Documentary Series - 'Swamp People'

The swamps and bayous that make up the Atchafalaya Basin in southern Louisiana are a dangerous and inhospitable place. Getting lost in the complex tangle of waterways is a very real possibility for even the most seasoned veteran – and may, in fact, be the best you can hope for if you go in unprepared. It is not the sort of place most of us can imagine making a successful living – yet, despite this, there is a community of people living in and around the area who manage to do just that.

The Cajun population of Louisiana lead a lifestyle that has remained largely unchanged over the past few hundred years – based predominately around hunting, and self-sufficiency, using the same techniques developed by the areas first settlers. And, it is this lifestyle that this History Channel series explores.

For the Cajun people of Louisiana, the most important time of the year is the thirty day alligator hunting season. During this brief period, successful hunters can earn most of their yearly income – leaving themselves free to live quite comfortably for the rest of the year. An unsuccessful hunting season, though, can leave a family struggling. Naturally, given the importance of the alligator hunting season to the Cajun families, it is this brief thirty day window that the series is focused on.

This series can potentially put the viewer in a somewhat awkward position. From a purely dramatic point of view, things are often at their most interesting when everything seems to be going wrong for the hunters. But, of course, this isn't a drama series – it's a reality documentary series following real-life hunters trying to support themselves. They simply can't afford for anything to go wrong, and you will likely finding yourself hoping for their success. Which leads directly into the major problem with the series. When things are going according to plan, alligator hunting follows a very particular procedure which can start to feel repetitive very quickly.

Thankfully, though, this is broken up by the fact that the different all seem to have developed their own traditional techniques. The standard strategy seems to be for baited hooks to be laid out overnight, then for a team of two to head out – one to pull up the hooked alligator and the other to shoot it. This is the default technique, and you will see it so often that, by the end of the season, you'll most likely be sick of it. But, there is also enough variety to keep things interesting. And, there is also screen-time devoted to the lives of the Cajun hunters outside of hunting – giving enough of an insight into their lives that you will come to feel that you know them, perhaps grow to like them, and likely care about their success.

It is particularly amusing, for example, to hear hunters stressing the fact that alligator hunting is a two-person job, and that solo hunting is both foolish and dangerous, only to suddenly introduce a new family of hunters who have developed solo hunting into their own personal family tradition.

This is a series about hunters making their living through hunting, that's something that should be very clear by now. The camera will follow the hunters out into the swamps as they go about their business, and isn't shy about getting up close as live alligators are reeled in and shot. So, naturally, this means that viewer discretion is very much advised – if you think that there's even a chance that scenes of animals being hunted and killed is likely to bother you, then this really isn't the show for you. The Cajun hunters themselves are entirely unapologetic about how they support themselves, and everything they do falls within the laws that they are expected to abide by – but, it can still make for potentially uncomfortable viewing.

On the other hand, though, it also offers a glimpse into a lifestyle that would have to seem completely unfamiliar to most of us - something which is often worthwhile in itself. And, it also features a cast of uniquely eccentric, and likable, hunters that manage to make each episode entertaining.

So far, two seasons of Swamp People have been produced, each focusing on a consecutive alligator hunting season.