With the end of gator season in sight...
-Let’s make it happen. -We gotta get ’em.
I’m counting on you.
Today my grandpa’s given me more than half the tags,
so the pressure’s on me for sure to make him proud.
And I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I was a kid.
Fathers try to pass on their wisdom...
That’s more like it, Willie. That’s a good job.
Oh, my God!
I raised him right, and I just can’t ask for no better helper.
You got him, Willie.
One team struggles to finish strong...
How in the hell we gonna get this thing in the boat?
Oh, my goodness.
I hope this is not a disaster.
What?
Uh-huh, uh-huh!
...while others chase the swamp’s biggest monsters.
I saw a big old alligator.
Looked like a whale.
Whoo-oo!
[blues guitar plays]
The sun rises
on the second to last day of alligator season
in southern Louisiana.
In Violet...
veteran swamper Ronnie Adams
and his deckhand Ashley "Deadeye" Jones
are kicking off their hunt
with a visit to a longtime friend.
[trumpet playing The Star-Spangled Banner]
Yeah, you hear that?
That’s my boy in the boat up there,
Mr. Ricky Robin.
That’s who I get all my shrimp from.
Most of the time he’s out on the deck of his boat.
Every morning he plays his trumpet
and plays The Star-Spangled Banner
every single morning.
Mr. Ricky Robin, I been knowing him all my life.
He’s a shrimp fisherman.
He’s been doing it for 50-plus years.
And he’s just a character
and just to hear him talk and to cut up,
he’s just hilarious.
I love being around the man.
Look at them shorts.
Yup.
What do you say, Mr. Rick?
Thank you, Mr. Rick. That was awesome, my baby.
Mr. Ricky, I got some friends coming over,
and I wanna do a cookout for them.
You think I can get some shrimp and some crabs from you?
Oh, Mr. Rick, that is beautiful, my baby.
That is beautiful, my baby.
We love you, Mr. Rick.
Yes, sir.
That’s close by the dynamite hole, huh?
Golly.
I got the tags for that area.
Yes, sir.
You know, Mr. Ricky knows the marsh about as well as I do.
And if Mr. Ricky Robin says he saw a big gator,
you can go on and guarantee,
put all your money on it that it’s gonna be a monster.
I’m hoping we catch him before the day’s end.
We got lots of lines set on his ass,
but we gotta get him in the boat.
[plays When The Saints Come Marching In]
Thank you, Mr. Rick. We love you, my baby.
With Mr. Ricky’s tip,
Ronnie and Ashley head to the marsh to run their lines.
Got a line down right here, baby.
It’s not attached?
Get the gun, get the gun.
Whoa, get the gun, baby!
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
Oh, that’s a big boy there.
-Boy, he’s barely hooked. -Oh, he’s barely hooked.
Ashley, get the shot as soon as you can.
I’m trying, I’m trying.
Right there. There’s your shot.
That a girl!
This catch comes in at eight feet,
a nice start, but not what they were hoping for.
That’s a good gator, boy, huh?
But that ain’t the one Mr. Ricky--
That whale he keeps telling me about, that ain’t him.
Hey, we’ll lay a bullet in him, too. You hear me?
You and me both, baby.
You know, the first line’s got a nice gator on it,
but Mr. Ricky’s telling me
about this big old gator he’s been seeing.
I gotta bait the lines, I gotta reset the lines.
Hopefully today’s the day, my baby.
We gonna surround his ass in.
We might be able to get him.
I hope we get that big motherhumper.
120 miles west, in Franklin,
Daniel Edgar needs to finish his season a day early
so he can focus on his seafood business.
With 15 tags left,
Daniel and his grandson Dorien will split up.
We’ve got these lines so far apart
that there’s no way one boat, we can do it all.
So you run all of the lines on the north end
and I’ll run the ones on the south end.
-Let’s make it happen. -We gotta get ’em.
-I’m counting on you. -Yes, sir.
The pressure’s on, so...
-Okay, pa. -I’m gonna handle it.
Daniel understands this strategy is risky,
but it’s not the only reason he’s sending Dorien on his own.
Giving Dorien these extra tags is a gamble on my part.
We have to tag out, but as a hunter,
Dorien needs to learn what his abilities are.
He needs to know that I’m depending on him.
Take the responsibility and go make it happen.
Be safe. Please, please, please.
Yes, sir. Let’s go do it.
Today my grandpa’s given me more than half the tags.
He’s putting a little pressure on me.
He wants to see what I can do
and he wants to see if I’ve been paying attention,
and I’m ready for the challenge.
I’ve been waiting for this moment
ever since I was a kid, you know.
If I let him down, you know,
I’m not gonna be able to sleep tonight.
So the pressure’s on me for sure
to make him proud and do my job and fill these tags.
Here we go.
Whoa. Come on.
This six-foot gator is a tag filled,
but Dorien has a lot more work to do
if he’s gonna make his grandpa proud.
15 tags doesn’t seem like a whole lot of tags,
but it’s at the end of the season.
These alligators are a little spooky.
At this stage of the game, it’s a lot.
This is a really good start,
but I’m not taking my foot off the gas.
Got a lot of work to do.
43 miles northeast, in Pierre Part,
with the end of the season looming,
King of the Swamp Troy Landry and his deckhand Pickle Wheat
can’t afford to miss a beat.
But today they’re hunting
without one of their most important tools.
I love this thing.
When we would get on the same side,
the boat, it would lean,
and it would help us to pull in big alligators.
It would work with us.
This boat don’t work with you. It don’t give.
So I made us a couple of straps,
and we just put them around the alligator’s front legs.
Instead of trying to squeeze the leg
that’s all slimy and full of blood and mud,
with these things you get to pull.
One, two, three!
And it gave us the upper hand.
It’s the little trick we need
to be able to load big alligators in my new boat.
Unfortunately, we lost them,
and it looks like I could be struggling.
We definitely gonna have to figure out something
to get these alligators in the boat.
Oh, I see the line moving a little bit.
I see him.
Hey, look like we got something here.
Oh, look like we got a crime scene.
Oh, yeah.
Ooh-ooh-ooh. Get the gun, get the--
Whoo! It’s a big one, it’s a big one!
Ooh!
Shoot him!
Good job, Cinderella.
We got our work cut out for us.
This 10-foot gator put up a good fight.
-Okay, on three. -No, he gonna slip.
But for Troy and Pickle, the battle has just begun.
You know, this alligator’s a nice gator.
It’s a pretty big alligator,
but we catch some a lot bigger than this.
So if Pee-wee and I are struggling this hard
to put this one in the boat,
oh, my goodness, I hope this is not a disaster.
One, two, three! Unh, okay.
You know, I’m not 30 years old.
I’m looking to make things easier, not harder.
Look out if we catch a real big one.
We gonna be in trouble.
I don’t know what we’re gonna do.
We got it done. That’s all that matters.
70 miles west, in Bayou Chene,
like his father Daniel,
Joey Edgar needs to tag out today
so he can help with the family business.
And with only six tags left, he and his deckhand Zak Catchem
are hoping to end on a high note.
Zak, you got your guns loaded, huh?
30-ought-6 and Lightning?
Yes, sir.
-Sharp treble hooks? -Yup.
This alligator season
has been a battle with Mother Nature.
We fought the weather, fought low tide.
Today I want it to be about us, our reward.
I want a big tag-out alligator,
and I got an idea where I can find one.
Somebody’s back there, Zak.
That’s Head, Zak.
-Oh, yeah. -Yeah, bubba.
What’s up, buddy?
Hey, I’m on the wrong boat.
[all laugh] What you all up to, buddy?
We’re about to tag out.
I hope we can tag out today.
You see any alligators back there?
Oh, man.
-What? -Oh, dude.
I don’t know. He bumped my boat.
-What? -I saw a bunch of bubbles.
Really?
Just caught a glimpse of him, but just the size of the wake.
That is Thud. That’s gotta be.
That happened to us right here last year.
I run into a buddy that tells me
that he runs into an alligator that bumps the side of the boat.
Now, the same thing happened to Zak and I
a year ago in the same area.
Zak, this is the spot back here.
Big alligator country.
[thud] Oh, my God!
What was that? Dude!
Big alligator that Zak and I named Thud.
I’m gonna turn it.
We hooked him,
but every time we got after him, he got away from us.
This alligator’s always
-been a step ahead of me. -Come on.
Zak and I, we ready for him this time.
The stakes just got a lot higher for Joey and Zak.
We might be able to get Thud today, bubba.
With just six tags left,
their chances to hook Thud are limited.
Line’s down.
I just seen that little stick move.
Mm-hmm.
-He’s wrapped on the pole? -Let’s find out.
-Got him. -Yeah. Whoa.
-Get him, pop. -Whoa!
Whoa!
Gonna pull you out the boat! Give me a shot.
Oh, my God! Whoa!
-Aah! -Whoa!
-Aaagh! -Whoa-oh! Whoa!
Whoa.
Whoa!
He gonna pull you out the boat.
Pull you out the boat.
Take him.
[gunshot] There it is.
Nice shot.
It’s not the one, Zak.
Help me get this thing in the boat.
This eight-footer isn’t the beast they’re after.
Now Joey and Zak have one less shot at getting Thud.
You know, this alligator’s smart,
but I’ve been doing this a long time.
I’m not worried. He got away from me last year,
but he’s not getting away this year.
Zak’s ready with the rod and reel,
I’m ready with the big hook.
We gonna make this happen.
This big alligator’s back here.
He’s still alive, and we gonna get him.
30 miles southeast, in Franklin,
in an effort to tag out today,
Daniel and his grandson have split up.
But the veteran swamper is off to a rocky start.
Doesn’t look too good. Nothing.
Right now I’m not catching too good.
I sure hope Dorien’s doing better than I am, huh!
I’m not doing my part right now.
Hope it gets better.
15 tags for both of us in the same boat,
some days you don’t do that good.
We have a lot better chance to get 15 tags if we split up.
But I’m getting worried,
because my lines are not being very productive.
Got a good one right here, I think, a decent one.
Whoa.
He’s stuck.
[gator growling]
I can’t do anything with that but shoot him.
It’s always harder when you’re alone.
But hard has nothing to do
with the job that’s gotta be done.
When you have help, it’s good.
If you don’t have help, you still have to get the job done.
[gunshot]
Daniel’s relieved to get a gator in the boat,
but after such a slow start, the veteran hunter knows
there’s a lot riding on his grandson today.
There’s still a lot of tags that’s gotta be filled.
You know, in the back of my mind
I keep thinking about how good Dorien’s doing:
If he’s got a real big one? What’s going on over there?
I am sure hoping that Dorien’s catching better than I am.
61 miles northeast, in Bayou Sorrel,
Willie Edwards and his son Little Willie
are enjoying the last days of gator season.
Time flew sometimes and sometimes time went slow.
Yeah.
Yeah, having extra time in the boat
with my dad and everything
is a lot more important ’cause I moved out.
So I don’t come home to my mom and my dad every day.
That’s time when I’m in that boat and everything,
that’s time I can’t get back.
So I try to make that time in the boat
count as much as possible.
Right up there. Right there.
That big pile of bubbles right there?
That’s an alligator. Right there.
-Yeah. -That’s an alligator.
Throw it.
Right there.
Pull it tight. Yank it, yank it.
What you got there?
Oh, my God!
Hold him, Willie, hold him.
[grunting]
-Pull him up. -Golly. He’s heavy.
That thing’s biting, boy. He’s biting, popping them jaws.
Coming up. Oh!
Watch your fingers, watch your fingers.
That’s how it’s done right there.
How it’s done.
Had to break the ice on that one.
Go this way, son.
That’s more like it, Willie. Good job.
Tagging this 10-footer
is exactly what Little Willie needed.
For me to know I’m making my dad proud,
there ain’t no feeling like it.
He didn’t waste his time by teaching me this.
He did it for a reason.
I found the one, big dog. I found the one.
I’m getting married.
Me and my fiancée,
we’ve been together two and a half, three years now.
We’ve been through a lot together,
we had our ups and downs and everything.
But what didn’t hurt us, it made us stronger.
They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops.
Yeah. It don’t stop, but it slows down.
Tell you what, it don’t feel like two years
since me and Victoria was together.
I met her when I first turned 18.
And here you’re about to be 20.
Yeah.
I want a bright future. I want kids one day.
I wanna be able to give and teach
what my dad taught me and everything.
I wanna be able to pass that down to my kids.
-Go, Daddy! -I’m going.
29 miles south, in Pierre Part,
Troy and Pickle are eager to fill tags.
But without their trusty straps,
they’re starting to wear down.
You know, I’m starting to get pretty aggravated.
I don’t have a come-along, I don’t have a winch.
I really don’t have nothing in my boat
to prepare me for what’s going on here.
I gotta figure out a way to make it easier for us.
You see something? I don’t see nothin’.
Yeah, I do.
-Oh, yeah, okay. -[laughs]
Uh-oh.
Got something?
-Nice one? -Yeah.
Whoo! It’s a big one!
-Hold him, Pee-wee, hold him! -I need some slack.
Whoo, bring him up, bring him up, bring him up.
Shoot!
-Whoo! -Good shot, dude.
That’s what I’m talking about.
Good shot. Ooh, look at the bubbles.
Huh? What you mean, good shot?
You expected anything else but a good shot?
Well, you know, sometimes.
How in the hell
we gonna get this thing in the boat?
He gonna be hard to load.
-I know. Unh!
-Okay, ready? -One, two, three.
I need a drink.
I’m gonna be honest with you. I’m beat.
I’m about 40 years younger than you,
and I’ve been tired.
While this giant is a welcome catch,
today the extra effort is proving to be a drag.
We managed to get this alligator in the boat
with all the manpower that we have.
And I’m just ready to cry at this point
because, like, I can’t help him
as much as he needs me to help him,
and that is very discouraging.
It’s a hell of a day on the water.
96 miles east, in Violet,
Ronnie and Ashley are on the hunt
for what could be their biggest gator of the season.
This spot here looks like
it might be made for a 20-foot alligator.
We just need to check every cane that has a flag on it.
-Doesn’t matter what color now. -That’s it.
If it’s got a flag flapping, check it, baby.
Uh-oh. Something over here splashity-splashed, dude.
I think I got it.
I got it and it’s back up underneath the boat.
It’s under the boat?
-Yeah, it’s on that side. -Aw.
Ooh!
Ooh, boy, he’s over here, che.
He’s all up underneath all that.
Yeah, let me grab this from you, my baby?
Dude, that’s a good gator, yeah, che.
Come on, Ash, get the gun, baby.
-I’m ready. -Pull him up, papa.
-Hold on to him. -Watch he don’t get your hand.
That son of a bitch trying to get in the boat.
Boy, this is a good one here, papa!
Whoo-hoo!
Get on him, girl. Whoo!
Got us a tugger.
-A tugboat captain here, baby. -Whoo.
Come on with it.
It’s another female, dude.
That’s a pretty big female.
But this is not the one
Mr. Ricky’s telling us about.
That’s why it’s alligator hunting
and not alligator killing.
Because you win some, you lose some.
Let’s move on to the next line.
But eventually I will put his big butt in the boat.
That’s a guarantee.
Click. She’s got some jewelry now.
That’s what I’m talking about.
147 miles west, in Bayou Chene,
Joey and Zak are on the hunt for Thud,
a gator that escaped them last year.
But with only five tags left,
today’s their last chance to capture him
before the season ends.
If he gives us another chance,
this will probably be the last one.
You ain’t gonna get many more chances
at an alligator this size.
No way. He’s too smart.
This alligator was always a step ahead of me,
and it’s personal.
This alligator rammed the side of my boat.
He rocked me, like they say on the street,
and now it’s personal.
We gotta do something with this alligator.
Suppose a family comes there that morning
to fish in this little canal,
or maybe you come kayaking in that ditch.
Just a kayak? Hmm.
Me and Zak fixing to make this alligator pay.
We after him now.
-Line down, Zak. -Nice and tight, too.
Yes, sir.
I don’t know how big he is.
I don’t know.
Yeah, he’s on there.
Pull him out and see how big he is.
Whoa! Ooh.
-Ooh. -Oh, it’s a big boy.
-Whoa-ho-ho! [laughs] -Ooh.
Ooh.
Whoa!
God!
I’m ready when you are if you can get that head up.
If I can drag him up.
[laughs]
That’s a nice one, Zak.
This isn’t big enough to be Thud,
but now Joey and Zak have one less tag
to try and catch their white whale.
I’ve never worked this hard for one alligator in my life.
This gator’s smart.
If I don’t take this opportunity
while this alligator’s right here,
we might never see him again.
We’re lucky to have an opportunity like this
a year from now
that he’s still in the same spot.
This thing is not afraid of people,
and we’re gonna get it out of the swamp.
We gonna get this alligator. Simple as that.
75 miles northeast, in Bayou Sorrel,
with the season nearing an end,
Willie is eager to share his swamp wisdom
with the next generation.
Just a couple more months and everything,
I’ll be getting married.
And I asked my dad for a lot of advice.
He’s smart and everything, but he’s old school.
He don’t believe in banks.
He don’t believe in Internet and everything.
He don’t believe in none of that.
That old-school sucker.
My money don’t go to no bank.
You put your money in a bank, you’ll save it a lot more.
Talking about money.
You want me to get out the hundred dollar bills?
Yeah, you can give me about 10 or 12 of them.
That’s right at about, close to $7,000 right there.
I keep it piled up in my wallet, son.
My money’s in the bank.
Something happens, you ain’t got no money.
Yeah, that’s why you take it out of the ATM
before, like, a storm if you need cash.
Even wear my pants to bed.
-To bed? -To bed.
What if somebody go rob the bank?
They ain’t gonna take my money.
How you know they ain’t taking your money?
They still gonna have my money.
They’re taking everything in the bank.
They do got insurance on it,
but I don’t wanna take that chance.
That money’s staying in my pocket.
I know right where it’s at, and I know what it does.
Right there in my pocket.
Willie may not see eye to eye
with Little Willie’s savings strategy,
but he’s proud of the man he’s become.
He is a young grownup.
I mean, he lives in his own house.
He got his own place.
He’s 19 years old, about to be 20.
He’s paying his bills.
He got right about, say,
a good $1,000, $1,500 bills every month.
He gets the money, every money.
He don’t have to come borrow money from me,
and that’s part of being a man.
We have a big gator right here.
That’s a big gator.
Ooh, he’s heavy.
Pull him up, pull him up.
Gonna take that shot.
[gunshot]
That’s a big gator.
Let’s go.
After catching another 10-footer,
the Edwards are settling into their groove as father and son.
I see Little Willie really put his mind to it
and really get down after it.
I mean, it’s just unbelievable
how much can change year by year.
To see him get out there
and he can hook ’em now without my help
or, like, seeing he can handle the rope without my help,
I mean, I raised him right,
and I just can’t ask for no better helper
and love to have him on my boat
and love to keep him on my boat and...
he gonna be my helper from now on.
I am a lucky fellow.
Meanwhile, in Pierre Part,
Troy and Pickle are catching good.
But after losing their loading straps,
they might be catching a bit too good.
Looks like we might have something on this one.
Right here, right here, you.
Oh, okay. I didn’t see it.
-We got something, huh? -Yeah.
I’m gonna put you right over the end of the tree.
See if you can, uh, find where the line comes out.
Come on, grab the tree.
Pay attention.
The first shot you get, I want you to shoot.
This is probably the biggest one we gonna catch today.
Maybe, might be the biggest one all year.
Oh, man.
He’s heavy. First time you see his head,
pop another one, no matter what.
Say what? Whoo! Show him who’s the boss.
Got it?
Whoa!. Ooh! Come on, avocado.
Keep him away from the boat.
Put a good one in him.
Okay. He’s dead.
How in the hell we gonna get this thing in the boat?
Dude, what we gonna do?
We gonna use this old dead tree right here.
I got a strap in the bow. It’s not that long.
Hey!
Oh, thank God.
We trying to figure out
how we gonna put this big gator in the boat.
We hear a boat coming
and it’s little Tony, a good friend of mine.
When I was about to give up, Tony came and saved the day.
If we tied this to the back of your boat and you pulled,
I could push my boat underneath him.
Watch your back, Pee-wee.
I never worked like this for an alligator before.
Pull what you got, Tony.
Let me pull up a little bit there.
No, no. Whoa.
Whoa.
What? Keep going, Tony, keep going!
Let’s bring him on top of the stack.
Ho, ho, ho, right there.
Ho, right there. Perfect.
Perfect, Tony!
We was able to get it in the boat, but not without trouble.
I liked to kill Pee-wee in the front of the boat.
[laughs]
Poor Pee-wee.
She caught hell, and we got it done.
We got the job done.
-See y’all later. -Thank you, Tony.
I don’t know what we would’ve did without you.
That’s a big alligator.
Lord have mercy, Troy Landry.
Lord have mercy.
96 miles east, in Violet,
Ronnie and Ashley are searching for the monster
reported by a local fisherman.
I’m still looking for that big mamou, my baby.
It seems like these gators are just getting bigger, stronger,
more dangerous, definitely more aggressive.
It’s not a good feeling,
and I definitely wanna put him in the boat.
See what I can pull up for you over here, Ronnie.
Can’t tell what’s line and what’s grass.
Come behind me and grab it with the hook and hold it.
That’s gonna be a big old gator.
Oh, here he comes. I’m gonna get the gun.
Get the gun. Hurry up.
Hurry up, che. Come on now.
This only got one shot in it?
I don’t know what’s in it.
You better make it count, though.
We ain’t got time to load up, baby.
This is a big boy!
This is a monster, baby.
-Whoo! -That’s a big gator!
Come on, girl. Come on, Big Boy McCoy.
Whoo!
Oh, he’s getting all wrapped up now.
He’s about to pull it out of my hand.
Hurry up, che.
Whoo!
Oh, here he comes.
[gunshot]
Yeah, baby. One, two, three.
This 11-foot leviathan is huge by most standards,
but Ronnie believes the true prize is still at large.
-Whoa-ho! -Good job!
Mr. Ricky’s a good friend of mine.
He tells me this alligator’s so big
when it went under his boat,
he seen the tail on one side and the head on the other.
Now, I don’t know if he’s fudging a little bit,
but I’m gonna tell you what.
If he’s saying it’s a big alligator,
I need to put this whale in the boat and see for myself.
All right, you ready?
I’m ready.
Back in Franklin,
after splitting with his grandpa this morning...
Can’t win ’em all and can’t catch ’em all.
Dorien’s been slow to fill his share
of the remaining Edgar family tags.
That’s depressing.
An empty line.
It started off good,
but now it’s just like a dead zone.
I feel like the pressure’s on me.
If I don’t fill one of my grandpa’s tags,
it’s a possibility that next year we could lose that tag,
and, uh, I’m real worried.
Let’s see what we got here.
Come here, you.
You’re coming in the boat with me.
Oh, my God.
[gunshot]
Landing this nine-footer is a step in the right direction,
but Dorien needs to keep up the pace.
When we split up these tags this morning,
my grandpa gave me more than half of them.
I’ve accepted the challenge
and I definitely feel, you know, excited
and I’m glad he finally trusted me after all these years.
So the pressure’s definitely on,
but I’m ready to get it done and fill these tags.
30 miles away, in Bayou Chene,
down to their last two tags of the season,
Joey and Zak decide to scout the area
where Thud rammed into their boat last year.
How big is this one?
-Where? -200 yards.
Off the edge. You see it?
No. We’ve been thinking about this alligator all year.
He’s been on my mind, and we got a score to settle.
I got a secret weapon.
I got Zak on the back of the boat with the rod and reel.
This big alligator’s back here, he’s still alive,
and we gonna get him.
Right in the middle, right in the middle.
Straight ahead. Go ahead full speed.
-Yeah. -Where are you?
Say no more. There he is.
There he is, there he is!
Watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out.
Watch out. Oh, yeah.
Big boy, big boy.
Oh, yeah.
Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.
Nice driving. Cut him off.
Oh, my God.
He’s not stopping. He’s not stopping.
Oh, no, he’s not stopping!
You can try. He’s going right under the boat.
Oh, no, no, no. Look, look, look, look.
Oh, no. No, no, no. Go forward!
I’m trying to cut him off.
I know, but I’m wrapped around this thing.
I’m wrapped around this.
Whatever you do, don’t hit my line.
Don’t hit the line, don’t hit the line, don’t hit the line!
No! The rod. Get him, pop, no.
Damn it!
We couldn’t do nothin’.
Damn it.
They had Thud hooked, but it seems like their nemesis
has only gotten smarter since they last met.
With a gator like Thud,
you don’t know if you’re gonna have another chance,
and I had to try.
But he was just a little bit too smart for me.
Went right under the tree, right against the bank.
It’s like he almost knows
how to make it hard for me to cast on him.
We’re trying our best to just push him away from that debris,
but he’s finding it.
He knows exactly where he’s going.
He’s going up into the shallows.
He’s getting us cut off every time,
and he’s just so smart.
I don’t know if we’re gonna catch this thing.
Bastard, going under all that crap.
Smart. Damn.
Back in Bayou Sorrel,
with two days left in the season,
Little Willie knows his time on the boat
with his dad is limited,
so he wants to use the occasion to ask for advice.
She’s a handful, man.
[laughs]
She’s a handful sometimes, but I love her.
Daddy say he has rough times, too.
Everybody got rough times. It’s what you make of it.
Let’s hear it, Daddy.
If you let it eat on you, it’s gonna eat on you.
Let’s hear the advice.
What advice? You’re getting married.
The marriage advice that you got for me.
I mean, be truthful, be honest, and you gotta have trust.
If you ain’t got none of that, it ain’t gonna work.
[laughs]
My dad, he’s not just my dad, he’s like my best friend.
I ask my dad for a lot of advice on my love life
’cause he done been through it,
he done been through the ropes and everything.
He and my mom have been together for 20-some years.
I’m taking into consideration
to what he’s teaching me and everything.
It’s working. It’s paying off.
Not everybody got that bond with their dad.
Yeah, me and my dad, we butt heads,
we argue, we fight and everything.
But at the end of the day,
I could still run to him no matter what.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Get your hook, Willie, get your hook.
He done broke loose.
There you go.
Get ready to hold on, dude. Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Hold him, Willie, hold him, Willie.
Oh, that’s a big one.
Watch it, watch it. You got him in the toe.
Here he come, here he come, here he come.
Watch when you pull the head.
Watch your hand, watch your hand, watch your hand.
Hold that thing.
Here he comes.
[gunshot]
[laughs]
We got him, Willie.
Come on, pull him up.
Ready?
After seeing him hook this massive nine-foot gator,
Willie continues to be impressed
by the man his son is becoming.
Nothing I’d rather do in this world
than what I’m doing this year.
And I can’t ask for no better helper.
I mean, that’s what I live for, that’s what I’m here for,
to teach my kids.
And I just can’t ask for no better job.
Can’t get no better than that.
Come on now, quit it.
-[laughs] -Quit that, dumb young’un.
Over in Pierre Part,
Troy and Pickle are struggling to load gators
without their straps,
and now they have a new problem.
Yeah.
We having a major problem
with our new pump that we just put in.
It keeps getting clogged up and it’s on an automatic switch,
so we can’t shut it off when we need to.
It just keeps running, and it’s fixing to burn itself up.
So I’m the new bilge pump.
Okay, that’s good for now.
Grab your pole, Pee-wee.
Got something on it.
-Where’s the gun? -Huh? Oh, oh.
Whoa. Saw a tail.
Oh, he’s nice.
-Yeah. -Show him who’s the boss.
Come on.
Dude, you’re gonna let that alligator--
-Look what you did. -Dude. [laughs]
Ha ha?! You think that’s funny?
Bring me the alligator. Pick him up.
-I’m trying. -Show him who’s the boss.
Oh, he’s tough.
Like to drown me just now.
Aw, look at the boat, dude. You think
-you’re about to effing drown? -Oh, my God.
Troy’s boat is filling fast with gators
and water.
I promise you, I’m about to lose it.
It’s getting closer and closer by the minute.
You know, I’m starting to get pretty aggravated.
We filling up the boat quicker than I expected,
and I can’t pump the water out the boat.
We taking on water at every line,
and I’m standing ankle-deep in water in my boat now.
Every time I lean on one side,
the water all rushes to that side,
and you gotta be careful.
42 miles southwest,
after going out on his own to fill tags,
Dorien is nearly finished.
I’m down to my last tag.
It’s bittersweet, but right now my main goal
is to fill this last tag and cap off this season.
There’s not gonna be anything that’s gonna stop me
from filling this tag today.
Let’s see what we got here.
Whoa, we got a good alligator right here.
[whistles]
He’s a thrasher.
Man, that’s a big alligator.
My grandpa’s gonna like this big gator.
Whoa, whoa!
He’s boiling the water!
This seven-footer
fills Dorien’s share of the family tags,
but before he can celebrate,
he gets a surprise visit from his grandpa.
Let’s tag this bad boy up.
How you doing, pa?
Doing pretty good, pa. Just got one.
This is my last tag, pa.
How many lines you got left? You got a couple lines left?
About four or five.
I got two left.
I’ll give you the privilege.
-Passing the torch, huh? -Passing the torch.
I’ve done all I can do at this point.
The rest is up to Dorien.
He’s just gonna have to fill the rest of the tags.
I’m depending on him, but I’m confident in his ability.
I think he’s gonna do fine.
I’m gonna fill ’em.
Back in Bayou Chene,
Joey and Zak have run all their lines,
leaving them with just one tag
and one shot at their white whale.
Wanna make sure we save one tag for Thud.
Yeah.
-You understand? -Yes, sir.
We backtracked to this area
where this alligator bumped my boat last year.
I’m just trying to figure out where he’s at,
where he went, and what’s going on.
Zak’s ready with the rod and reel,
I’m ready with the big hook.
We gonna make this happen.
He was heading back that way.
I think he just went under all that brush
and just kept hugging the shoreline.
He went straight under all that crap.
He’s gotta be sitting under all that crap, like, right there.
-Correct. -He has to be.
He knew what game we were playing.
And with this trash in here and these lilies,
-he knew what the deal was. -Yeah.
Off the giddy-up.
Zak, we gonna try to spook him out, bubba.
We’ll try to make him bubble.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
He’s right under here. He has to be, has to be.
He could’ve done moved.
Smart like he is. He ain’t no dummy.
Watch for bubbles. He should bubble.
There’s still no sign of Thud,
but Joey wants his alligator so bad,
he’s willing to risk something he’s never risked before.
I’ve never not tagged out, but I’m willing to eat a tag
just for the chance to get Thud.
It don’t matter.
If I don’t kill him, I’m good with holding that tag.
I need to kill Thud.
Damn.
He’s so smart
it’s probably best to leave him alone
and let him come back out in the middle.
Trying to spook him out, we ain’t got a chance.
Damn it.
Meanwhile, in Violet,
Ronnie and Ashley are still on the hunt for Mr. Ricky’s giant.
I don’t know if we pulled it or left it up.
but we gonna go check it out and see.
Yeah, this is where
we have to come all the way around to the left.
Yeah, it’s just one back here.
The biggest challenge
when you’re out there alligator hunting,
especially once you get exhausted,
is you really gotta make sure
that you’re clicking on all cylinders.
You know, if you miss one step when alligator hunting,
it can be the difference in life and death.
Ooh, look at the line way out.
Ooh, that looks big out there, girly.
That looks real big.
Yeah, it feels good, too.
-Hope it pays off here, che. -Oh, did it.
Oh, get the gun, girl.
Ooh,I couldn’t even hold him, he’s so strong.
Oh, my God.
Boy, this is a good one here, papa, too, boy.
This is a hammer, girl.
Whew. This might be a 12-footer.
I’m telling you right now, this is a dinosaur.
Oh, did you see his tail?
Oh, man, this might be the whale
Mr. Ricky’s talking about, my baby.
I can’t even get him to the front of the boat.
This is a monster, dude.
Look how big he is.
This is Mr. Rick’s big boy here, boy.
This is the whale, girl.
This is the whale, baby!
That’s a monster!
[gunshot]
-Oh, my God! -Dude.
-Whew! -Oh!
What a [bleep] hammer, girl.
Oh, I’m shaking. Whoo!
Let’s try to get him in real quick.
One, two, three.
Roll this one in like that. There we go.
-There we go. -There we go.
Whoo! What a freaking gator.
Oh, my God, dude.
At 13 feet long, this beast
is biggest catch of Ronnie and Ashley’s season.
Dude, that son of a bitch was a fighter, boy.
He wouldn’t come to the boat.
Look at that, che.
He done broke the [bleep] thing when he bit it.
You don’t think that son of a bitch got some strong jaws?
I’m so glad we finally got him in the boat.
I’m just ready to get outta here.
I know today we accomplished something major.
This was one of the biggest gators
I ever had in my grips in my lifetime.
I’m ecstatic about it, my baby.
We outta here, girl.
Dude, how good is it to finish strong like that?
Real good, especially when you don’t expect it.
120 miles away, in Franklin,
Dorien’s on the verge of tagging out...
Another one bites the dust.
...and he hopes he can get one last gator
to make his grandpa proud.
It’s winding down.
I only have two lines to run, and I have one tag left.
I definitely feel the pressure’s on.
No matter what I endure, I have to fill this tag.
There’s not gonna be anything
that’s gonna stop me from filling this tag today.
I’m leaving with it filled.
See what we got here.
I’ll be John Brown, loading the boat.
This is a perfect alligator for the last tag.
God bless!
Whoa.
Goddog!
Oh, we got a good alligator right here.
Man.
This ain’t a bad way to go out.
Last tag, tagged out.
My grandpa’s gonna be excited.
I’m just excited to finally get to showcase
what I can bring to the table.
This nine-footer is a big victory for Dorien.
Another season down. Put that on a cracker, dude.
And with their last tag filled,
he heads back to the dock to tell his grandpa the good news.
My grandpa’s gonna be fired up about him.
I’m happy. It’s been a long season.
More than anything, uh, it feels real good
to come through for my grandpa.
I know he’s proud of me.
I’m proud of myself.
And overall, I hope in the future
he trusts me and, you know, gives me another opportunity
to do the same thing again.
What’s it look like, pa?
You enjoyed your time in the swamp by yourself, pa?
Got those last two tags?
-Got ’em done. Success. -Thanks, pa.
-You had a good nap? -Yeah, ha!
Thanks to that young blood.
-[laughs] -Yeah.
I took advantage of you today, papa.
Not at all.
Today, Dorien had a really good day.
I’m really, really proud of him.
He’s got all the tags filled.
He did a really good job.
Talk about that’s a big alligator, huh?
Yeah.
You learn more when you’re by yourself
’cause you have to pay attention.
Absolutely. I enjoyed it.
Looking forward to doing it again.
Be careful. I might start pushing more on you.
Hey, I’m ready for it.
Spending this time with Dorien is so valuable to me.
That’s what this is all about.
It’s been a good season. Thank you, papa.
Thank you, pa.
[laughs] Thank you, papa.
Back in Bayou Chene,
Joey and Zak are risking their last tag to try and catch Thud,
but so far, their nemesis is a no-show.
Damn, I wish we’d have got him.
The smartest one ever.
You know, it’s late in the day.
I don’t think we gonna get this alligator.
I think it’s over.
I think it’s gonna be just like last year.
But we on him again and we not giving up.
[thud]
That was him right there.
That’s Thud.
I think, I really think that’s Thud.
This alligator’s bold.
This alligator done got away from us so many times.
Now he’s showing himself
in a way like, we can’t touch him.
He’s pushing on us now.
We coming after him now.
Look, Zak, look, look, look.
That’s him?
You got him. That oughta get him.
-He’s big. -Yeah, he’s big.
He’s coming up, he’s coming up, he’s coming up.
God, this is a big alligator.
Right there.
You ready?
He’s coming up, he’s coming up.
I think that’s him.
Don’t miss, don’t miss!
[both laugh]
Oh, that’s a big alligator!
Oh, my God.
Oh, crap.
-Roll towards you. -Okay.
Go on the other side.
After finally taking down this 12-foot behemoth...
Oh, my God.
Joey is starting to think
this might be their best season yet.
[both laugh]
You know, to tag out with Thud,
you know, it’s a really big deal.
I didn’t think that we would get this alligator.
We hunted all last year
and at the end of this year, we finally tag out with Thud.
It’s a big thing for us. It’s a good day.
Oh, that’s a monster.
What an alligator.
What a life.
-Huh? -[laughs]
Hunting swamp dinosaurs?
-Oh, my God. -With pop?
That’s what’s up, baby.
We might have to call the governor.
[Zak laughs]
That’s what’s up.
Back at Duffy’s,
Troy and Pickle have had their ups and downs today,
but that didn’t prevent them from filling their boat
and staying on track to tag out tomorrow.
We had so many problems,
but all in all, it was an epic day.
The boat is loaded down with 40 or some more alligators,
and we had a blast.
I mean, we worked out our kinks.
We got our problems out the way.
It was scary, but it was epic.
How about the pump? What you gonna do with that?
-The what? -The bilge, your bilge.
Find me a sledgehammer.
Can I help?
The biggest one. Bring the biggest one.
We smashing this thing.
And show me how strong you are.
That’s a good pump, that’s about what it’s worth.
I’m not bailing out the boat again,
so I’m breaking this thing.
Because at this point, I’m so angry at it.
All the stresses throughout this day that we had
and all the problems that we had
I just let out on this bilge pump,
and it was amazing.
You took out half my frustration on the bilge pump.
That was half of my frustration.
Now I need to take the other half out on you.
Lucky you went to pick up the hammer.
I got it, I got it.
-You got it? -We gonna get it.
Back at St. Mary’s,
the season has finally come to a close for the Edgar family,
giving them an opportunity to relax
and reflect on another successful run.
Feels good to be fishing for something besides alligators.
I agree. We finally can let our hair down.
We finally can back up and just say we did it.
Mother Nature pushed on us.
-Mm. -Unbelievable.
-It’s been rough. -It’s been rough.
Thank you, nephew. Thank you.
Thank you for backing Pa up.
Zak, thank you for backing me up.
-No problem. -Unbelievable.
We worked hard this year.
Boys, look who’s coming behind you.
What you doing?
Got some champagne, boys.
Oh! [pop]
We’re gonna toast to the occasion.
I’ve been keeping track,
and to date we killed 10,000 alligators.
-Dang. -Oh, my God.
10,000.
Unbelievable, Dad. Unbelievable.
Hey, that deserves a toast, pa.
-Come here, big guy. -Yes, yes.
And there’s 10,000 stories and feelings.
Oh, they got a lot that come with it, Dad.
There’s a lot that come with it.
They got a lot that come with it.
You know, to set a goal in life
and to reach it is really satisfying, you know.
And the reason I wanna share it with the kids
is to teach them to do the same thing.
Everything in life is not always good,
but I’ve always believed
that if you’re in it for the long haul,
good times will come later.
Correct.
Just don’t give up.
-Don’t never give up. -Don’t ever give up.
I think Dad wanted to celebrate a little bit this year
because how much we went through.
We tagged out, but it didn’t come easy.
We had to fight.
Hey, hey, bring it to the middle.
Bring it to the middle, bring it to the middle.
-As a unit. -Edgar family...
I appreciate y’all for having me out here.
I love y’all.
-It’s real. -Yeah, it’s real out here.
-It’s hard, but it’s fair. -10,000.
It’s hard, but it’s fair.
Daniel, I don’t know how you did it,
but you’re Superman out here, man.
This is a really nice way
to celebrate the end of the season
and Dad’s accomplishments.
Nobody got hurt. We killed Thud.
What a blessing.
We gotta start working on that other 10,000.
We working on that.
Oh, I know that.
Zak ain’t going away.
You are not forsaken.
No, I’m going away tomorrow.
[laughs] I love y’all.
I’ll send you pictures.