Gator record broken - twice
700-pounders caught on Yazoo, Big Black rivers, MDWFP says
700-pounders caught on Yazoo, Big Black rivers, MDWFP says
Vicksburg's Dustin Bockman, 27, stands in the Mississippi River holding up the tail of Mississippi's new state record for heaviest alligator. Bockman, his brother Ryan and friend Cole Landers caught the 727-pound monster early Sunday morning near the mouth of the Big Black River. The gator was 13 feet, 4.5 inches long, was 67 inches around in the belly, and 45.5 inches around the tail. under picture
A flurry of activity on Sunday saw the record for heaviest alligator taken on public waters in Mississippi broken twice, as hunters enjoy a great opening weekend of the 2013 season.
“This is just crazy, just crazy,” said Ricky Flynt, the biologist who heads the alligator program for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “My cell phone is burning up with hunters calling me about these alligators. It is exciting, as usual.”
Crazy? Exciting? Try this for Flynt’s Sunday schedule.
First, the biologist drove to Vicksburg where he certified a new heavyweight title-holder at 723 ½ pounds, caught by a six-member crew between 1 and 4:30 a.m. on the Yazoo River diversion channel near the U.S. Highway 61 bridge in Yazoo County.
A photo of this beast can be seen at the bottom of this story.
Permit holder Beth Trammel of Madison got to enjoy her state record for about an hour.
Flynt quickly drove over to Mahannah Wildlife Management Area, where Dustin Bockman of Vicksburg was bringing a gator his team took overnight on the Mississippi River near the mouth of the Big Black River.
Bockman’s monster pushed the scales to 727 pounds, and — for now — is the new record.
Oddly enough, neither one broke the record for longest alligator, which remains 13 feet, 6½ inches.
Flynt wasn’t done.
“I had one more to check, that someone had called me about, but turns out it didn’t top 700 pounds,” he said.
Yeah, it weighed ONLY 673 pounds.
As impressive as those big bulls are, the alligator Flynt was most interested in is a new record for female gators taken Friday night on the Pascagoula River.
A team led by Brandon Maskew of Ellisville caught a 295.3-pound female that measured an even 10 feet, both new records. The previous records, held by different alligators, were 9 feet 9 inches and 283 pounds.
“At 10-feet, that alligator is just two inches short of the national record for longest female alligator ever taken anywhere by anyone,” Flynt said. “It was 10 feet, two inches and I captured it, tagged it and released it on the Pearl River at Barnett Reservoir.
“You think about it, now. Think about all the alligator that have been caught over the years in Louisiana, Florida and now here in Mississippi, and that’s the biggest. That 10-footer you know has to be 40 or 50 years old, at least. She’s at the upper end of the range for females.”
At noon Sunday, Flynt’s harvest data indicated that a total of 96 alligators had been reported killed by hunters.
Mississippi’s 10-day public lands season continues through noon on Sept. 9. The private land seasons continues through 6 a.m. Sept. 23.
A flurry of activity on Sunday saw the record for heaviest alligator taken on public waters in Mississippi broken twice, as hunters enjoy a great opening weekend of the 2013 season.
“This is just crazy, just crazy,” said Ricky Flynt, the biologist who heads the alligator program for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “My cell phone is burning up with hunters calling me about these alligators. It is exciting, as usual.”
Crazy? Exciting? Try this for Flynt’s Sunday schedule.
First, the biologist drove to Vicksburg where he certified a new heavyweight title-holder at 723 ½ pounds, caught by a six-member crew between 1 and 4:30 a.m. on the Yazoo River diversion channel near the U.S. Highway 61 bridge in Yazoo County.
A photo of this beast can be seen at the bottom of this story.
Permit holder Beth Trammel of Madison got to enjoy her state record for about an hour.
Flynt quickly drove over to Mahannah Wildlife Management Area, where Dustin Bockman of Vicksburg was bringing a gator his team took overnight on the Mississippi River near the mouth of the Big Black River.
Bockman’s monster pushed the scales to 727 pounds, and — for now — is the new record.
Oddly enough, neither one broke the record for longest alligator, which remains 13 feet, 6½ inches.
Flynt wasn’t done.
“I had one more to check, that someone had called me about, but turns out it didn’t top 700 pounds,” he said.
Yeah, it weighed ONLY 673 pounds.
As impressive as those big bulls are, the alligator Flynt was most interested in is a new record for female gators taken Friday night on the Pascagoula River.
A team led by Brandon Maskew of Ellisville caught a 295.3-pound female that measured an even 10 feet, both new records. The previous records, held by different alligators, were 9 feet 9 inches and 283 pounds.
“At 10-feet, that alligator is just two inches short of the national record for longest female alligator ever taken anywhere by anyone,” Flynt said. “It was 10 feet, two inches and I captured it, tagged it and released it on the Pearl River at Barnett Reservoir.
“You think about it, now. Think about all the alligator that have been caught over the years in Louisiana, Florida and now here in Mississippi, and that’s the biggest. That 10-footer you know has to be 40 or 50 years old, at least. She’s at the upper end of the range for females.”
At noon Sunday, Flynt’s harvest data indicated that a total of 96 alligators had been reported killed by hunters.
Mississippi’s 10-day public lands season continues through noon on Sept. 9. The private land seasons continues through 6 a.m. Sept. 23.
My congrats to all the hunters in our great wild outdoors in our own backyard!
September 5 followup article posted - Hunter's Bragging (Gator) Rights
4 comments:
Marian, this hit the news way up here in New Hampshire! Jack
All I can say is WOW!
I believe it Jack and saw it broadcast on the Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America. Will have another write up on it Thursday. I wondered when our paper was going to pick the news up and report it. Good article and will share it. It's in cold storage now where I take my deer to be processed. Headline news! :)
Thanks for coming by Joe and WOW is crazy WOW! :)
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