SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Alabama hunters with permits from Friday to Monday went out in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to search for 125 alligators.

Fifty alligators were brought in last weekend, with 75 expected to come this weekend, according to Alabama Fisheries’ District 5 wildlife biologist Chuck Sharp.

“It (the hunt) went OK,” Sharp said. “The weather didn’t cooperate as much as we would have liked it to.”

More nuisance reports of alligators is the reason for the hunt, according to Shonda Borden, assistant manager at Five Rivers, Alabama’s Delta Resource Center.

Hunters who went home empty-handed or didn’t make it to the first weekend hunt can go back out this weekend. Hunting is allowed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and will take place Friday night to Monday morning, according to Sharp.

“It’s a unique opportunity for people to go out and get a gator,” Steve Barnett, assistant supervisor at the District 5 wildlife section, said.

U.S. Highway 43 is the western boundary and Alabama Highway 59 is the eastern boundary for hunting gators. The Mobile/Baldwin County line is the north-end boundary and the Causeway is the south-end limit, according to Sharp.

Montgomery residents Doug Kimberly, Aaron Kimberly, Rusty Barker and Russell Barker went out for a three-hour excursion around Gravine Island to hunt a large gator.

They found what they were looking for, when they got a bite on their treble hook and pulled in a 12-foot,7 1/2-inch, 465-pound alligator.

“It’s quite the catch,” Doug said. “(It) put up quite the fight.”

A treble hook, or snatch hook, is a three-prong hook like the ones used for fishing but on a larger scale, Sharp said.

This year 125 permits were issued to hunters who ventured out into the night looking for alligators. There is a 6-foot legal size limit for alligators; any caught smaller than this should be let go, Sharp said.

More than 600 applications for the hunting lottery were submitted, but only 125 spots were available and were randomly selected by computer. Hunters spent a full day of training at Five Rivers, where they learned what to expect on the hunt, how to subdue the alligator and how to get the reptile in the boat, Borden said.

Fifty permits were issued in 2006, the first year, and 100 permits in 2007. The limits have increased because more alligators are starting to come on land, Borden said.

“We’ve been getting more and more of these calls of nuisance gators,” Borden said. "With the hunt and being conservative about it we may can get a handle on the numbers.”

Hunters will bring the alligators to be checked in at the District 5 office, Borden said.

Alligators are often caught with grappling hooks, harpoons, snares or archery equipment, according to Sharp.

Once an alligator is caught, hunters use a bangstick to dispatch the reptile. A bangstick is a safe, effective and humane way to kill an alligator, according to dnr.sc.gov, the South Carolina Depart-ment of Natural Resources’ Web site.