Last weekend an 800+ pound, 15-foot-long alligator was captured from Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Lee Lightsey (owner of Outwest Farms) and guide Blake Godwin spotted this herculean dinosaur while hunting on their farm last Saturday and Lightsey took the shot from 20-feet-away, believing that this alligator was responsible for eating livestock from his farm.
The pair then had to use Lightsey’s farm tractor to pull the 800+ pound alligator out of the water, after doing so they snapped this crazy AF photo, and for what it’s worth the state record in Florida for ‘length’ is 14-feet, 3.5-inches in length. So if these guys took the proper measurements they might have a new Florida state record on their hands:
Lee Lightsey, the owner of Outwest Farms in Okeechobee, and hunting guide, Blake Godwin, discovered the monster alligator in one their cattle ponds while on a guided hunt on April 2. They believe the gator had been feasting on the farm’s cattle.
“We also discovered the remains what we determined to be cattle in the water. We determined that he was in fact attacking our livestock as they came to drink,” Godwin said. They spotted the gator Saturday as it surfaced about 20 feet in front of them and Lightsey shot it, Godwin said.
The company has been guiding hunts for alligators, wild boar, and turkey in Florida for 18 years and Lightsey says on his website he’s been hunting all his life. The largest alligator they had taken before was just over 14 feet and this one was bigger than that, Godwin said.
They plan to donate the gator’s meat to charity and have the alligator taxidermied for display at their hunting shows and expos.
By the way, Godwin said the photos of the monster gator were taken with their cell phones and uploaded directly to Facebook and weren’t photoshopped. “It is hard to believe that something this big exists in the wild,” Godwin said. “Hunting is a way of life for us and we are very proud of it!” he said
After seeing these pics I can’t help but think it’s time for me to take the two hour drive on down to Lake Okeechobee. It’s been a few years since I last got over to ‘Florida’s Inland Sea’, the largest lake in the state of Florida.
If you’re interested in setting up a guided hunting tour from Outwest Farms you can CLICK HERE to head on over to their Facebook page for more information.
[h/t FOX13News]