Mississippi hunters capture huge 14-ft alligator weighing 364 Kg

Mississippi hunters have achieved a remarkable feat by capturing the longest alligator ever found in the state.

According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP), this colossal reptile measured 14 feet and 3 inches in length, with a weight of 364 kilograms.

The alligator was captured in Mississippi's Yazoo River.

According to USA Today, the fight to capture the alligator lasted from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Hunter Donald Woods told the media that the group had encountered "a lot of 8-footers, 10-footers" before pursuing this even larger specimen.

"We've been hunting these things a long time," he said. The fisherman said that they had no idea how large the alligator was while trying to catch it.

"We knew he was wide," Woods said. "His back was humungous. It was like we were following a Jon boat. "We held onto him a while, until 10 or so. He broke my rod at that point.

"We hooked him eight or nine times and he kept breaking off. He would go down, sit and then take off. He kept going under logs. He knew what he was doing. The crazy thing is he stayed in that same spot," he added.

The hunters said that the fight was mentally exhausting. "He dictated everything we did. It was exhausting, but you're adrenaline is going so you don't notice it. It was more mentally exhausting than anything because he kept getting off."

After fighting throughout the night, the alligator finally started tiring. "We were down to pretty much down to those two rods and reels at that point."

The previous record for the "longest male alligator taken by a permitted hunter in Mississippi" was held by a 14-foot, 0.75-inch-long (4.29 m) animal weighing 766.5 pounds (347.5 kg), captured by hunters in 2017 near the western city of Natchez.

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