Arkansas Man Harvests Record Alligator Nearly 14 Feet Long
OutdoorHub Reporters 10.02.13
An Arkansas hunter armed with a harpoon bagged what is now being called the state’s longest alligator. Drew Baker found the large gator in Little River County’s Lost Lake on only his second alligator hunt.
“Honestly, I thought ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do with this thing now that I have him,'” Baker told KTHV.
According to the Daily Mail, Baker fought the alligator for nearly an hour after hooking it with a harpoon. At 1,100 pounds and 13 feet, 9 inches long, the Arkansas gator managed to beat out the previous state record for length by six inches. It also managed to dwarf a spree of record-breaking Mississippi alligators caught earlier this month.
“This one being as big as he is, he just thought he was the king of the lake anyway,” Baker said. “He wasn’t going to be afraid of anybody.”
The catch was not as heavy as the 1,380-pound monster caught in Millwood Lake by Mike Cottingham last September. Still, it was more than Baker and his hunting party could lift and the gator was dragged back to shore alongside their boat. Baker expects that he will be getting about 400 pounds of meat from the reptile. He plans to donate the hide and head to a local museum.
An interview with Baker can be seen below:
