- It's dangerous.
Need to be careful. - Watch him, Dee.
It's a big one!
He's excited to see ya.
He ain't more man than me, I can tell you that.
[THEME MUSIC]
TROY: Yesterday, it was a hard way
to make a living and a hard place to make a living.
The proof is here.
What I was scared of is happening.
Record cool temperatures, record high water.
Not catching nothing.
It's starting out to be exactly what I
was scared it was going to be--
not good at all for us.
This is the worst start alligator
season I think I've ever had.
For the Lander family to survive, I really think,
this year, we're going to need some help
from somebody besides us.
NARRATOR: Plagued by high water and cold temperatures
on the first day of hunting, the king of the swamp
only tallied a measly 10 gators.
With 500 tags to fill, Troy isn't taking any chances.
TROY: He's a good friend of mine.
He's been alligator hunting probably longer than I've
been hunting alligators.
TROY: The boys wasn't that crazy about the idea.
They wanted us to try to do it on our own.
But what the boys don't realize, I don't want to, you know,
jeopardize our tags and not filling our tags.
I know what's stacked against us for this coming season.
NARRATOR: Troy will keep the profits from the tags
the Edgars helped fill.
No questions asked.
Lending a hand is a southern Louisiana way of life.
TROY: All right, Mr. Edgar.
You all ready?
DANIEL: We're ready.
NARRATOR: As both families prepare to set out,
the king of the swamp can't resist laying down a challenge.
TROY: Let's have a little competition, here.
Let's see who's going to catch the most or the biggest.
That'll work.
(YODELING) Let's get it!
It's on.
DANIEL: Next time y'all see us--
We're gonna need you.
--our whole boat might be full, buddy.
JOEY: Definitely we want to shine.
We don't want Troy and Jacob and Jay start vicious.
No doubt.
NARRATOR: In a canal of Lake Verret--
Hey.
NARRATOR: --Troy and Guy fight to keep a huge monster that's
barely hooked in the jaw.
TROY: Woo!
It's a big one!
Shoot him!
[GUNSHOT]
Very good.
Good job, man.
All righty.
At this point of the game, we'll take him.
NARRATOR: This 11-footer is a confidence boost
and will come in handy in the battle for bragging
rights with the Edgars.
TROY: Woo, we needed that.
Count them up!
Woo, let's get it!
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, a few miles away, Troy's reinforcements,
Daniel, Joey, and Dorien Edgar have bagged
four gators, and with pride on the line
are itching to pick up the pace.
Ah, it's stretching.
We might have him.
NARRATOR: This menacing beast has managed to pull the line
into a difficult position on the bank
as the patriarch, Daniel, lets his grandson and apprentice,
Dorien, take the reins.
Watch yourself.
You got a little weight?
I really can't tell.
There's so much floton.
So much grass.
NARRATOR: With the gator nowhere in sight,
Dorien's in a vulnerable position.
Because you would think he'd be, uh--
Watch him, Dee!
Be careful, Paul.
There he is.
Whoa!
That's how you handle him, Dee.
He ain't more man than me, I can tell you that.
Make your shot sound.
Be careful when you shoot!
[GUNSHOT]
DORIEN: I feel like I am getting better this year.
Not just this year.
I'm getting better day in and day out.
I'm learning each day and, uh, trying to better myself.
NARRATOR: This 10-footer will fetch good money at the buyer.
Good job.
NARRATOR: And Daniel can't wait to show off
this impressive beast to Troy.
DANIEL: I like the challenge of competing.
Troy is a competitor.
He's an expert.
But I'm an expert too.
Edgars come from deeper in the swamp than me.
Let's go get another one.
DANIEL: Lot more work to do, Paul.
PAUL: Yes, sir.
Plenty of work.
NARRATOR: While the Edgars try up their tag count, back
in the canals off Lake Verett, the Landry
boys, Jacob and Chase, have only three gators to show so far.
Hey!
He's excited to see us.
CHASE: When we were pulled up to the gator,
we realized that he was stretching that line out.
He was wrapped around the tree pretty badly,
and, uh, we started hearing the rope start to pop.
He was trying to get away.
[GUNSHOT]
[LAUGHS]
[GUNSHOT]
Yo.
Get a shower.
Huh?
That's a good one.
[LAUGHTER]
NARRATOR: This 8-foot gator will bring
them over $200 at the buyer.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: As the day draws to a close,
over at Duffy's, the Edgars are first to arrive
at the Landry's buyer.
Yeah.
We ran 50 lines for seven alligators.
I'm disappointed, but this year with the high water,
it's tough.
It's slow.
That's why we got the phone call to give them some help.
And it seems like it's going to be a tough week
to help him fill these tags.
Hello.
Well, what's going on over here?
NARRATOR: While the hunting conditions are proving
tough for everyone, there's more at stake
than just filling tags.
The Edgars and the Landrys are battling
for family bragging rights.
DANIEL: Well, Jacob and Chase ran about
double the lines that we did.
Per line, we caught better than they did.
Per line.
But they did get a bigger one than us,
so they're still on top.
Size matters.
DANIEL: We caught up to you, captain.
Good.
Well, y'all got some pretty ones.
When we got on the lake, it kind of turned on for us.
On the edge of the lake.
Sharp spots.
TROY: You know, it started out real slow this morning.
I'm talking about real slow.
And we were very lucky, at the end of the day.
For Guy and I, things picked up.
We should have had way more gators
than we had for the amount of lines we ran.
But it turned out to be a decent day for us.
TROY: Uh, what we got, Guy?
21.
TROY: 21.
21.
DANIEL: Troy and I are both competitive.
We're friends, but we're competitive.
We want to beat each other.
TROY: That's good.
That's good.
Hey.
DANIEL: I feel pretty good about what we did.
The Edgars, we came through on our part.
Those guys are good, experienced alligator
hunters, just like we are.
We both recognize how hard the fishing is going to be.
Going to be really difficult filling these tags.
NARRATOR: All told, with the Edgars lending a hand,
Troy was able to fill 37 much needed tags.
And in this gentlemen's competition,
the Landrys had the upper hand.
For now.
Today, the Landrys beat us fair and square.
But, uh, we'll live to fight another day.
We ain't had but one or two today that was still--
that was up without the bait on it.
And I think it was just the chicken was so rotten.
Ooh, our chicken was rotten.
Yeah.
The alligators could tell where my boat was.
I'll tell you that.
[LAUGHING]
CHASE: At the end of the day, I understand
I was wrong about the Edgars.
You know, sure enough, they were--
they brought it to the table.
--I'll bet that's fun, huh?
High energy.
A lot of excitement.
Nonstop.
CHASE: After meeting them and all,
I realized, you know, they're just like us.
They love to hunt.
It's all about family.
They seem super nice.
I'm glad I finally got to meet them after hearing
about them for years and years.
DANIEL: So we'll see you tomorrow morning?
TROY: All right, buddy.
DANIEL: Same time.
TROY: Same time, same place.
It ain't over with yet.
Even though we compete a lot of times, at the end of the day,
we all look out for each other on the swamp.
We all got each other's back.
That's how it should be.
That's how it is, and that's how it should be.