Over the weekend, a record-setting 727-pound alligator was caught in Mississippi. That came just hours after another alligator that weighed 723.5 pounds was caught.
Dustin Bockman, Ryan Bockman and Cole Landers caught the 727-pounder in Claiborne County on the Mississippi River, reports CBS News. That alligator measured over 13 feet and was officially marked as the heaviest alligator caught within the state. Ricky Flynt, who leads the alligator program in Mississippi, confirmed the feat.
Just hours before the 727-pounder was caught, Beth Trammell and her fellow hunters caught an alligator that weighed 723.5 pounds, notes The New York Daily News. Trammell’s alligator was the first ever caught in the state that weighed over 700 pounds.
“When we first saw him...I yelled ‘oh my gosh we caught the Loch Ness Monster!’” Trammell told ABC News. “It was totally unbelievable.”
Bockman broke Trammell’s record two hours later. “If someone beats my record, I’ll go out and try to top it,” he told ABC News. He will have to wait until next season to try to top himself, though. “There’s always a bigger one out there.”
MS News Now reports that Brandon Maskew also caught the largest female alligator in state history, capturing a 10-footer that weighs 295.3 pounds.