Adrenaline-pumped hunters wielding harpoons and bang sticks will crowd marshy waters throughout Brevard County tonight.

They're stalking that iconic Florida creature: the American alligator.

The hunting season begins one hour before sunset today.

And like the opening night for a blockbuster movie or concert, the first day of public alligator-hunting season brings hordes.

"Everybody's super-stoked," said Grayson Padrick, who owns a hunting and guide business.

This year, that crowd of hunters has more to be excited about: They can use artificial lures, and they can hunt an hour longer than in the past. And, in a familiar trend, they've grabbed several permits.

The state issued 5,125 permits this year, the most offered and sold in the last 10 years, said Steve Stiegler, an alligator biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Of those, 902 were sold in Brevard for one of four one-week hunting periods, up from 779 in 2007.

Officials hope that the increased number of permits will help meet the statewide alligator kill quota of 10,000.

The hunt's increasing popularity -- as indicated by the crowds scrambling for permits in the past couple of years -- is partially because veterans of the hunt have recruited people who haven't experienced the primal rawness of tracking down and killing the potentially ferocious reptile, Stiegler said.

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