"Billy Napier 2022!"
Posted on 02/06/2022 8:52:52 AM PST by Hojczyk
This whopping beast gives a whole new meaning to catch of the day.
A Mississippi hunter has caught and killed an 80-year-old, 905lb alligator that measures 13feet 4inches in length at a lake in southern Florida.
But even this monster - an 80-year-old who was known to feast on livestock venturing too near to its lake - isn't the largest caught in Florida. The record for the longest alligator caught goes to a 14ft 3.5inch beast caught in Lake Washington in Brevard County and the heaviest was a 1,043lb one in Orange Lake in Alachua County
The hunt for the massive alligator began for Borries after his friend told him about the creature which was reportedly around since his childhood.
'This guy said he’d seen the gator since he was a child. It was time for the gator to go because some of the calves were disappearing,' Borries told WWXV25. 'So, he was down deer hunting with me, and he asked me if I wanted to come and hunt the gator.
'I said, "Absolutely." To me it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.'
Borries found the gator on a private lake in Okeechobee County about 500 yards away using the scope of his 7mm STW rifle.
The creature was then shot at the top of its head after moving 180 yards closer to Borries.
The hunter then pulled the 80-year-old creature out of the bottom of the lake and was taken aback by its enormous size.
'I had no idea the magnitude of how big his body was until we pulled him completely out of the lake,' Borries told McClatchy News.
'It had been suspected of eating some of the local livestock around the lake and was considered a threat.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
OK, I missed that.
Just a small quibble. Brevard County is not south Florida.
Whoops. Galloping stupids at play. Moving on. I see this was on the lake.
I went swimming in retention ponds, but only in groups of drunk people...
First spotted at 500 yards then it moved 180 yards closer. If correct then it was shot at 320 yards. 7mm STW is a beast of a cartridge suitable for anything on earth. That between the eyes shot at 320 was either dumb luck or the shooter is a master class marksman. I suspect it was a close range coup de grâce.
I wear a size 11 boot.
Oh Behave!!!!!
It seems there’s safety in (drunk) numbers.
I’m not fond of them either, but I imagine they provide some useful service in the grand scheme of things in the wild. But the state and counties should definitely reduce the numbers, especially near populated areas. I remember when that poor child was dragged in and killed by a gator in a big retention pond/“lake” at a Disney hotel in Orlando.
For tourists, they can see them at the Alligator Farm here in St Augustine.
True story. My Dad born 1916 initials WJC, was a pilot in, (USAF) WWII. But after digital instrumentation came and it was determined that Dad was colorblind, he was assigned as a classroom instructor at the Naval Air Station in Orlando. This would have been 1943 or after. One day he decided to go fishing in some small ponds nearby. He caught a nice bass in the first pond but knew that the bass he caught had eaten all the rest of the fish there, so he moved to the next pond. He caught nothing, cast after cast. Suddenly, two large eyes began a slow swim in his direction. Dad knew he had just one chance. He reached back and set the throttle and gave it one hard pull. The small boat shot forward and Dad turned to see a large gator doing a death roll. He had missed.
From the description, I always wondered if that was Disney ground.
Dad lived to be 89 1/2 and died from a stroke.
Talk in Florida in the 1960s was that alligators were endangered.
Certainly not now!
Black Creek had no housing when I camped out there in 1959.
Google Earth shows THAT’S changed!
Amen.
“7mm STW is a beast of a cartridge suitable for anything on earth.”
It is a high velocity relatively small caliber load. It is a magnum load pushing the strength of the action.
I have a beast that will shoot a .348 250 grain bullet at 2600 fps and has a range of 600 yards.
With the advent of Hornady’s FTX bullets that is extended.
I’m not the shot that this guy is.
I do know what a mule kicks like.
89 is a solid life, and it sounds like he made the best of it.
Side note - don’t mess with gators in a small boat.
Black Creek/Middleburg is home of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Tofu from Whole Foods?
Miles of mature Cypress forest lost to the beat of rock music.
“Oak Tree you’re in my way!”
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