Hunters Catch One of the Biggest Alligators Ever in Florida

Florida is home to 21 million people — plus a whole lot of alligators. About 1.3 million reptiles are swimming and strolling around the Sunshine State, so it isn't surprising that every week there is a wild new alligator incident. This week, it focuses on a Florida hunting guide who caught a 13-foot, 920-pound alligator and managed to paddle his 15-foot boat to shore with the help of two men without sinking. 

Kevin Brotz told his crazy tale to McClatchy News this week, revealing how he and his partners wrangled the large gator and brought it back to shore. 

The next question is: How did three men, plus a 13-foot-plus gator, fit in a 15-foot boat? According to Brotz, the seating chart was pretty creative. 

He revealed that he sat on top of the alligator for part of the ride to shore. "On the head," he specified. 

 "It had about 8 inches of water in it," he said. "Some people would say it was swamped because they're not used to it. It wasn't in danger of sinking."

Brotz, along with Darren Field and Carson Gore, caught the gator on Friday, Aug. 25, and is one of the heaviest ever caught in the state – the record is 1,043 pounds for a male caught in Alachua County's Orange Lake.

Brotz caught the alligator in 12 feet deep water and it took the trio four hours. They first believed they hooked a 10- to 11-foot alligator, then it "breached up and out of the water 3 feet high," Brotz said. 

"We could tell the gator was way bigger than we thought. It feels like you got a log with legs when the alligator is that big. Often times, when you get a giant, they don't take off like a marlin. They want to stand their ground and fight," he said. "We knew if we made a mistake or the gator decided to do something crazy, we could be in trouble. We were operating with a lot of confidence and a little bit of crazy."

After they wrangled him in, they struggled to get him on the boat. "The back of the boat did go underwater at one time," Brotz says. "We had to try a couple of methods to get it to fit."

It took them an hour to get to the boat landing. Brotz says that they used the alligator to feed family and friends and "people in need" in the community.

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He is also having the alligator mounted for display at his home in Oviedo, where he will hang it in the living room. "We have a corner fireplace and he'll go on the wall above the fireplace. We'll have to re-enforce the wall first," Brotz says. "This dinosaur will live forever."