Alligator season has come to a crossing.
-You ready? -Ready.
Get this show on the road.
Hunters pull out their secret weapons...
Trying to change our strategy
just to get bigger, bigger gators.
and chase backbreaking beasts...
We call this alligator Razorback.
-Oh! -Don’t fall overboard!
...to vanquish the competition...
That alligator lives back there.
I think I know how to catch him.
Be careful. You ain’t got a gun with you.
...and win the battle for the 350 new tags.
Oof!
You gotta do what you gotta do, man.
-Look how big his head is! -Oh, my God!
Ashley, dang!
Oh...my God.
[blues guitar plays]
It’s a new day in south Louisiana...
Ready or not, here it goes.
...as the battle for swamp supremacy rages on.
It’s 150-pound test, dude.
We’re gonna kick their butts.
Ronnie and Ashley are tied with the Landrys
for the highest average length,
while Leron, Porkchop, and Bruce
are even with the Edgars in third,
and Willie and Little Willie bring up the rear.
Outside Pierre Part...
I think that might be one over there.
Chicken’s hanging.
Ashley "Deadeye" Jones and her deckhand Anna Ribbeck
have noticed a sudden drop in big gators.
These lines have not been paying off lately.
They know they’re being hunted.
These gators know that they’re under pressure.
There’s people all around hunting ’em.
And, I mean, I wouldn’t come out either.
Maybe those bigger gators aren’t swimming
because we’re causing such a ruckus.
You know, when we shoot that gun,
it echoes across the water,
and then they don’t come up.
We’re gonna have to try something different.
Try to be as quiet as we can
and you shoot your bow at one of ’em.
With Anna, I really have a secret weapon.
She’s able to shoot these gators with a bow,
and that’s as quiet as it gets.
This is what I live for. I’m ready.
Okay. I think that that’s what we’re gonna do today.
All right. So we’re gonna go ninja-style on ’em today.
I’m a big-time bow hunter.
I love hunting gators with my bow,
and in Louisiana, the law is
a gator has to be on a hook and line
before you can kill it with your bow and arrow.
So it’s gotta be extremely precise,
because I’m going for a quarter size kill shot with a bow
while we’re fighting an alligator.
It is very hard to do.
Line’s down, Ashley.
Careful. We’re gonna bump that tree, okay?
Okay.
All right.
How’s it feel?
Feels like there’s something good on it.
Give me the line, give me the line.
-You go get your bow. -All right, all right.
We gotta clear a spot.
I’m grabbing it.
Whoo!
Oh, this is a good gator, Anna.
I really need to get him on the other side.
He’s pulling, Ashley.
Yeah, he’s pulling.
-You ready? -I’m ready.
I’m gonna try to pull him up slow
-to give you a good shot, okay? -Gimme a shot on him.
Whoo-whoo!
He knows he’s caught.
Whoo, he’s mad!
-Give me a shot. -Unh! He’s fighting me.
Let’s go.
Ready?
-Yeah. -There he is.
-Got him! -Got him!
-Whoo! -Good job!
-Night, night! -Sleep tight!
Ha-ha! Got him.
Oh, man.
-Watch that arrow. -Whew!
-And nobody even heard a sound. -Exactly.
Listen how quiet it is out here. Nothing.
With Anna being an archer,
it really, really helps because it’s very quiet.
And, I mean, she just whacked him.
We have a really good strategy,
and we should be seeing big gators.
Feel like a ninja with this bow.
It’s so quiet. Just pow.
Seven miles away in Bayou Fourche...
Whoa!
Whoa, my hat!
Son of a B!
King of the Swamp Troy Landry...
Look over there.
...and his deckhand Pickle Wheat
plan to take advantage of a shift in the wind.
Got it, Pee-wee? It’s free-free.
[imitates Troy] Free-free.
-Thank you, Pee-wee. -You’re welcome.
This area where we at has a lot of big deep-water pockets,
and big alligators love deep water.
They not coming out just so.
As long they got water,
them big ones stay in the back.
But I just watch the wind.
When the wind’s blowing the smell,
that’s when you go put rotten bait,
as rotten as you can put it.
Then you can catch ’em.
Talk to me, Pee-wee.
I can’t see because you go 80 miles an hour.
Huh?
I know what I’m doing up here.
Lord.
Talk to me.
Of course we tangled up.
It’s gotta be that way.
Oh, yeah, we got one, Pee-wee.
Whoo! Get the gun, Pee-wee.
-You got him with the hook? -Get the gun.
-Come on, Cinderella. -I’m trying to hold it
with my hand.
-Ah! -Whoo!
It’s a big one, it’s a big one.
Whoo!
Shoot him, Pee-wee, shoot him!
Yeah. Ooh, it’s a nice one.
Whoo!
-Oh! Whoo! -Aah!
Shoot him, Pee-wee, shoot him.
Shoot him!
[gunshot]
[chuckles] Good shot, Pee-wee.
First one of the morning.
Part of the job.
You know we gonna get dirty.
Not too good.
No, this one ain’t gonna help our average.
This eight-footer isn’t one of the giants Troy’s hoping for,
but there is evidence that they’re in the right area.
Look at that slide, Pee-wee.
Oh, dude, you oughta see the foot on this thing.
Look at the claws.
Go check it out, Pee-wee.
Be careful. You ain’t got a gun with you.
I know. I got my knife.
We gotta find this alligator.
There’s little sloughs and tranarshes
that you don’t see apart from the main bayou, you know.
These alligators are way back in the swamp,
and when the water drops down, they come out.
But right now, they’re up in there.
What you see? You see anything?
Oh, my...
Damn, looks like he got him a hog or something.
Got a little hair down here.
That’s crazy.
I think I know how to catch him.
Over in Bayou Sorrel,
Willie Edwards and his son Little Willie
have a plan, and they’re sticking to it.
So far, this season’s been a good season.
I mean, we gotta keep going like we going
and keep the rhythm rolling.
And we ain’t gotta change nothin’.
We ain’t gotta put no lines out.
I mean, we go there strictly treble hooking.
Yeah, I’m glad to have your help this year.
I mean, glad to have you in this boat helping me for sure.
’Cause, I mean, some of them alligators,
I couldn’t be able to get in the boat by myself.
I’m getting pretty old for this crap, but it’s my living.
Gotta break some news to you.
Got a job coming up.
I’m taking a job at the plant that’s real good pay.
You can’t beat it.
Commercial fishing is hard.
You go out there, you’re taking a risk
by spending money on your boat and everything,
and then sometimes it don’t pay off.
Sometimes you spend money to lose it.
I got a big responsibility.
I’m married now. I got bills,
and they don’t stop.
They hit you every month.
And with a job and everything,
you know you’re going out there to make money every single day.
Man.
I still got a lot of frickin’ tags left.
I don’t wanna leave or nothin’,
but any extra money, it’ll help.
Right now it’s hard times. You gotta make money.
You gotta do what you gotta do, man.
But I’m sure gonna miss you. I know that.
Is that something swimming?
-On the bank? -Yeah, it look like.
Right there.
Try not to throw it too far, towards that log.
Get him.
That’s a big one. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ooh!
Help out our average right here, Willie.
-10-foot alligator. -Oh, yeah, big time.
You barely got him in that leg.
That’s a good one to start the morning.
You better believe it.
-Ready? -Yup.
Big gator, Willie.
Watching him pull it,
looked like he’s pumped up, kinda wanting to stay.
But like I say, he’s a grown man now,
and, I mean, I hope he choose to stay with me,
but whatever he gotta do to support his family,
I’m behind him.
Oh, he gotta be 10-foot.
That was a good one.
[chuckles]
30 miles south in Calumet...
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo. I tell you what.
We’re not even at the hunting grounds yet.
Yeah, they’re teasing you, huh, buddy?
Veteran gator hunter Joey Edgar and his deckhand Zak Catchem
are hunting in an area teeming with big bull gators.
This is the kind of spot that you catch big alligators.
We got our 20 lines hung.
You got that rod and reel ready?
You got that lightning ready? You got everything ready?
I’m ready.
Zak and I been catching really good.
We got a decent average.
We got a nine, nine-and-a-half-foot average.
But we looking for a big day with some big alligators.
We got a honey hole in mind,
and we fixing to go check it out.
We need to have a big average,
and that rod and reel and that treble hook,
that’s one way of getting it.
Yeah.
Oh, Zak, look right there.
Look right up ahead, buddy.
Good one right there. Come on.
I think it was just to the right, huh?
Yeah.
Right there. Stop. You’re good, you’re good.
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
Dude, you should’ve stopped. I could’ve made that cast.
Well, he went under the lilies.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Oh, no, I can’t see him.
Oh, everything woke up.
Everything went crazy.
Yup, yup, yeah!
Aah!
[grunting]
-Ooh! -That was him?
I don’t know. I just broke off.
-That had to be-- -What the hell?
-Yeah, that was him. -Damn it!
Cut like butter, man.
Oh, I think something sharp caught it.
What, he’s got razors on his back?
I don’t know. I had the alligator.
You saw I was right on him. He jumped off.
Those scoots probably cut it.
Yeah. We just got unlucky, dude.
That’s a razorback. That’s a good name for him.
For now, we got to leave this alligator alone.
We still got lines to run.
But I’d really like to get this big Razorback alligator.
We’re dealing with a different kind of alligator.
Damn Razorback.
87 miles southeast,
native swamper and historic weapons expert Black Rambo
has been on a mission of his own.
I’m Black Rambo, and I was with 2nd Tank Battalion,
2nd Marine Corps Division.
Being a Marine taught me a lot of discipline.
I think it really made me the man I am today,
and it really got me into firearms.
As I got more into historical weapons,
I wanted to do more research on them,
so I started going to, like, museums.
I started looking online and stuff.
I started going to, like, get old books,
whatever I could find.
Over the time,
all these people start coming up to me
asking me, "Hey, you ever seen this gun before?"
"Do you know what this weapon is?"
"Hey, what is this knife right here?"
So I end up finding all the answers for ’em.
I really enjoy it a lot
because it’s like I like helping people
and I like learning.
Them hurricanes are bad.
You gotta put your house high in the air.
Got some nice boats, though.
Gonna have to get me one like that.
Take me fishing.
Last week, Rambo met with his friend Cody Fortier
and his wife Megan, who gave him a challenging assignment.
-Rambo, what’s up, brother? -What’s up, man?
I made it. How you been?
I’m good, man. How you been?
Oh, you got the wife out today.
-Yup. -Look at you.
How you doing, Megan? I’m sorry.
How you doing, lovey? Good to see you.
So what you got, man?
I’m looking for an 1800s gun called a blunderbuss.
A blunderbuss.
-It’s an old swampers’ weapon. -Mm-hmm.
They used it for alligator hunting, deer hunting.
Did whatever they had to do to survive.
They gave it my grandpa.
He gave it to me, and I ended up selling it.
I needed the money to start my construction company,
so now I’m trying to get it back.
Nothing wrong with that. I’m your man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got any pictures or something I can look at
-to help me out? -Yeah, actually.
Here you go.
Hey, that thing’s beautiful, man.
Yup. It’s got a split stock.
Folds down.
See how wide the muzzle is?
Damn, that thing’s pretty clean.
The blunderbuss firearm
emerged in the early 18th century.
Effective only at close range,
it’s considered an early version of a shotgun.
It was instrumental
in settling many wild and inhospitable parts of America,
including the swamps of south Louisiana.
Man, I don’t know if you could find something like that.
But I tell you what.
If you could, it would really mean a lot to me.
All right. I’m gonna make some calls, man.
-I’ll get back with you. -Yeah, sounds good.
Sounds like a plan to me.
You take care, love.
It’s always a pleasure seeing you, bro.
All right, same here. Be safe.
Cody’s looking for a blunderbuss,
but, man, Cody gave me a job, man.
He’s not just looking for no regular blunderbuss.
He want a folding stock.
He want all the designs to kinda look the same.
This is really gonna be a piece of work here.
Back in Bayou Fourche,
after their smelly bait
failed to lure big gators from the deep swamp,
Troy and Pickle return to the monster gator slide
armed with Pickle’s new idea.
Hey, a hog call?
It’s worth a try.
It’s actually a deer grunt call, but modified to squeal.
Okay.
So we’re gonna try this out today.
We have hogs.
We are overrun with wild boar down home,
and I know--
I have personally witnessed these alligators
attack these hogs just getting a drink of water.
So we came up with the idea to make a modified hog squealer.
[squeal, squeal]
That alligator lives back there,
he comes out only when he runs out of food.
[squeal, squeal]
But if he hears something like a hog squealing...
[squeal]
well, he might come.
[squeal]
Make some noise.
[squeal, squeal, squeal]
Now, I think that call,
I think it’s gonna pull that big one out.
I’m all for trying it.
[whispers] Come on, let’s get outta here.
We gonna leave, wait in my boat.
When alligators have food, they’re kinda like sharks.
Sharks go into a feeding frenzy,
and I think alligators, it’s the same thing.
When one alligator catch a hog or a deer or something
and he starts rolling with it to kill it,
it attracts the attention of other alligators,
and they all come swimming real quick.
When I’m backing up, I don’t want him to hear my boat.
I want you to call so he don’t hear my motor, okay?
Call, P, call.
[squeal, squeal]
[squeal]
[squeal, squeal]
[squeal]
18 miles north, in Bayou Sorrel...
What’s the name of that little hole we’re going to?
Uh, we call it little Grassy Lake.
Willie wants to take his son Little Willie
to a secret honey hole for his last day.
Known for some big gators.
Grassy Lake’s a little lake where I pick alligator eggs.
And we usually leave the big males in there
to breed with the females.
But today’s my son’s last day with me,
and, uh, he gotta go work a job and stuff,
so I’m gonna go try to catch a big, big one
just to see if I can’t get him pumped up
to stay with me for a little bit longer.
Gonna see how it goes and see if he stays with me or goes.
Grassy Lake, I mean, it always pays off.
Might not get that many,
but what you get is gonna be some good ones.
ne right there, Willie. Get your hook.
I didn’t get to see his head, but he’s pretty decent.
Never know what he is till you get him to the top.
Good Lord! We got a freakin’ crocodile.
There he comes.
Yeah, he’s a good one.
Coming up.
Hold him right there.
[gunshot]
That’s how it’s done.
I don’t know how good a shot it was, though.
Yeah, he’s pooling blood.
This seven-footer is no winner,
but it’s hard to put a price on hunting together.
I don’t like this, not one bit.
Going taking this job and everything,
I’m gonna miss alligator hunting.
This is going on four years
I’ve been alligator hunting with my dad.
I don’t wanna trade it for the world.
I don’t wanna take a job, but...
I have to. I ain’t got no choice.
If I don’t take it and everything,
they’ll give it to somebody else,
and I need the money.
They ain’t no monsters, but at least they alligators.
Further south...
Oh, I see him.
Ashley and Anna are seeing more gators out in the open,
a sign that their silent bow strategy could be working.
Trying to change our strategy,
like, just to get bigger, bigger gators.
We’re very, very quiet.
We’re gonna pull up and shoot the gator with a bow,
and that way we’re as quiet as we can be.
Is that limb shaking?
Yeah, it is.
That might be a big gator.
It’s coming straight out.
You see him? He’s in the water. He’s swimming.
Grab me that line and get your bow.
All right, let’s do it.
-Just hand me the line. -Okay.
Here we go.
All right.
I’m gonna pull him up as slow and easy as I can.
Oh, no.
Be careful.
[thud] Whoo!
[thud]
-He’s gonna pop the line! -Oh, no!
Oh, there he goes, there he goes.
Careful, girl.
Oh, my God!
Whoo!
Pulling this boat all around.
I see his head.
-Look how big his head is! -Oh, my God.
Ashley. Dang. There he is.
Nice frickin’ shot.
Yes!
All right, let’s pull him in.
Here we go. Ready?
Oh!
Come on now. Hang on.
Whew!
He’s sinking the damn boat.
Got it.
Dude.
Another monster in the boat
is proof the stealth strategy is working.
We’re catching, and we’re catching really well.
So it’s kind of a different tactic, but it works.
You got him, though, didn’t you?
I got him, man. I love the bow.
Me, too, girl.
Putting big monsters in the boat.
In Calumet...
Pop, can we just go back and try to get that gator, man?
Well, you snagged him once,
but that don’t mean we gonna see him again.
Zak’s having a hard time letting go of Razorback,
the dinosaur that cut through his line earlier.
If it’s that alligator that size,
it’s gonna boost our average.
I’m telling you, I felt the weight before he cut the line.
That’s a solid unit, and he still has my hook in him.
Well, we’ll run these couple of lines.
Then we’ll go take another look for him just in case.
We’re gonna get him. I won’t let you down.
Yes, sir.
Zak’s still not over Razorback.
He’s still got it on his mind,
and he wants to go back at this alligator.
But we still got lines to run.
Line’s down. I don’t know if we got it.
He’s on the bank.
See him? To the right?
All frickin’ wrapped up.
Oh, that’s a nice one, dude.
I hope he don’t pop the line.
Ooh, he’s gonna pop it, dude.
-Oh, he’s gonna pop it. -Man.
Pop, get it--
It’s gonna wrap around.
Ooh, he’s gonna pop it.
You got to shoot him.
He’s straightening the hook. You gotta shoot him.
Oh!
[gunshot]
That’s a big boy. That’s a big boy.
Pop, he was gonna pop that leader like that.
He was going to deep water.
That’s a nice 10-footer.
This is gonna help our average.
That’s not Razorback, though, huh?
No, I don’t think that’s Razorback.
No. He got wrapped up in that, he would’ve cut that leader
if he’s sitting up there on the bank.
-Yeah. -Gol.
Check that out.
I never saw that before. He was barely hooked.
[laughs] He was wrapped up.
That’s why he stayed on there.
-Yeah. -Yeah, that’s a big one,
but he doesn’t have quite sharp enough scoots to be Razorback.
Solid.
Yeah, that’s all a 10.
That’s one step closer to winning this competition.
But I want Razorback, especially as a fisherman.
You know, it almost gives you, like, an obsession.
You really want that particular alligator
because it fooled you, it won.
We’re getting that big boy in the boat.
That’s a nice alligator, pop,
but that’s not our Razorback, buddy boy.
Further east, Rambo’s been on the trail
of an 18th century gun that may have been used
to help settle the swamps of south Louisiana.
My buddy Cody, he’s looking for a blunderbuss.
So I’m gonna go on down to the gun show,
’cause they have antiques,
classic guns, new guns, old guns.
Man, so much history at gun shows,
you wouldn’t even believe it.
It’s like a treasure hunt just inside of there.
I’m talking about good people, good energy,
all kinda weapons, all kinda firearms.
Bro, it’s like the perfect place to look for something like this.
Hey, Shawn, how you been, man?
Hey, how you doing, Black Rambo? What’s up?
I’m here on a specific mission, bro.
I’m looking for this thing called the blunderbuss.
-Do you know what that is? -I do, yes, sir, yes, sir.
I figured you’d already know what it was, man.
Well, look, tell me somebody got it back there.
You tell me they got it, I want in.
I don’t know about that, but they got
a lot of old guns in there.
I’ve seen blunderbuss in the shows before.
-For real? -For real.
Oh, man. Don’t get me excited, bro.
Well, look, I’m gonna get in there, man.
Thank you, man.
-Thanks for having me, you man. -Absolutely. Enjoy.
What’s up, Perry, my man?
-Rambo, what’s up, bro? -How you doin’, man?
Good, how are you, sir? Been a while.
Man, I been working.
I’m looking for something old, man.
-What you looking for? -I need something early 1800s.
It’s called a blunderbuss. You know what that is?
-I don’t, no. -Bro, if you could find one
or if you know anybody that has one,
please-ease-ease-ease, hit me up.
You got it, bro. Nice seeing you, man.
All right, tell the family I say hi, all right?
Yup, take care, brother.
Ladies, how y’all doing?
-What you doing? -What you doing?
My favorite twins.
Oh, my God, you know we’re not twins.
Come on, man. Now you know me.
I’m always looking for some old stuff.
What you want now?
It’s called a blunderbuss.
Check that out. You ever heard of that?
I’ve never seen that.
I gotta find it for one of my friends.
-Okay. -I’m talking about as soon as
y’all see anything close to it, you hit me up.
-Okay. -Y’all take care, all right?
Yeah, you, too. Good seeing you. Be safe.
Hitting a dead end at the gun show,
Rambo decides to go in a different direction.
I’ma give Mike a call.
Mike does work for museums, colleges.
He’s a gun historian.
He’s real, real knowledgeable, man.
He knows his stuff with for-real ancient firearms
and weapons and guns and stuff.
I think he’d be the perfect person to ask.
In Bayou Sorrel, Willie feels an urgency
to load the boat with big gators
on what may be Little Willie’s last day
before he takes another job.
Can’t ask for no better day.
Yeah, we are putting the smackdown on them.
Yeah.
And it has Willie concerned
about finishing the rest of his season without a deckhand.
When you got a deckhand in the boat with you every day
and everything, it spoils you.
I mean, you get pretty used to that.
I mean, it’s been four years since I’ve been by myself.
Right out there, right out there.
He done slid off the bank.
Right there.
Big one, Willie. He’s a big one.
Big one. You got it?
You got it?
Get him back, get him back, get him back.
Oh, man.
Don’t tell me he got off.
Going around the back of the boat.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
He’s right here somewhere. Going out.
That’s a big one.
You need me to get it?
Oh, I got it. Right here.
He’s bigger than everything we got in the boat.
Right there.
Snatch.
Right now.
I got ya!
Oh, he’s a big gator.
Oh, yeah!
Ooh, got him in the mouth!
Don’t pull it hard, don’t pull it that hard!
Little Willie’s wrestling a giant.
He got it in the mouth.
I think he must’ve had the rope in his mouth.
Come on, get on out there a little bit more,
a little bit more.
[gunshot]
That’s what I’m talking, that’s what I’m talking.
-That’s a big one. -[laughs]
Yeah,that’s a big old gator right here, Willie.
-11-foot alligator. -Yeah, all day long.
Once you get an alligator on the other end of a rope
hooked to you like a boat, pulling boat to boat,
it’s a big adrenaline rush like no other.
And I got this job on the other end over here calling me.
And you got big alligators
and a whole good alligator season on this side.
It’s a hard choice.
Catching this 11-foot beast
may be just the right thing to change Little Willie’s mind
about leaving the swamp for the plant.
The day looks like it’s turning around for us.
Yeah, that’s wonderful.
That’ll brighten up your day, a gator like that.
Over in Calumet...
Pop, we’re gonna go back to where we saw Razorback.
We might get lucky. He might come out.
Yeah, we’ll see what happens.
Joey and Zak’s lines have been paying off,
but the hunters are hoping to catch up with Razorback.
We call this alligator Razorback.
He’s got scoots that are deformed or something.
Scoots are the bumps on an alligator’s back,
the big ridges that are on his back.
And sometimes these alligators, they live in a hole.
This might be a spot where it’s damaging his scoots.
They may be damaged
from somebody hitting him with an outboard,
but he’s breaking Zak off and we haven’t figured it out.
Right there, look, that’s him. I know it.
I see him.
Look, he’s stopping. He’s still going.
Still going.
He’s right there, he’s right there.
Whoa! The carp hit my line.
He’s right--He’s right here. Look right here.
That’s a big alligator.
-That’s him. -Oh, yeah.
There he is. Hit him, pop.
Don’t fall overboard.
Come over me, pop. Come on this side.
There you go.
-Good job. -[grunting]
-Don’t lose him. -He’s still on.
Hit him!
-What’s wrong? -I don’t know.
Your drag slipping?
Yeah. Something’s wrong.
Hold him, pop.
Oh! Oh!
It come off. That’s the second time.
What’s going on?
Damn it, man!
I thought that 150 was failproof.
It was. You could drag a car with this line.
It’s his scoots. It has to be his scoots.
Check that out. It’s cut, it’s cut.
-Yeah. -It’s clean, it’s not frayed.
Do you have any catfish wire or something?
At the dock I do, but I don’t have nothin’ on the boat.
Let me sniff around real quick.
Maybe in the deck I got some wire.
What about this stuff? What is this? Auto wire?
-Is this for the boat? -Yeah.
Can I use this?
If you think you can make that work.
I mean, It’s better than the line I have now.
There’s some type of wiring in it.
I just need a leader. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Joey has some old wiring in his boat for the electronics,
and I’m just gonna test it out.
It’s old copper wiring, maybe 18 gauge or so.
But it’s better than just pure braid or monofilament.
So I’m gonna give it a try, tie it up to my braid,
and see if this will hold him.
Now that’s solid right there.
That look like that might work.
As long as he don’t roll and just pulls straight,
I think that’ll hold.
Yeah, I think so, too.
We’re gonna find out.
-Let’s go hunting, buddy. -Yes, sir.
We’ll come back and check on him later.
In Bayou Fourche,
Troy and Pickle have some solid catches
since they started using Pickle’s wounded hog call.
Alligators love hogs.
Can’t resist them.
But they need a few monsters
if they want to stay in first place.
Pee-wee and I running lines, and we catching decent.
But nothing real big, not what we after.
But I know they got big alligators around.
After it’s quiet for two or three hours,
he may come out looking for that wounded hog.
We got something, Pee-wee.
Oh, that’s it.
Whoo!
That’s your hog eater.
That’s a good one.
-Big alligator. -Oh, Lord.
Might be a wincher, huh?
Whoo!
Whoa!
He’s trying to get under the boat.
-Aah! -Come on.
Under the boat, under the boat.
Where you at, you sucker?
Oh, boy, he’s got that rope in a bind.
Gol.
He’s too heavy. I can’t push him out.
Gonna have to push the boat.
He’s gonna go under.
Whoo, Pee-wee.
It’s a big one!
Whoo!
Pee-wee, shoot him!
Ooh, shoot him!
Whoo! [laughs]
He’s definitely a wincher.
Oh, yeah, that’s a wincher.
Crank, crank, crank it, Pee-wee!
Whoop, whoop.
Whoop. Whoo.
This son of a bitch is heavy.
This 11-foot monster
gives them a chance to stay in first place.
Yeah, hold on, P. He’s gonna help our average a lot.
Oh, it paid off. The call paid off.
I guarantee he was coming out looking for that wounded hog.
He was coming to the call.
And, you know, them alligators, they not gonna pass up a meal.
I think we doing good.
I think we in a good position, Pee-wee and I.
I’m excited my call worked, though. That’s awesome.
On to the next one.
Back in Grand Isle,
Rambo continues his search
for Cody’s 18th century blunderbuss.
My homey Mike gave me a call,
and he said he might have an option for me.
He knows all the big-timers,
all the little-timers, all the middlemen.
Man, Mike knows ev-ery-one.
If anybody’s out there, Mike knows it.
If a gun’s out there, Mike will find it.
Oh, brother, man, blunderbuss is so hard to find, bro.
Well, I got a blunderbuss for you.
-You found it? -I found it.
Get outta here, man. How did you find it, man?
This took some work.
I made some calls in the collecting community.
I found a gentleman.
He’s had this gun for a lot of decades.
-You gotta be kidding me. -But he said he was ready
-to part with it. -Can I see it?
-Absolutely. -Oh, man.
It’s exactly like the one he wants.
-Yeah. -Bro, Cody is gonna go crazy
for this, man. Voila!
Reveals it, man, under this blanket and stuff.
Bro, to be honest with you, it looked brand-new to me.
It looked like it’d never been touched.
Can you tell me a little more about it?
Absolutely. So this probably dates to the 1700s.
-Mm-hmm. -So this is about 250 years old.
This lock was probably added a little bit later.
This was probably originally a flintlock pistol,
but it was converted to percussion cap.
That was done in the mid-1800s.
That was kind of like hot-rodding it,
bringing it into the modern era.
-Almost like an upgrade. -Yeah, it’s been upgraded.
It’s got this flared muzzle on the end of it.
A lot of people think it’s shaped like that
to spread the shot out, but that’s not why that is.
The reason that it was done this way
was when you were out floating on the swamp
and the boat’s moving around, this made it easier to load.
This meant that you could pour the powder into it
while you were rocking around in the boat,
get the shot down in it.
This would have been a great swamp gun back in the day.
The brass would’ve been great
because that wouldn’t have rusted out in the bayou.
It really only would have been effective
out to about 40 or 50 feet,
-so this is not a long-- -Great gator gun.
Not a long-range gun, but a great gator gun.
Man, Mike started breaking down all the history on it.
It was unbelievable, to be honest with you.
Now I understand why Cody wanted this thing back so bad.
Here’s the magic question.
-How much is it worth... -[chuckles]
before we go any further?
-11,000. -11,000?
-Oh, whoa, whoa. -11,000.
[laughs]
I gotta give Cody a call, man. This thing is real expensive.
I thought it was gonna be cheaper than that, you know.
Hey, Cody, how you doing, man?
Look, I got some good news
and some bad news for you.
The good news is I am sitting here
looking at the blunderbuss.
Here’s the bad news. $11,000.
$11,000, man.
Hey, if you want it, I can make it happen right now, man.
Mike’s ready to go.
Buy it?
You heard it from the man.
-I heard it from the man. -You heard it from the man.
Cody is astonished that I even found it.
He couldn’t even believe it, man.
So he said I gotta have it, man, I don’t care what the price is.
I knew you was gonna find it.
-Bro, you are the man, man. -[laughs]
20 miles north, Anna and Ashley’s stealth tactics
have produced a boatload of big gators.
We got a couple more lines to run,
but I think if we keep using the bow,
I mean, this is so quiet.
-Ready? -Yup.
Any other gators are not gonna hear us.
We’re extremely quiet, we’re able to get in and get out.
We’re able to dispatch gators.
We’re able to do all these things very quietly
with Anna being an archer.
All right, Anna, watch these stumps
because this line is down.
Okay, let’s go.
I’m gonna just pull you right up in there,
and you get a shot, pop him.
I will.
-All right.Anna. -Oh, whoa, his nose
is right there, Ashley.
Oh, shoot, running right over him.
Get ready if he stays up there like that.
All right.
His head keeps coming up, Ash.
Watch out, Anna!
That’s insane.
-Oh, my God. -My God.
Holy cow.
That’s a big gator
to be jumping out the water like that.
I mean, all I could see
was him coming straight at you.
That was the creepiest freaking, slow motion,
scariest-ass thing I’ve ever seen. [bleep].
All right, Anna, grab me that gaff.
Here, I’ll get it, I’ll get it. Your hands are full.
We’ll pull him up and over
in case we need to reuse that arrow.
All right.
Just in case, make sure he’s dead.
He fought to the bitter end.
I hope he didn’t ruin your arrow ’cause this has been working.
Dude, if he ruined the arrow, it was worth it.
That’s a nice gator.
That was a hell of a shot, Anna. Good job.
It’s insane, man.
That’s a big monster.
After capturing this massive 10-footer,
Ashley knows that using the bow has paid off big time.
Now there’s only one more way to make their day even better.
Anna is great with her bow.
She’s very comfortable with it,
and pops that gator just like that.
And now’s the moment of truth.
Because I wanna be able to sit back and snipe if we can.
Whatever time we have
I wanna spend catching big gators.
-Night, night. -Sleep tight.
In Bayou Fourche,
with a boat full of the gators lured with Pickle’s hog call...
With her squealing like that,
-they can’t resist it. -Yeah.
Troy and Pickle head to their last line.
One more dinosaur should keep them on top.
As the day goes on, we’re catching better and better
and they’re getting bigger and bigger.
One time I was running some lines south of Morgan City.
It was along the intracoastal canal.
-Uh-huh. -I seen a big, big alligator
swimming with a hog in his mouth.
I’ve seen ’em with a hog before.
Can’t resist it, can’t resist it.
Uh-uh.
Hey, look at that line
going straight out to the left over there.
-See the clothespin? -Yeah.
That’s our last line.
[laughs] We might have one.
Oh, yeah, see a little action.
Oh, it’s a good one.
-Good one? -Yup.
He’s a wincher.
Whoo. Watch him.
God, sucker.
Watch him, Pee-wee. Show him who’s the boss.
Watch him, watch him, watch him!
Whoo!
-Don’t give him no slack. -Ooh, it is right there.
-Shoot! -Watch him, Pee-wee.
Watch him, watch him. [gunshot]
[laughs]
That call worked, huh?
I promise you that’s the one you called
right across in the hole there.
We’re gonna need the winch on that big boy.
You’re the one that caught this thing with your caller.
Worked better than I thought.
I promise you if we wouldn’t have caught him,
he’d still be in that big hole back there hiding.
He’s a good one, huh?.
This big one’s definitely gonna help our average, Pee-wee.
See, sometimes you just gotta do different things.
You gotta think out the box.
Another 11-footer is a great example
of how Troy and Pickle’s teamwork
is keeping them in the hunt for the 350 tags.
You know, I feel good about what we catching, Pee-wee and I.
We have some ups and some downs, you know.
Some days we feel like we’re on top of the world,
and other days we feel like we ain’t did nothin’.
But catching an 11-footer definitely helped our average.
We got him, baby girl.
He wanted some of them porkchops. Hah!
It was more than he could stand, Pee-wee.
Couldn’t help himself.
He said I’m gonna get me some pork roast.
[laughs]
To the south, in Calumet,
Joey and Zak are on the hunt for Razorback.
Sometimes once you spook an alligator like that,
you don’t get a second chance.
He’s here, and I didn’t spook him that much
because I hit him
and he immediately cut the line, you know.
Well, if we get him, it’ll boost our average.
We ran all our lines, it’s been a long day.
We had alligators in the boat,
but Zak really like to get this big Razorback alligator.
He wants to give it one more shot,
and we fixing to go check him out.
There’s some bubbles behind us.
Here, stop, stop, stop.
[grunting]
Oh, my God.
No, oh, my God.
Why does he keep coming back this way?
No!
Aah! Hold my legs!
My legs. Oh, God. Aah!
Okay.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
[grunting] Got him.
Let’s try to get him on this side of the boat.
-Mm-hmm. -Let me back up.
We’ll try to fight him on the right side.
He’s spinning, he’s spinning.
Going towards the motor. Motor, motor, motor.
Here, I got it.
All right, pop, now come over my way.
Okay.
Over you, over you, over you. Over your head.
Now we got him.
Here we go. Here we go, pop.
So as soon as this thing slows down,
you already know what to do, baby.
Yes, sir.
He’s right there.
-He move? -He’s moving, yeah.
-Ooh, he’s big, he’s big. -Yeah? You hit him?
Okay, do your thing, pop. Do your thing, pop.
Whoop him. Whoop him.
You stuck him good, pop. Get him.
Got to get a shot when you pick his head up.
I’m ready. I’m ready for you.
Come on. Aah!
-Whoo! Kill it. -Got him.
[laughs]
Oh, my.
Okay, pop, let’s see if we can get him in the boat.
I can probably reach his other arm.
Yeah, if you can reach his other arm, it’s better.
All right, you put pressure,
I’ll be able to get up and help you.
Whew!
We ain’t got nothin’.
Yup, I got him. Yes, we do.
-Uh! -All right.
Ow!
Dude, look, my other hook.
My other hook. That’s Razorback.
-What? -That’s Razorback, dude.
Look. Look at that.
That’s right where I set him, and there’s my old line.
Oh, God.
Let’s see where he’s cutting the line.
Look, right here. Look at this.
Right here, these two scoots.
-Look at that thing. -That’s crazy.
Today’s been a great day,
and it makes it that much more meaningful to me
that we got this bad boy in the boat.
It just shows you the importance of persistence.
If you don’t succeed, try, try again.
-Razorback. -Freakin’ Razorback, dude.
That’s a legend.
Now I’m ready to go home.
Further south on Grand Isle,
Rambo returns to meet with Cody
and deliver the rare blunderbuss firearm.
So excited when he sees this, man.
And to think it looks exactly like the one
he sent me on the picture.
The exchange, that’s the best part. The exchange.
Finding stuff for people really touches them, you know.
I love it, man, I love it.
I made it back, Cody.
Look what I got for you, man.
It’s the best I could find, man.
You tell me if it’s good enough, man.
Let’s see it. Let’s see it.
-No way. -[laughs]
What is that?
Wow.
Look at the barrel.
Man, remember in the picture,
I had the little file part right there?
Yeah, man.
You even found the split folding stock.
I was told there wasn’t many split stocks.
And guess what? I got everything we need to shoot with it, bro.
-Let’s go shoot it. -Let’s go shoot it.
Oh, we gonna blow it up. Perfect.
-You ready, man? -I’m ready.
Let’s do it, baby.
Ooh, boy!
Wow! You seen the powder?
Bro, that thing is super loud, man.
That is loud, for sure.
Golly, bro.
It was just like this great day, man,
and I left him with something that was still down here.
And that was like a dream come true to him.
I’m glad I could make him happy like that.
Enjoy it, man. Enjoy it, bro.
I sure will. I really appreciate it.
Glad I could help you out, man.
Back in Bayou Sorrel,
as Little Willie’s last day gator hunting with his dad
comes to an end,
Willie’s holding hope
his boy might have a change of heart.
What kind of job you gonna get, son?
Drive a railcar mover, a track-mobile.
Been thinking about it pretty heavy and everything.
Thinking about what’s best for me and my wife.
We coming down to the end of the day,
and he’s kinda undecided
about the jobs and stuff and everything,
and, uh, we’ll see if he’s gonna stay or not.
But, uh, like I say, he’s a grown man now,
and, I mean, I’m still behind him 100%.
That’s a big old thing just swelled right there.
That could be a giant alligator.
Give me that hook.
I’ll throw and catch it.
He’s right there.
He’s a big one.
Whoo-hoo!
Big gator.
Ooh, [indistinguishable]
Watch out, Willie, watch out!
[grunting] Golly!
Big old gator.
Big gator, big gun.
Get him, Dad.
Get him.
Whoo! That’s what I’m talking about.
Whew. Good gator.
Big gator.
Big one.
I will take that.
That was a good shot, too.
Ready?
Go.
Hold on.
-Watch you don’t fall overboard. -I got it. We got it.
This 12-foot dinosaur
brings the Edwards closer to retaking the lead.
I didn’t think we was gonna get him the way it started.
-Biggest one of the year yet. -Yup.
But their future working together is in question.
I love hunting alligators and stuff,
but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.
I think I’m gonna go ahead and take my job.
Whatever you gotta do, son, you gotta do it.
I mean, can’t just go by what I do.
You gotta look out for your family.
10 miles south, Ashley and Anna
have kept their presence on the downlow
to avoid spooking the big gators.
Yeah. You got your binos?
All of these alligators are swimming around in these areas
because we’re as quiet as we can be.
And so we’re gonna try to snipe him.
I’m gonna get my gun out and just have it ready.
If I hit him, get us over there to him.
You see him?
-Mm-hmm. -Keep us right here,
and I’ll tell you when to turn this off.
All right, just tell me when.
I’m gonna get you as close as I can,
and you’re gonna kill it, Deadeye. Let’s go.
All right, Anna.
[gunshot]
-Boom! -Go, Anna, go.
-Watch him, Anna, watch him. -I’m watching him.
Grab me that treble. Grab me the treble.
Here, here. Take it, take it, take it.
Keep your eyes on him.
All right, right here.
He went down right there, Ash. See them bubbles?
Yup, where all those bubbles are.
Right to the right right there, Ashley.
Right there.
You got it?
Unh!
Yeah, I got him. I got him.
I got him, Anna.
Oh, he’s heavy, Anna.
-He’s dead. -Yeah, he’s dead-dead.
That is insane.
Do you see how big this gator is?
Oh, my God. Whoo!
Man. Yes!
Now we gotta make sure we can get him in the boat.
He is heavy.
One, two, three.
Ooh, that’s a good gator.
Watch the hook.
This is a monster.
Oh, my God, we got him.
-Whoo! -Yeah!
Bow hunting turned out to be a really great idea.
We actually have had a better day
than I thought it was gonna be.
I’d rather have one gator this size
than a bunch of little gators
because obviously we have to keep our average up.
-Whoo! -Yes!
-Night, night. -Sleep tight.
Back in Bayou Sorrel,
now that he’s losing his deckhand to a full-time job,
family time is more important than ever for Willie.
Seen a big one right over there.
Right there by that limb.
Time for some fishing
with Little Willie and his younger brother Landon.
You had a bite?
Nothin’. Pterodactyls eating me up.
Willie, he moved out of the house and everything,
and he’s been living on his own
for a couple years and everything.
It’s just unbelievable
how much he means to me until, like, they leave.
Hey, how about this?
Whoever catch the first fish, you gotta buy supper.
Boy, he’s hungry.
Oh, no, I’m not hungry, but--
That’s all he’s been talking about.
I will be hungry later.
They got chicken right there beside you.
Chicken? You want a piece of chicken?
Yeah, gimme a piece.
Chicken-eating fools around here.
I’m real close to my family, my mom, my dad and everything.
They taught me everything I know.
And at the end of the day, family’s all you got.
Come on, dude.
You gonna put a drumstick in my shirt?
I’m about to show you.
I’m about to bust you in the head with a biscuit.
[laughs]
Bust you in the neck with a biscuit.
I mean, he gonna have a big old bruise.
As the day comes to a close,
Willie and Little Willie shoot to first place,
Ronnie and Ashley hold on to second,
and the Landrys cling to third.
[laughs]
Got him, bro?
-Huh? -No.
Got him, got him.
-Got him! -Oh!
Somebody owes me dinner!
-Somebody owes me dinner. -Oh, no.
Oh, you gotta pay him dinner.
[laughs]