It wasn’t long ago that Troy Landry was just minding his business, hunting alligators, fishing for crawfish, living the simple life in Pierre Part.
Then Original Media came knocking at his door, Landry became part of its series, “Swamp People,” for History, and Landry the gator hunter became Landry the celebrity.
He’s the break-out star of the series, which follows alligator hunters in South Louisiana through the hunting season — the big catches, the close calls, the drama, the disappointments. When he’s not out in his boat, Landry’s making festival appearances, riding in parades and talking to the media.
“Well, they came to Louisiana looking for the best-looking alligator hunter they could find, and everybody sent them straight to me,” Landry said laughingly as he spoke by phone recently.
Known for his distinctly Cajun accent, Landry’s catch phrase “Choot ’em” now appears on hats, T-shirts and koozies. They’re available on his website, what else but, http://www.chootem.com.
“Swamp People,” which starts its second season Thursday, is a hit for History as its best-ever series launch with 4.2 million viewers. The first season averaged 3.1 million viewers.
“It really surprised me but all ages out there, all different cultures, everybody likes this show,” Landry said. “And little kids love it, mommies and daddies like it, grandmas and grandpas love it.
“I got a total stranger came to me one day and shook my hand and introduced himself to me and said, ‘Troy, you don’t realize but you did me the biggest favor you could have ever done me.’ He said, ‘Well, I used to have to sit down with my grandson and watch “SpongeBob (SquarePants)” all the time, and now, he tapes y’all’s show, and we watch it and I love it.’”
Landry cited several possible reasons the show is so universally popular.
“I think it’s a little bit of maybe the excitement, you know, we hunting big, mean, wild alligators that if you make one wrong move, they’ll take your arm or your leg off, or maybe even take your life; plus it’s the beauty of the swamps, and the bayous, and the marshes, and you know, it’s just real life, that’s what we do, and we’re just sharing it with the rest of the world.
“A lot of people in the big cities, I think they don’t realize that there’s a lot of people that still makes their living off the land, make their living the way we do it. You know, maybe it’s a little bit of all of those.”
Landry estimates there are about 5,000 alligator hunters “out there.” In its second season, “Swamp People” will follow 13. Camera crews from Original Media shadow the hunters from before dawn to dark every day during the five-week alligator hunting season, which starts the last week in August.
“We usually work about 15 to 18 hours a day during alligator season. It’s very hard work because you don’t see that on TV, but they stink like hell and they’re always full of mud, all that nasty stuff from the bottoms of the bayous,” Landry explained. “You’re pulling in dead weight all day, every day. They’re real heavy, they’re slimy from being in the water, they full of mud, they’re nasty. It’s very hard work. It’s not for everybody.”
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