700 POUND ALLIGATOR

A monster alligator has been caught, weighing in at a record-breaking 697.5 pounds.
A Mississippi Alligator Hunting party captured this monster creature at a private hunting club in Issaquena County.  The amazing part of the story is that they did it with their bare hands, with some of the men wearing blind-folds.
Tom Grant, Jim Reed, Michael Robbers, Kenny Winter, beamed with pride as the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks announced their triumph.
The brute officially becomes the new record for weight of a male alligator.

Measuring 13 feet, 1.5 inches long, the gator blows the state’s previous record out the water, despite it actually being longer at 13 feet, 6.5 inches.
That’s because this latest find is seven pounds heavier than its predecessor, which was captured 16 miles away from where Grant and his crew struck lucky.
“When we snagged the alligator with two rod and reel snatch hooks, we knew he was big, we just didn’t know he would be this big,” Grant told WWN.
“It was an hour-and-a-half of pure tug of war and chaos before we finally had him restrained.”
The previous record, set by hunter Brian Jackson, was held for just one year before the group thrashed it.
Officials anticipate further records being set by finds in the area, well known for having harbored large alligators for thousands of years.
“This is not the first record to come from Issaquena County and probably will not be the last,'”said MDWFP Alligator Program Coordinator Ricky Flynt.
Time is running out, however. Permits are required for private landowners to hunt alligators and the Mississippi season closes on Monday.