It’s only been three days since the start of Mississippi’s alligator hunting season, yet a pair of parties have already submitted two record-breaking ‘gators, state wildlife officials announced Monday.
Dustin Brockman of Vicksburg, Miss., ventured with his brother and friend into the Mississippi River by motorboat early Saturday night and emerged with a 727-pound record breaker that was 13 feet, 4.5 inches long.
The previous weight record was 697.5 pounds, according to Ricky Flynt, program coordinator with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
“We chased him for about two hours,” Brockman said. “Then we got a shot on him.”
Brockman said that it took two hours after hooking the alligator using a crossbow before they could shoot it with a shotgun. It took four hours more to get it into the boat, but Brockman said it was too heavy to do with just the three of them, so they just waited in the middle of the river for the sun to rise.
“We killed the alligator at 4 a.m.,” he said. “We waited until 6:30 (a.m.) before I called three or four more guys to help us load it into the boat.”
And just one hour prior to Brockman’s epic catch, a hunting party led by Beth Trammell of Madison, Miss., hooked a 13-foot, 5.5-inch alligator near Redwood.
The Trammell party, which included six people, broke the previous weight record with their 723.5-pound catch and held the markbefore Brockman broke it 60 minutes later.
“It took about four hours to get it in the boat,” said Trammell. “We had to flag another boat down to help us out it was so big.”
Trammell said that when they had the hefty alligator hooked, their poles were bent like “candy canes.”
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks
Dustin Bockman of Vicksburg, Miss., and his team pose with the alligator they caught near the Big Black River in Claiborne County. The alligator is 13-feet and 4.5 inches in length and weighs 727 pounds.
The current length record, which has yet to be broken, is 13 feet, 6.5 inches. That alligator was captured on the Pascagoula River in 2008, according to the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks department.
Brockman, who had never hunted alligator before this weekend, said the majority of the hunting occurs at night when it’s easier to spot the reptiles’ eyes with a flashlight.
“It’s a lot easier to find them because their eyes reflect,” he said. “In the daytime, if they’re lying on a bank underneath the tree, you ain’t going to see them.”
Brockman said he plans to use the gator’s skin for a gun strap and a picture frame and will eat the meat after providing some to his friends.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks
Beth Trammell of Madison, Miss., and her team pose with their catch Sept 1. The alligator is 13-feet and 5.5 inches and weighs 723.5 pounds. It broke the previous record of 697.5 pounds.
“We’re going to cook it for sure,” he said. “I got a bunch of people who want some, and there’s plenty for me and everybody else.”
Trammell said she plans to get the meat back from the processor as early as Friday.
“We’ll eat the meat,” she added. “I think my brother in law is going to get the head mounted.”
And the Trammell party will be back out on the water this weekend, hoping to catch another record breaker…
Exposing the Big Game 
…simply makes my heart bleed…soulless cruel men with “teeny-weeny di.x”…*tears*…
And one of the “teams” is run by a woman!
Bastards.
to say the least.
Scum bags who have to kill innocent non-humans to make up for their lack of man or woman-hood. Maybe a gator will get them the next time they go serial killing.
Fingers crossed…
Dsgusting low life scum.
One can only pray to the animal gods that these serial killers suffer the same way this poor innocent animal did, sometime in their meaningless, retarded lives.
That’s all that can be said about those kind of people.
What!!!! No alligator boots, to go boot scootinn dancin. Them Mississippi people sure know how to live they got themselfs real celebrities, I wonder if they will hand out autographed pictures, and I wonder when they have that big shindig and they’ll put out a tablecloth and real silverware.
Doubt it, Nancy. They will just get something shiny, tacky and made out of plastic in China, down at the Walmarts. Then they will get drunk and make more inbred rednecks. I wonder if they used a puppy or kitten for bait? They still drown puppies and kittens in a sack full of bricks. Must be how the gators get so big?
You’re right Melody, they probably wil use plastic utensils they stole from McDonalds.I wonder if they will bother to put on shoes. They probably are feeding puppies and kittens, because if the gators did get a hold of them and gave him a good shake to get the shit out of them they only get eye balls and sneakers.
They eat eyeballs there… but that’s wicked funny about stealing silverware from a fast food joint. I don’t think any leave them out for that reason? Been a long time, but I used to go in them for the free wi-fi back when I only had dial up and had to send a file. My friend married someone from MS. That’s how I know about the lack of spaying and neutering and how they get rid of pups and kittens, she works in a rescue there. OMG, there needs to be free spay/neuter grants for anyone on assistance there, with a free bag of pet food if they follow through. It is the only way they are even going to get their first clue as to animal’s lives have value, and animals have a full range of feelings. That what they are doing is wrong!
Yet another group of a-hole trophy hunters kill a strong and healthy member of a species that is greatly needed in the wild for a macabre home decoration and get rewarded for it with media praise. This is yet another reason why I am ashamed to be a member of the hairless monkey species known as humans.
Are yu fucking kidding me!!!!!!! Sick!!!!! They act like its NORMAL. That’s even worse than Idahell–where on some level they know their behavior is wrong. No , sirreee–not with these jerks. NBC is disgusting, as usual no moral compass, whatever sells. God I hate
this country…
I wish I were fucking kidding you!!!
I hope the next time those fuckwits go alligator hunting they get eaten by alligators.
I hope and pray.
Reblogged this on Sherlockian's Blog.
The end of it Not anytime soon. Not until we grow in number and knowledge to achieve dominance on the boards of “game” who set policy and follow arcane state legislation. The story didn’t cover the worst of the hunting techniques that I’ll not write about. These killing seasons are part of a collaboration between the hunting minority and commercial “alligator farms” wherein eggs are collected from the wild (nests) in exchange for releasing young alligators back into the wild for hunting. I’m not certain if this is the case in all alligator hunting states, but is practiced in many.
Thanks for in info about alligator “farming” exchange, Will. And if you inside info about how they kill an animal that size, this would be a good place to share the details. Not that we need anything more to get pissed off about, but we should know just how vehemently we oppose alligator hunting.
I know if an alligator saw me, and it was hungry, it would probably eat me, especially if i was trespassing through his/her domain but Jesus Henry Christ on rubber crutches, I wouldn’t deliberately go out looking to kill one. Why are these people killing these alligators? This is sick. I agree with another commenter, I’m disgusted to be a part of the human race.
The alligator hunters are the dangerous reptiles.
This cartoon sums it up for me: http://propelsteps.wordpress.com/2013/09/04/powerful-quote-45-meanwhile-earth-thinks/
Sociopaths make up about 4% of the population but cause 96% of the pain. We have to pay more attention to mental health. We’re quick to diagnose and treat things like ADD, ADHD, depression, and hoarding disorders. Those are relatively benign. Meanwhile, probably because they are good at hiding their true nature, and include in their ranks many politicians and CEOs, we’ve been completely neglecting the most dangerous among us – sociopaths. Whether genetic, genetic predisposition with a social component, or completely trained/social, the end is the same – for our wildlife, and for the humans that have the misfortune of being near them or doing business with them. Sadly, we’ve abandoned our wildlife to their attacks. There is a thrill-kill high sociopathic killers enjoy that is very similar to the high drug addicts get from the chemicals. That’s why they’re going to run right out and do it again. You never see a sociopathic thrill-killer kill just once anymore than a cocaine or heroin addict stops at one fix. They put a great deal of their time and money into seeking that euphoric feeling they get from watching an animal suffering and dying. They get an enormous feeling of power – of superiority – that feeds their ego, and, not being a sociopath, and regurgitating when confronted with the very things these sub-species of humans thrill to, I can not describe what they feel – but serial killers, who have the same mind set, and who almost all started on animals do describe it – and they love to keep souvenirs of their victims to help them relive the feelings they experienced during the torture and killing. Our animals do not deserve this. it’s not acceptable to anyone who does not desperately need to generate these killer-highs. We need to stop the thrill-killing. Killing for fun is indicative of mental illness. It is not a sport. People who kill for thrills, cause pain for pleasure and are cruel for cash are all mentally ill. Their actions make peace impossible. They infuse anguish and pain at untenable levels. This senseless killing by a small percentage of the population for their thrill-killer highs has to end.
Very well written. As a large land owner, I often have run-ins with these crazy poachers. They are heartless, wretched killers. That I am still alive is a miracle, I guess? I have learned a few tricks over the years and one is to always keep your guard up and always speak in general terms so as not to insult their ego. Don’t make it personal. Don’t make a tense situation worse.
An, of course, the most important thing, get away as soon as you can!
Excellent points, Joy. Your lines, “Sadly, we’ve abandoned our wildlife to their attacks. There is a thrill-kill high sociopathic killers enjoy that is very similar to the high drug addicts get from the chemicals” have never been more true. Every day it seems there are new barbarities cropping up–most of the legalized by the sociopaths appointed as wildlife “lawmakers.” And then there are the new “reality” shows which glorify that kind of behavior…
Don’t make the mistake that all these killers are either nuts or on drugs/alcohol. I have read reports of drugs that,similar but worse than alcohol, shut down the part of the brain that is the ‘off-switch’ to things the person knows is wrong… like eating other humans alive at it’s worst? I think there have been two cases witnessed and one photographed? A junkie may have favorite junk but the high is the important thing. They will use whatever means necessary to get that high. If it happens to be a combo of drugs and alcohol and getting the nerve up to do what they secretly dreamed of doing, or copy-catting some other psycho’s work, they do it. Once done they must do it again and again until their prey or the cops stop them. The worst of the worst seem to gravitate toward murdering and raping wolves and Native women in my opinion. There was one that got caught who died in prison but being possibly the worst serial killer in North America, he has a few devoted fans. One got taped and posted but quickly deleted. I failed to copy it. I highly doubt live gators run the risk of being raped? You know, they never listed how many gators were killed in that contest! It might have changed the press coverage?
On this same subject, Joy, did you catch this post”?: https://exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com/2013/09/04/a-killers-backstory/
Now this is just WRONG!! No animal should suffer… Even if there is a valid reason to kill an animal, injured and dying as an example, it should be as painless as we can make it.. This is wrong period.
Reblogged this on Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting Blog.
This is unnecessary slaughter of OUR wildlife. The animal lived SO long to only be killed by humans who did it to satisfy their blood lust, and the gator suffered and was terrorized for TWO HOURS after being “caught” but many more trying to avoid these killers.