Monster alligator weighing 57 stone sets new record with hunters left 'mentally exhausted' reeling him in
A new state record has been set after an enormous alligator was caught over the weekend.
The group of hunters were out on the Yazoo River in Mississippi when they came across the huge predator on Saturday (26 August).
And after what must have been quite the fight, they managed to pull the reptile on board.
When they finally got it back to dry land, they received the news that they had managed to snag the biggest gator ever in the entire state.
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Measuring 14ft 3ins in length and weighing a colossal 802.5lbs (57.3st), it beat the previous record, which had stood for the past six years, by nearly 40lbs (2.8st).
According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, its belly girth alone measured 66ins while its tail was 46.5ins thick.
A photo of the catch was shared on the official Mississippi Department of Wildlife's Facebook page.
Congratulating the group, it read: "A new state record for the longest alligator harvested was broken today!
"Congratulations to these Mississippi hunters! Tanner White - Flora, Don Woods - Oxford, Will Thomas - Madison, not pictured: Joey Clark - Jackson.
"They harvested this male alligator in the West Central Alligator Hunting Zone. He measured 14 feet and 3 inches long, with a belly girth of 66 inches and tail girth of 46.5 inches. He weighed 802.5 lbs!"
Reacting to the snap online, some people were stunned by the creature's size.
"Good grief that's a monster," wrote one person.
While another added: "OMG... what a monster! You grow 'em big in Mississippi! Congratulations on your big catch."
Speaking to the Mirror, Don Woods said it was a tough old fight to get the gator.
"We hooked him eight or nine times and he kept breaking off," he said.
"He would go down, sit and then take off. He kept going under logs. He knew what he was doing. The crazy thing is he stayed in that same spot."
For the past 18 years, laws in the state have allowed alligators to be hunted at certain times as part of an ongoing effort to keep the population at a stable level.
This group caught theirs on the second day of the season, which now runs until next week.
In order to be allowed to hunter the creatures during this period, people must had a special permit, of which there are only 920.
Dominic Smithers