BATON ROUGE — Under current law, the state of Louisiana only allows for commercial alligator hunting. A proposed law seeks to make recreational alligator hunting legal as well. 

SB244, authored by State Sen. Robert Allain (R-Franklin), proposes the creation of a recreational alligator hunting season that would allow hunters to kill and tag gators during a special season set by the state wildlife and fisheries commission.

The residential season, the bill says, would be separate from the commercial season and have different tags assigned to each classification to differentiate gators killed during recreational and commercial hunting. 

"Any person taking an alligator recreationally shall possess a valid basic hunting license, a valid alligator hunting license, and recreational harvest tags issued by the department," the bill reads.

Under the proposed law, the state wildlife commission would have the authority to "extend, curtail or prohibit the recreational take of alligators in any area." 

Allain's bill passed out of the Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday, with the bill set ot be discussed on the Senate floor on Monday, March 16. 

If signed into law, Allain's proposal would take effect Aug. 1, 2026.