BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is taking lottery applications to harvest alligators on public lands.

Applications must be submitted before June 30 for hunts from August 25 to October 30.

There are a total of 431 opportunities across 19 Wildlife Management Areas, 28 Public Lakes, and one Army Corps of Engineers property.

Each hunter receives tags for three alligators. The department only accepts online applications and each person can only submit one.

Program managers report that 2,278 people applied last year for 421 available opportunities, said department spokesman Robert “Trey” Iles.

Applications can be found on the ministry’s website at https://laweb.s3licensing.com/, under the Lottery Applications tab. The application and transaction fees total $ 7.

Applicants must be legal residents of Louisiana who are at least 16 years old. Winners must purchase a $ 25 alligator license plus $ 40 per alligator tag.

The department displayed a map of the 48 zones with a list including the number of chances and the percentage of candidates selected in 2020 for each. For example, only 7% of applicants were able to hunt in the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area near Krotz Springs, while 63% of those who requested Lake Bruin were able to prey on alligators in Oxbow Lake. of the Tensas parish, owned by the State.

Sixty people will receive three tags each in the Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area south of Ferriday, while only two will be able to hunt in each of the other nine areas.