920-pound alligator caught in Central Florida

[Wathen1955]

And for those afraid to click on links from Yahoo, below is a quote. Just install "uBlockOrigin" as an extension to FireFox, Chrome, or Brave browsers, and you won't get any pop-ups.

A Central Florida alligator hunting guide made a catch of a lifetime, bringing in a gator that weighed a whopping 920 pounds and measured 13 feet 3 ¼ inches long, he said.

Kevin Brotz runs Florida Gator Hunting as a guide and charter captain with more two decades of gator hunting experience. As he explained it to USA TODAY, he was out on a fun hunt with two friends when he spotted the beast that would take four hours to capture.

He explained that by Florida state law, you have to "connect" with the alligator before killing it. In other words, they had to get a hook and direct line in it before using a bang stick to shoot it.

They had been hunting the alligator for almost an hour before it surfaced for the first time. It wasn't until then that they knew what they were dealing with.

“We were just in awe," he said. "I've harvested close to 1,0000 gators, this was like nothing I had seen before."

He said that safety was a big concern, as they were fighting with the near half-ton gator in a small boat, even though they usually use bigger boats for guides.

"All he had to do was turn his head and he could get in the boat," he said.

When they finally had the hook and line in him, they had to shoot him five times to kill him.

Brotz told WESH 2 in an interview that his hunting buddies Carson Gore and Darren Field were key to making the catch safely.

“I laid down in the front of the boat and said, ‘Alright, I have to lay down until we get back,’ because I thought I was going to die. That thing was huge,” Gore added in the TV interview.

"When we saw this gator, it was way bigger than anything we've ever caught before,” Field told WESH 2. “It was a giant dinosaur. Not every day you get a giant dinosaur in your boat.”

Their catch could be the second-heaviest ever harvested in the state, they said.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website, the Florida state record for alligator length is 14 feet, 3½ inches; the record for weight is 1,043 pounds.

A spokesperson with the FWC confirmed that, per their records, 920 pounds would be the second heaviest alligator on state record. However, the hunters did not certify the measurements with the state before processing it.

Brotz said he killed the gator to maintain the population and uses tags as part of the Statewide Alligator Harvest Program, which allocates quotas to ensure a sustainable resource use. He said that the alligator yielded 130 pounds of meat that he is sharing with friends and family. As for the rest of gator, it will be made into a full body mount for Brotz to hang on his wall.

He said that he has always honored the animals, but this "surreal" experience was "totally humbling."

"I'm thankful we're not really on their menu. At the same time we have to be cautious," Brotz said. "It puts it in perspective."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/massive-9...215409259.html

[Vette40th]

I dont see the reason to take this gator out. Unless you are using it for food etc, I find this to be wrong. Just my opinion.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by Vette40th

I dont see the reason totake this gator out. Unless you are using it for food etc, I find this to be wrong. Just my opinion.

Brotz said he killed the gator to maintain the population and uses tags as part of the Statewide Alligator Harvest Program, which allocates quotas to ensure a sustainable resource use. He said that the alligator yielded 130 pounds of meat that he is sharing with friends and family. As for the rest of gator, it will be made into a full body mount for Brotz to hang on his wall.

Only thing I would do differently is process the hide for use.

[Onebadcad]

EVERYTHING is MUCH bigger in FL!!

[Yadkin]

Originally Posted by Onebadcad

EVERYTHING is MUCH bigger in FL!!

Even the wimmin.

[Vette40th]

Originally Posted by Yadkin

Even the wimmin.

I dont know, Have you been to Miami Beach lately?
Then again, I was up in Destin and their was a very very large woman on the beach. It started to rain, everyone came out of the water, and she went back in. Huge.

[04 commemorative]

Originally Posted by Vette40th

I dont see the reason to take this gator out. Unless you are using it for food etc, I find this to be wrong. Just my opinion.

[Frankie the Fink]

Originally Posted by Vette40th

I dont see the reason to take this gator out. Unless you are using it for food etc, I find this to be wrong. Just my opinion.

I live on a lake and see 8'-10' regularly and just leave them alone - don't see the need to kill them, tease them or whatever...but then the trailer park Bubbas couldn't brag because they don't have much else going on to be proud about.

[78SA]

Originally Posted by Vette40th

I dont know, Have you been to Miami Beach lately?
Then again, I was up in Destin and their was a very very large woman on the beach. It started to rain, everyone came out of the water, and she went back in. Huge.

That wasn't rain, that was her splash.

[Yadkin]

It's funny how some here have feelings for these alligators. That butt ugly predator would hunt you, eat you, then move onto the next victim without a thought.

[Vette40th]

Originally Posted by Yadkin

It's funny how some here have feelings for these alligators. That butt ugly predator would hunt you, eat you, then move onto the next victim without a thought.

And that is why they are Apex predators, and will survive.
Gator wont hunt you. He will wait for you to cross his path

[LATB]

I would not hunt a gator. But I understand why it’s done and I’m ok with it.

[Chemtrails99]

Wish these jackasses would leave the gators alone. No damn reason at all to go to their home and kill them. I'm willing to bet all he did was wander around Lake Jesup until he found a big one, no skill involved in hunting when you go to the lake the state has dumped problem gators into for decades.

Now Jesup is getting built up by bluebelly invaders and I'm sure they'll demand all the gators be killed. Gators are part of Florida, Invaders are not. Just like the fabled US borders, something should be done to keep the invaders out. Rather a dozen gators across the street than one more car with Carolina plates on it around here.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by Chemtrails99

Wish these jackasses would leave the gators alone. No damn reason at all to go to their home and kill them. I'm willing to bet all he did was wander around Lake Jesup until he found a big one, no skill involved in hunting when you go to the lake the state has dumped problem gators into for decades.

Now Jesup is getting built up by bluebelly invaders and I'm sure they'll demand all the gators be killed. Gators are part of Florida, Invaders are not. Just like the fabled US borders, something should be done to keep the invaders out. Rather a dozen gators across the street than one more car with Carolina plates on it around here.

Post #3 pull quote. You are welcome.

[Anjdog2003]

Gator tacos

[roadpilot]

Gaters have been slaughtered in my back yard. For no reason. Gaters
are part of our envoirment. The biggest problem with gators are outsiders.
Dont walk your little dog along the shoreline and it wont be supper for a
gator. NOooooooooooooo common sense.

[VatorMan]

The majority of gators you are correct. But one that size is a man killer. Of course, we have people around me that moan about hunting deer- until one totals out their car.

[Yadkin]

Floridiots whining about hunting alligators. Too funny.

[Frankie the Fink]

Originally Posted by Yadkin

It's funny how some here have feelings for these alligators. That butt ugly predator would hunt you, eat you, then move onto the next victim without a thought.

How many people can say they see a dinosaur off their back porch ? 100s of millions of years of evolution molded into a single, wildly efficient, food processor ?

If you're going to wipe out every predator that scares you the world will be a much less interesting place.... I'd wade around in my lake every day before I'd walk through Chicago on a single Saturday night.

[Chemtrails99]

Originally Posted by VatorMan

The majority of gators you are correct. But one that size is a man killer. Of course, we have people around me that moan about hunting deer- until one totals out their car.

No danger at all. It's not like they sneak up and hid behind trees, following you all day before pouncing on you from 5 feet away. He lived in a freaking lake that people know to stay out of. The Wife and I both hiked wetlands parks with Bulls 2/3 that size 20 yards away, with no gates, fences, walls, other things tourists need and paying attention is all you need. Funniest day ever was a hike where it seemed like every BIG gator around who saw me made a beeline towards me. I must have looked tasty that day. Only 3 got between us and the exit all day.