One of the largest alligators ever captured in Mississippi, hunters plan to eat 800-pound monster

Mississippi’s 2024 alligator hunting season got off to a spectacular start when a team of six hunters captured one of the largest monsters ever seen in the state.

The 14-foot-long, 800-pound alligator was captured in the Yazoo River, which runs 2,000 miles through Mississippi and Louisiana.

The group proudly stood with their catch for a photo, and it took all six of them to hold the lifeless creature aloft.

The annual hunt kicked off last month and runs through Sept. 9. State rules allow participants to take home their prize in exchange for “purses, belts and food.”

More than 3,700 people are participating in the 2024 hunt, with an average of five to six people on each team.

The rules state that permit holders can harvest up to two alligators over four feet long, but only one can be over seven feet long.

The largest alligator ever recorded was 19 feet (5.88 m) long and weighed over 2,200 pounds (1,050 kg) when captured in Louisiana in 1890.

The most recent monster, however, was caught in Arkansas in 2021 by Mike Cottingham.

Cottingham claimed the beast was 13 feet long and weighed 1,300 pounds.

The largest in Mississippi, killed in 2023, was about 3 inches longer than the one caught this year.

The team, which included Megan Sasser, braved torrential rain to capture the 60-year-old beast.

Sasser said in a social media post that she and her team are “still overjoyed” after capturing the reptile last Friday.

“We endured a monsoon for over 3 hours… shattered 2 poles, survived a few death rolls, moved everything in the boat and still managed to bring this monster home,” she continued.

Brandi Robinson, also a member of the winning team, explained that the giant alligator was spotted 750 feet from the boat.

Every year in Mississippi a hunt is held where participants are allowed to catch up to two alligators

Brandi Robinson (pictured), also part of the winning team, explained that the giant alligator was spotted 750 feet away from the boat

“Everyone’s binoculars were immediately glued on! It was a big one and we all knew it,” she said, as reported by The state.

The boat slowly moved towards the giant creature and the team waited for about 45 minutes until it resurfaced, after which they wrestled with the animal for about an hour.

It is unclear what tools were used to capture the alligator, but hunters may have used anything from hooks to harpoons and even firearms.

The team of six loaded their catch onto the boat and took it to a local meat processing plant, Red Antler.

After taking photos with the beloved alligator, the team took him to a local meat processing plant

“In the last five years, we’ve probably processed about 3,000 alligators here at Red Antler, and we’ve only had two that were over 14 feet long,” Shane Smith, owner of Red Antler Processing, told McClatchy News.

The team took most of the meat home and donated the rest to Hunter Harvest, a nonprofit that provides hunted and harvested meat to families in need.

Sasser also shared a photo of her and the alligator on Facebook, where friends called it a “monster.”

However, not everyone was happy with the huge catch.

One Facebook user commented: ‘That alligator must have been at least 50 years old to grow that big. Shame. It’s a beautiful animal.’