Man bags 750-pound alligator while hunting area where giants roam, Texas photos show
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There’s a lake in south Texas with muddy shores and murky water teeming with giant alligators, and a hunter recently bagged one of the biggest among them — perhaps one of the biggest ever caught in the state.
The hunter, who state wildlife officials did not name, set out onto Choke Canyon Reservoir in September in search of a gator, the James E. Daughtrey Wildlife Management Area said in a Sept. 30 Facebook post. Choke Creek Canyon Reservoir is part of the Daughtrey WMA.
The hunter was one of several whose name was drawn this season, giving him the right to prowl for gators at the 34,000-acre reserve. And while others caught some truly monstrous gators, none could touch his prize in weight or length.
In photos shared by the reserve, the hunter looks bite-sized beside his catch, which measured 13 feet, 8 inches and weighed 750 pounds.
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According to the post, all of the alligators harvested were bull gators, meaning large and aggressive males.
When dealing with predators of this size, it’s easy to imagine how dangerous such a hunt can be if something goes wrong.
“Plenty more where those came from,” a commenter wrote. “Always pop up when you least expect it.”
“Choke Canyon is just full of studs,” said another who shared the reserve’s post.
“I don’t even go there anymore,” one person wrote. “The last time we were on a 15 (foot) jon boat and I swear one bull looked larger than the boat. I felt like I was on a little inner tube after that.”
Impressive as the recent catch is, it’s still shy of the largest alligator successfully hunted in Texas, which was more than 14 feet and weighed 800 pounds, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. It was living in the same lake when hunted in 2013, the Choke Canyon Reservoir.
Rules for hunting alligators at the Daughtrey WMA are more strict than in other parts of the state, as there’s only one method that’s legally allowed. Hunters must first snag a gator using a hook and line, then shoot it with a shotgun — and only a shotgun, officials say.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department assumed control of the Daughtrey WMA in 1981, officials said. Of the 34,000 acres, only 7,000 is land while the rest is the reservoir.
“The WMA historically has been used as a public use area to provide optimum hunting opportunity and appreciable public use,” TPWD said.