Three friends break old state record within hours of hunting season opening
The Mississippi state record for the heaviest alligator was set last night in the wee hours of opening of the 2014 hunting season when three buddies killed a 756-pounder hunting in the state’s Southwest Zone.
The beastly gator broke the record set last year by a 741.5-pounder killed by a Madison hunter.
And remember: These alligators have to be snagged manually (no set lines) and dragged to the boat to be dispatched.
“We hooked up with him at about 6 a.m. and we had him subdued and shot within about 30 minutes,” said Brondon’s Robert Mahaffey, who along with friend Jay Leggette and Scott Berry killed the huge alligator. “Seriously, it looked like he was worn out when we got on him.”
And the hunters were tired by the time they hooked up with this alligator.
“We had already caught our two runt gators (under 7 feet) and I had tagged a 10½ footer that weighed 500 pounds,” said Leggette, who also had a tag in the Southwest Zone. “The 500-pounder broke three rods. He broke two on the first run he made and then broke another on a log.
“We figured that it lost about a foot or a foot and a half of tail, because he measured 12 inches from the bridge of his eyes to his nose. He was strong.”
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