Hunting 500-pound gators

For 30 days in September alligators are hunted and harvested throughout South Louisiana and St. Martin Parish.
For the past 10 years Jude Mequet of Henderson has hunted gators on more than 3,500 acres in the Atchafalaya Basin. “Swamp gators are fat and bigger than the marsh gators who are long and skinny,” says Mequet.
Harvested gators are taken to processing plants in Catahoula, Coteau Holmes and Cecilia.
Henderson native Richard Robin has been skinning alligators for more than 18 years. A commercial fisherman and contract welder, Robin works seven days a week skinning during gator season. Skilled with a very sharp knife, Robin averages 20 large (10 - 13 foot) gators a day.
Once the hide is removed from the carcass the meat is brought to another processing plant where it is prepared for sale in restaurants and grocery stores.
Gator season is just like the shrimp, crawfish and duck seasons, once a year it employs locals whether they are hunting, skinning, tanning the hides or processing the alligator meat. It is a way of life and part of the Cajun culture.