ALSO: Wyoming man accused of running down wolf with snowmobile charged<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll make the hair on your neck stand up just hearing it,\u201d Appleton declared.<\/p>\n His hunting partner, Blake Daughtery, added: “It was a roaring growl. It was like a dinosaur.\u201d<\/p>\n Near-record 14-foot alligator caught on opening day.<\/p>\n Just after noon, with the massive alligator visible on the bottom of a lake in the Southwest Zone, the group hooked the reptile via rod and reel, then with a hand line.<\/p>\n “It almost snatched me out of the boat\u201d during its initial run, Appleton told the Clarion Ledger.<\/p>\n Another hand-line hook was then set into the gator, which started dragging Appleton\u2019s 17-foot boat \u201clike it was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Once at the surface, the gator was subdued with a snare and bang stick before it was hauled by four people into the boat.<\/p>\n The enormous reptile was delivered to Red Antler Processing<\/a> in Yazoo City, where it measured 14 feet, 1\/4 inches, and weighed 662 pounds.\u00a0 The length was just shy of the state record<\/a> for male gators caught in public waters (14 feet, 3 inches).<\/p>\n During Mississippi\u2019s alligator season<\/a>, which ends Sept. 8, permit holders can harvest two gators measuring at least 4 feet, only one of which can measure more than 7 feet.<\/p>\n According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks, \u201cthe bag limit restrictions are intended to distribute harvest among adult and juvenile alligators.\u201d<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on For The Win: Massive alligator bagged in Mississippi falls just shy of record<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Near-record](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/04fcfa45a7b7c02d8b4c74d14faac6d7.jpeg\"\/)
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