Can You Believe We Are On Season 6!?!?

Hard to believe we are on season six already. It doesn't seem like that long ago when I started this blog but looking now, I realize its been 5 years since I started writing on here. Time goes by so quick! So Who is the one everyone here has their eye on this season? You know me, I'm a die hard Troy Landry fan. What can I say, Im a girl that likes a guy that requires subtitles.:) Seriously though, Troy portrays the kind of man that is really down to earth, someone that cares deeply for his family and his friends and he's all around fun. So keep it up Troy, choot em'! Are there any new faves? Has any of my non Louisiana residents got up enough nerve to take on the swamps for themselves yet? I hear people talk about how they are planning on it, but has anyone actually done it yet? What did everyone think of Mondays episode? Are they acting crazy or do they know what they're doing? They all take daring steps to ensure a good payout, but is the dare worth the reward.

Swamp People has Taken Over History Channel

With the August 2010 premiere of Swamp People, the History Channel moved a little further away from its core programming and onto newer findings. Following the success of the channel's other original reality shows like Pawn Stars and American Pickers, Swamp People represents an even greater departure for the history-themed network.
The programming shift has been very successful. Pawn Stars has been wildly successful in the ratings, American Pickers has spawned a British copycat, and the series premier of Swamp People shot the History Channel to the number one spot in cable ratings for the time slot. This is mostly due because History Channel has decided to go out of the box and push the envelope in this series following hunters who kill, skin, and eat not only alligators, they also kill snakes and bull frogs to eat for dinner. Watching these cajuns is like stepping back in time. From watching them kill, skin, and eat their kill. Its a way of life for them and how they make their living while also keeping the overwhelming alligator population down.

History of Louisiana’s Cajuns in Atchafalaya Swamp

Louisiana’s Cajun people originated from French settlers in Acadia, Canada. After the onset of the French Indian war in 1755, Great Britain drove French settlers from Acadia during what is now called Le Grand Derangement, or The Great Upheaval. About 3,000 Acadians fled to Louisiana, one of the last French settlements in America at the time.
The rich natural resources of the million-acre Atchafalaya River Basin allowed the new settlers to maintain an existence similar to their former lives in Acadia. The settlers eked out a living raising livestock, hunting and fishing. Many of the 180,000 Acadian descendants, now called Cajuns, still follow this traditional lifestyle.
Format of History Channel's Swamp People Reality Show
The show follows a handful of these Cajuns as they embark on their annual alligator hunt during the month-long hunting season. For most Americans, the swamp seems to be a harsh, uninhabitable environment. The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called it “the forest primeval.” Bruce Mitchell, who runs the Kleibert Turtle and Alligator Farm, calls it “my piece of heaven down here.”
The show depicts the ingenuity and strength of the Cajun people. While the month-long alligator hunt can provide most of a family's annual income, swamp-dwellers must find multiple ways to make a living. None has done this more successfully than Albert "Butch" Knight, who, in addition to gator hunting, builds boats, welds, and owns his own trucking company. Others can been seen farming, fishing, shrimping, trying to attract tourists, or offering services to other hunters. For some, life is a constant scramble find steady sources of income.
The program shows the deep love the Cajuns have for their land and way of life. Patriarchs Troy Landry and Joe LaFont (Trapper Joe) have raised their children to follow in their footsteps. Joe’s stepson, Tommy Chauvin, has been his right-hand man in the swamp since Tommy was in the first grade. In some ways, Swamp People is about how traditions are maintained and passed on to the next generation.

Controversy Surrounding Swamp People ( This will apply to some of my readers as I have received numerous comments)
There is some controversy surrounding the show. Swamp People represents a programming change that could cost the History Channel its most loyal viewers. While it is clear that the Cajuns depicted have a rich cultural history and strong traditions, there’s little attempt to show the history of those connections. Primarily, the show depicts swamp-dwellers trying to kill or exploit alligators and other animals.
Viewers may also be concerned about the animal cruelty documented the show. While alligators are vicious hunters, and the population must be contained, the methods of hunting them are brutal. The alligators are often baited in unattended traps. When a gator snags the bait, it becomes hooked. The animal is then trapped, impaled live on a hook for hours, until the hunters come to shoot it. Often, it takes several shots to kill the animal.
Despite these issues, Swamp People is an intriguing show that should continue to do well on the History Channel. The program has a sense of integrity that is absent in other shows. Viewers get the sense that this reality show is real. It depicts a way of life that is uniquely American, but virtually unknown outside of the Louisiana swamps. Swamp People serves as a reminder of the great cultural diversity that defines America.
Swamp People viewers: comment on the show in the space at the end of this article.
History Channel fans may also want to read American Pickers and Chasing Mummies: The History Channel's 

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1.03.01

No new episodes tonight

Now we are in the month of October and sadly that means the end of the alligator hunting season and the end of the Swamp People season. But if you have missed some episodes watch the History Channel Saturday 10/09/10 at 10/9C to catch up on the episodes you missed.  I am looking forward to a new season of Swamp People, I hope History Channel keeps this show on for many many seasons to come.


UPDATE:

While watching IRT all day to day I saw commercials of Swamp People and thought I heard them say there will be new episodes sometime in October but I can't find any info on the History Channels site to back that up. Once I find some info out about if there will be or not, I will update when necessary. Here's to hoping that they will continue on with Swamp People, seems like it just started, hate to see it end so soon.

Tonights Upcoming show 10/9 c

Force of Nature

Premiere Date: 09/19/2010

A cold spell is coming, one that could drive gators into early hibernation, ending the season early. It's a race against time as every gator hunter in the gulf tries to beat the storm. TVPG V-L

Sounds like an interesting episode tonight, can't wait to watch it!

Why We Like It

Swamp People is a pretty interesting reality show that focuses on the lives of the people who live in the swamps of Louisiana. Some people who hate the swamps start having creepy feelings when they even get to hear about people that are actually living in the swamps. The persons who live in the swamps "swamp people" feel it quite normal and easy to live there.
What you see on the show Swamp People is also pretty interesting and the people get to see how weapons were made by the master hunter and his eldest son Willie. They also created some hooks that most of the people might not have seen. These hooks looked to be made for hunting some swamp animals. The show Swamp People has gained a lot of popularity among the people because the life in a swamp is pretty interesting and not a very well known territory. The people living in swamps have a completely different life style as compared to the people living in the cities and even the villages. The people of the cities are amazed to see the life of the swamp and the challenges that the people living there have to face. Most are shocked to think people would actually choose to live a life like that but for swamp people it is all they have ever known. No one just moves to the swamps to live there, it is a lifestyle that they have grown up in, its all the swamp people know and that's how they know to live. Hunting alligators is part of that well known lifestyle it is a way of living.

One episode of Swamp People also showed Joe going to the marshlands along with his son. These swamps are some of the most dangerous places in the world and a person has to be very careful in moving through these places. The fans of the Swamp People series are pretty excited to see the upcoming episodes of the show and to see what lies ahead for the swamp people of Louisiana.

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1.03.01

Last Night's Show

Pretty good episode last night. I must admit I felt pretty bad for that one guy, I think his name was Bud, the guy does great when hunting deer but for the life of him he just couldn't get a good shot on an alligator. He had his gun retrieved and was shown how to do it right. As said in the show by Tommy, you want to hit the soft spot on the back of his head, that soft spot is only the size of a quarter so precision is everything when taking a shot and apparently takes a lot of practice to master something like that. I am sure it is a lot different then hunting deer. You are faced with keeping your balance on a boat, taking aim at a an alligator flipping around in the dirty mucky water it can't be that simple and quite obviously isn't.

I found that to be the best part of last night's episode, not saying everything else wasn't good just that it didn't capture my interest as much as that part of the show did. What was your favorite part of last night's show?

Swamp People and the Atchafalaya Swamp

Sprawling over a million-acre swath of southern Louisiana, the Atchafalaya River Basin is the largest swamp in the United States and one of the country's most ecologically varied regions. Its wetlands, bayous and marshes are home to 300 species of birds, 90 species of fish, shellfish and 54 species of reptiles and amphibians, including the famous American alligator. It owes much of its haunting and mysterious beauty to the towering, moss-draped bald cypress trees that thrive in the swamp waters.
For hundreds of years, the Basin's human dwellers (swamp people)—from the Native Americans who harvested its timber to the present-day Cajuns who hunt alligators in the swamps murky depths—have subsisted on its many bountiful resources. In the second half of the 18th century, the region became a refuge for several thousand French colonists who had been expelled from Acadie, part of present-day Nova Scotia, for refusing to swear allegiance to the British crown and church. Known as the Acadians, the settlers adapted their way of life to the changeable nature of the Basin's wetland environment, where water levels fluctuate depending on the season, by favoring houseboats and campsites to more permanent homes. Many began growing sugarcane and other crops in the fertile bayou soil, while other swamp people made a living as loggers, hunters, trappers or fishermen.

The Acadian community grew and prospered, eventually giving birth to the distinctly Louisianan "Cajun" culture, known throughout the world for its food, jazz music and unique dialect. Today, the Cajuns make up a significant part of southern Louisiana's population, and many continue to embrace the lifestyle and traditions of their ancestors.
In spite of the region's natural bounty and unmistakable splendor, swamp living has never been easy for the Cajuns and other residents of the Atchafalaya Basin. For instance, the disastrous Great Flood of 1927 decimated many communities, sparking a mass exodus that dramatically reduced the region's population. But to many people born and raised in the cradle of the lush and majestic Atchafalaya, the dangers and challenges they face are an accepted–and even welcome–part of life.