When Swamp People Season 4 premieres February 14th, we will meet six new alligator hunters: T-Roy Broussard, Harlan “Bigfoot” Hatcher, Jeromy Pruitt, David LaDart, ZZ Loupe, and Tom Candies. And, in a new twist for the show, two of the new teams will be hunting in the same waters as two of the veteran teams. T-Roy and Bigfoot will be hunting in Pierre Part, right under Troy Landry’s nose, and Jeromy and David will be doing their thing in Molinere territory. We’ll have to wait and see where ZZ and Tom run their lines.
Here’s a little get-to-know you information about two of the new guys in town, T-Roy and Bigfoot.
T-Roy and Bigfoot (aka Harlan Hatcher) are alligator hunters from Texas who have not only come to Louisiana to test the waters, they’ve come to Troy Landry’s back yard. Now that’s some nerve! The History channel introduces us to them like this:
T-Roy Broussard and Harlan “Bigfoot” Hatcher from Texas are the top alligator hunters in the Lone Star state. They are trying to break into the Louisiana gator hunting scene after negotiating some tags from a Pierre Part landowner. How will they fare on Troy Landry’s turf?
T-Roy may be new to Louisiana, but he’s far from a rookie Alligator hunter. He’s the owner of Swamp Stompers, an alligator hunting business in Beaumont Texas that he inherited from his father in 2006. According to the Swamp Stompers web site, he has 27 years of alligator hunting experience. His bio on that site introduces him this way:
T-Roy Broussard: T-Roy was raised in the swamps and marshes of Southeast Texas. He had his own boat at 8 years old. It was a 12 foot pirogue with a 3 1/2 horsepower engine. From that early stage in his life he began to learn the ways of the bayou and his love for the outdoors.T-Roy grew up as an avid duck hunter and fisherman along the coastal marshes of Texas. At age 12, he was introduced to competitive duck calling. At age 13, he won the Jr. World Duck Calling championship held in Stuttgart, Arkansas. At age 16 he won the Intermediate title as well. In 1984 T-Roy was introduced to Alligator hunting when Texas re opened the season. T-Roy tagged along with his father and learned all that he could for a couple of years. A few days shy of T-Roys 16th Birthday, his father handed him a handful of tags and turned him loose on his own. His first Alligator measured over 10 feet long. T-Roys largest gator is 13 feet 1 inch, but that first 10 footer will always be his most memorable. Since that first hunt in 1984, T-Roy has hunted thousands of Alligators and continues to hone his skills into becoming one of the best in the business.
World duck-calling championship?! Do I see a Duck Dynasty crossover episode coming?!! Yes, please!
And, T-Roy isn’t carrying any dead weight to Louisiana. Harlan “Bigfoot” Hatcher can hold his own in the swamp. In fact, according to the Swamp Stompers site, together they are the “perfect storm.”
The real deal from Texas. Troy and Harlan raised the roof with support from friends and fans at the Swamp People Casting Call held today at Madisons on Dowlen, in Beaumont, Texas. Troy and Harlan are the dynamic duo of Alligator hunting here in Texas. They showed Swamp People how us Texans live our lives on the swamps and marshes of Southeast Texas. Troy and Harlan have been dubbed “Thunder and Lightning”, together they make the perfect storm. These two guys are hard core and know how to get the job done. Hope that Swamp People picks them for the next season. We all know that things are bigger and Texas, and man I tell ya, just look at ole Bigfoot, hes a monster.
A rivalry between Troy and T-Roy seems almost too good to be true. Not only will Troy be hunting to prove he knows better than anyone how to pull gators out of his home territory, there will be Louisiana/Texas pride on the line, too, not to mention the feud over how many names can be spelled with the letters T, R, O, and Y, in that order!
Here’s one of the promo videos for the new season. See how it plays up the rivalries between the old timers and the “fresh blood.” What do you think? Do these Texans have what it takes to compete with Troy and the boys in their own backyard?
