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Texas man catches massive alligator snapping turtle, then releases it back into the wild
Chron.com ^ | June 23 2022 | Ariana Garcia

Posted on 06/26/2022 6:36:36 PM PDT by texas booster

The turtle weighed around 200 lbs and was likely over a 100 years old, angler Justin Broomhall estimated.

The Longview, Texas resident hooked a massive alligator snapping turtle on Father's Day, the biggest he's ever seen. "My dad was like 'Holy smokes, look at the size of that!'" Broomhall said. "My three-year-old son started panicking. He thought it was a dinosaur and kept saying, 'Let it go. Let it go. Put it back!'"

Broomhall was using dough bait in hopes of reeling in a catfish, he said. However, "from [the turtle] being so old and going blind, he's using his smell to find bait," he said. "I guess he felt it, thinking it was some other dead fish and he ate it."

When Broomhall reached behind the turtle's head and grabbed his shell to hoist the turtle, he noticed the hook was still in its mouth.

"So I just slid off in the water with him and grabbed him by his back leg and grabbed him by his tail," Broomhall said, explaining how they were able to bring the beast in and remove the hook. "My dad pulled me back on land, and I pulled him up about halfway out of the water, and then we threw a rope around his head and flipped him over on his back."

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: texas
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To: Flick Lives

History is a very short period of time.


21 posted on 06/26/2022 6:55:18 PM PDT by gundog ( It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: Clay Moore

They’re protected in Texas.


22 posted on 06/26/2022 6:56:46 PM PDT by gundog ( It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: texas booster

“This dude knows wildlife and respects them. Need more like him.”

Willing to betcha that this guy’s type gets killed now and then. Nature isn’t always kind.


23 posted on 06/26/2022 6:56:50 PM PDT by George from New England
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To: Clay Moore

Maybe the young ones are, but how long would you need to stew a 100 y.o. piece of meat to make it palatable?

No matter how much oil, milk or honey you could add.

Yeah, I suspect that my old slow cooker would just start crying.


24 posted on 06/26/2022 6:57:06 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: Jim W N

Because the east is older. Much of the South and Midwest w Rd shallow seas when the dinosaurs ruled. The Rockies are relatively young.


25 posted on 06/26/2022 6:58:42 PM PDT by RedMonqey
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To: meyer

There sure is a big difference between a Florida man and a Texas man.

Texas man usually still has most of his teef, and most of his fingers.

But when it comes to women ...


26 posted on 06/26/2022 6:59:16 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: M_Continuum

We’ve caught much smaller ones on fishing lines here in Texas, and one of my friends decided to aggravate one a bit with a broom handle. They are quick as lightning to snap, and that one, about a 5 pounder, bit the end off the cheap broom handle, so yeah, a 200 pounder could do some damage!


27 posted on 06/26/2022 6:59:52 PM PDT by Quickgun (I got here kicking,screaming and covered in someone else's blood. I can go out that way if I have to)
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To: FreedomPoster

I mean, how do you hold his mouth open to get the hook out, pushin or pullin?


28 posted on 06/26/2022 7:00:43 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: texas booster

Nice photoshop. LOL


29 posted on 06/26/2022 7:00:54 PM PDT by logitech
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To: texas booster

That guy’s crazy.


30 posted on 06/26/2022 7:02:49 PM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: texas booster

on the other hand, Florida man is blessed with the best governor in the country. Though Texas’ gov isn’t bad.


31 posted on 06/26/2022 7:03:24 PM PDT by meyer (Everything woke turns to poo.)
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To: Flick Lives

Fun movies.


32 posted on 06/26/2022 7:04:04 PM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: texas booster

This turtle is 200 pounds?

That dude is pretty strong.


33 posted on 06/26/2022 7:04:27 PM PDT by Celerity
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To: texas booster
Here is a better picture of another handsome alligator snapping turtle.

Now, you hold open his jaws while I get the hook out (said no one ever).


34 posted on 06/26/2022 7:04:30 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: Jim W N

We do have monster sturgeon, halibut and chinook!


35 posted on 06/26/2022 7:04:41 PM PDT by 31R1O
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To: texas booster

That is just a little bit bigger than what we (rarely) caught in our family’s lake, when I was a kid.

I had no idea the age could have been so high, but they tasted good.


36 posted on 06/26/2022 7:05:58 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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37 posted on 06/26/2022 7:06:30 PM PDT by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversaet! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia! )
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To: lee martell
>>was to read that the animal was set free afterwards.

Snapping turtles are protected species in Texas by law.

38 posted on 06/26/2022 7:07:23 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: meyer

After seeing these pictures, The Small arms of a T-rex make more sense, now.

The Triceratops has a similar shaped beak. If a T-rex had long arms, they would be at risk of being chomped off in a scuffle.


39 posted on 06/26/2022 7:08:19 PM PDT by UNGN
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To: texas booster

Looks like maxine waters.


40 posted on 06/26/2022 7:10:48 PM PDT by Track9 (You are far too inquisitive not to be seduced…)
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