A pair of gator hunters in Florida will probably be talking about this one for a long time to come!
They tracked down a mammoth reptile they’ve been after for years.
Somehow they managed to get all 565 pounds of it back to land.
This is the biggest one yet for long-time friends Harris Woodsby and Mathew Fellows.
They’ve hunted and captured alligators together for more than four years.
You could almost call it a passion for the duo, a dangerous one.
“Every now and then he would come up and thrash around, and we’d be holding onto the gaffe and it almost break our wrists when he starts spinning.”
It all started one muggy night on the Kissimmee River.
They’ve eyed the 12-foot beast once before. They were determined not to let it slip away again.
“Two people, 565 pound alligator, there was no way we could get him in the boat. He just sat on the bottom, it was 20 feet deep.”
It was a two-and-a-half hour struggle for the pair as the nearly 600 pound gator thrashed around the boat.
“You know, a lot of strain and it was back breaking. We were cussing kinda the whole time.”
Three shots to the skull and they were able to subdue him.
Their next obstacle was getting it back to land.
With six miles ahead of them and a prize two times the weight of them and the boat combined, from behind they feared they would capsize.
“We kept it going about two miles-an-hour. That was as fast as we could go.”
With the help of a good friend, the two outdoorsmen were able to secure the gator.
“It’s a big time rush. I mean, I think that’s what keeps us going back every year.”
Harris already owns a wholefood seafood company in Orlando and is getting ready to open Jimmybelles, a seafood market named after his kids in Lakeland.
He plans to display their gigantic prize front and center for all his customers to see.
