See ya later alligator.
An Alabama family set a new state record over the weekend after successfully hunting and killing a 15-foot reptile.
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In this Aug. 16 photo, a large alligator weighing 1,011.5 pounds measuring 15-feet long is pictured in Thomaston, Ala. The alligator was caught in the Alabama River near Camden, Ala., by Mandy Stokes and family, according to AL.COM. (AP Photo/Al.com, Sharon Steinmann)
John and Mandy Stokes, along with their brother-in-law, Kevin Jenkins, and his two children, Parker, 14, and 16-year-old Savannah caught the gator Saturday morning which weighed in at over 1,000 pounds.
The hunt lasted five hours and started when the creature was hooked in a creek about 129 kilometers west of Montgomery, Ala. but ended after Mandy shot the creature in the head with a 20-gauge shotgun.
"He came up just as calm as he could," Stokes told AL.com. "When I pulled the trigger this time, water just exploded on all of us." Stokes says her first shot missed but when the animal approached the boat, she landed a second shot in between its eyes.
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In this Aug 16 photo, Mandy Stokes stands with her daughter Molly Kate Stokes next to a large alligator captured and killed in Thomaston, Ala. (AP Photo/Al.com, Sharon Steinmann)
Alligators are the only dangerous-game species that can legally be hunted in the state, the Daily Mail reports.
And if you thought killing the alligator was tough, weighing it was no easy matter, too. The animal's carcass broke the winch used to weigh other gators and had to be lifted using a backhoe. In the end, the reptile clocked in at 1,011.5 pounds, the Associated Press reports.
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The Stokes family poses in this Aug. 16 photo with their monster alligator catch. (AP Photo/Al.com, Sharon Steinmann)
Prior to the Stokes' trophy, the state's previous record holder was a 838-pound alligator caught in the Alabama River back in 2011, Fox News reports.
The family says it's unsure of what to do with the body but will send it first to a taxidermy shop.
![mandy stokes 1000 pound alligator alabama]()
Closeup on the 1,000-pound gator. (Photo by AP Photo/Al.com, Sharon Steinmann)
An Alabama family set a new state record over the weekend after successfully hunting and killing a 15-foot reptile.
John and Mandy Stokes, along with their brother-in-law, Kevin Jenkins, and his two children, Parker, 14, and 16-year-old Savannah caught the gator Saturday morning which weighed in at over 1,000 pounds.
The hunt lasted five hours and started when the creature was hooked in a creek about 129 kilometers west of Montgomery, Ala. but ended after Mandy shot the creature in the head with a 20-gauge shotgun.
"He came up just as calm as he could," Stokes told AL.com. "When I pulled the trigger this time, water just exploded on all of us." Stokes says her first shot missed but when the animal approached the boat, she landed a second shot in between its eyes.
Alligators are the only dangerous-game species that can legally be hunted in the state, the Daily Mail reports.
And if you thought killing the alligator was tough, weighing it was no easy matter, too. The animal's carcass broke the winch used to weigh other gators and had to be lifted using a backhoe. In the end, the reptile clocked in at 1,011.5 pounds, the Associated Press reports.
Prior to the Stokes' trophy, the state's previous record holder was a 838-pound alligator caught in the Alabama River back in 2011, Fox News reports.
The family says it's unsure of what to do with the body but will send it first to a taxidermy shop.
