Important Notice to all past WMA Alligator Lottery Hunt Participants with preference points

WMA alligator hunt preference points holders:

We are contacting you because you currently have preference points associated with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Alligator WMA Lottery Hunt. After much review and consideration, we have decided to discontinue this lottery hunt opportunity. We would like to explain the basis for this decision as well as measures we are taking to transfer your preference points within our system.

While these hunts were instituted to provide the public with unique and high-quality alligator hunting opportunities, we simply do not believe we are achieving these goals. Hunters have experienced extended wait times for selection, and the hunts have not provided the quality experience that both DNR and our hunters expect. We have received comments from participants that hunting conditions were disappointing, due to limitations for hunting locations and capture within the WMA. Most of these limitations are based on seasonal waterfowl management needs on both Santee Coastal Reserve WMA and Bear Island WMA that cannot be changed. Also, due to the limited number of slots that we can make available to lottery participants, the wait times to be selected for a WMA hunt can be in excess of five years.

We understand that individuals who have existing WMA preference points have invested time and money in order to be considered for these hunts; therefore, we want to ensure you still have an opportunity to reap the benefits of your investment. For individuals that have existing preference points in the Alligator WMA Lottery, those preference points will be converted into the Alligator Public Lottery Hunt database. In addition, WMA preference points will be added to the public lottery at a rate of 1.5 times.

We appreciate your interest and participation in our public lottery hunts and would like to encourage you to apply for the Alligator Public Lottery Hunt. Recent research has indicated that alligators marked on WMAs are moving to areas that are open to public hunting during the alligator hunting season, so these alligators will still be subject to harvest as part of our public hunts program. In addition, we believe the public hunts provide greater opportunity and flexibility for participants to harvest an alligator without some of the challenges we have encountered on our WMAs.

If you would like more information about public alligator hunts, please visit our website at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/alligator/index.html.