Just days after a man was bitten by an alligator in the Savannah River, alligator hunters reeled in a giant gator from the very same waters.
Here's what to know
According to WJBF, Mason Dodd and Tony Jones said they used specialized hooks attached to their rods to catch the animal in the Savannah River.
According to the hunters, the gator was 12 feet 6 inches long and weighed about 570 pounds. The report did not identify whether this gator was the one involved in the earlier biting incident.
Jones said the fight made clear they had hooked something unusual.
"When we first hooked it, he stayed underwater for probably an hour and half, two hours before he came up for air," he said. "And that first time he came up for air is when we realized we had something a little different than we thought."
The hunters said they harvested more than 160 pounds of meat from the animal and sent the hide to a tanner.
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The hunters posted about the gator on the CSRA Whitetails and More Facebook and Instagram pages.
Dodd said the size made it feel like a rewarding achievement.
"Yeah, especially as a hunter when you come across a trophy or something like that, you know something that large, you're just like … oh, I mean, this is what you dream of," Dodd said.
Where can I learn more?
Alligator encounters across the Southeast show how often these huge reptiles turn up near people.
• In South Carolina, police wrestled an alligator in a neighborhood as sightings worried residents.
• In Berkeley County, South Carolina, animal control called for backup after a giant porch gator refused to move.
• Researchers found many bites can be prevented when people avoid risky behavior around alligators.
• In Florida's Rainbow River, a teen snorkeler was bitten before an alligator was removed.
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