce a gator,
this man drove way up from Hammond
to come to Vacherie and fry some for us.
That speaks volumes, man.
I'm talking with your daddy.
I got the scoop on you now. [all laugh]
Y'all helped me a lot, so I said I'm gonna come over here
and feed y'all a little gator.
And I'm doing it.
I know Leron likes to cook.
That's why I had to go down there
and show him how to cook it like I do.
It makes it good.
How many people was in your family?
Five of us.
I come from a family of 10.
See that scar right there?
I got that one Sunday.
We was eating chicken, and the lights went out.
And that one chicken, piece of chicken on the plate,
I went to grab it,
had five forks in my hand
when the lights come back on.
Oh, we having fun.
We talking about old times and this and that.
Got to meet Leron's daddy. He's a character.
He's a whole different character himself,
and I see where Leron gets a lot of his stuff from.
It's just good people. Just good people.
That's some pretty meat right there, man.
Yeah.
Hey, Bruce, is there a best part of the alligator?
It depends what you cooking with, you know.
A lot of it's the way you cut it.
A lot of time people just chop it up in big chunks,
and they try to fry that.
It don't work that way.
You gotta cut small pieces and then you deep fry it.
That look good there, Bruce.
You don't wanna overcook gator.
You overcook it, it gets hard, chewy.
You just want it golden brown, you take it out and you eat it.
It is super good. Lookie here.
Man, Bruce, that look good.
- Nice and golden brown. - Yeah.
Seasoned pretty good. Perfect.
Yeah, it's good, Bruce. Man!
Food is very important down here.
Man, that's all everybody likes to do is cook.
Man, you could be passing by anybody's house,
you smell some food cooking,
they got somebody outside cooking.
Man, you ain't gotta be invited.
You can pull up. Can I get some? Yeah.
It's a big thing down here,
like a tradition everybody like to do, man.
Get together and just cook and have a good time.
Glad y'all like it, it's good. Hitting the spot.
Man, Bruce, you all right, man.
[laughs]
Bruce had that alligator.
Man, oh, man, that stuff was good.
- This some good gator, huh? - Yeah, man.
No, "good" got room for improvement.
That gator is great, Bruce.
Bruce is a great cook.
Look at him. Look at that big belly.
We don't get big bellies
by not knowing how to cook, right?
I'm still trying to thank you, Bruce,
but I can't stop eating, man.
- [laughs] - You know that.
Man, I sure appreciate y'all giving me that gator.
We appreciate all this.
I hope Leron and Porkchop really enjoyed what I did,
because I'm really doing it from the bottom of my heart.
They gave me a tag, now we got meat in our freezer.
Leron and Porkchop got fed. Everybody's happy.
Man, that was a meal there.
That was nice there.
No problem. No problem.