Selma hunters get 814 lb. gator
Published 10:34 pm Friday, August 17, 2012
Four Dallas County hunters harvested an alligator early Friday morning, the opening day for Alabama’s alligator season, that rivaled that of the state record “Fancher Alligator.” From left, Wil Tipton, Fielding Watts (tag holder) Jamie Calvert and Blake Jones with their 814 pound catch, that came in at 14-feet, 2-inches.
There was a 14-foot 2-inch, 814-pound monster lurking in the waters of the Alabama River, and Selma residents Jamie Calvert, Blake Jones, Fielding Watts and Will Tipton caught it.
Calvert, owner of Vasser’s Mini Mart, said although he was expecting to catch an alligator when he and his friends took to the waters late Thursday night, he wasn’t expecting to catch one of such large scale.
“We felt confident that we could catch one, but we had no idea it would be that big,” Calvert said. “It was a shock.”
The large catch rivals the state record-breaking ‘Fancher Alligator,’ which is on display at Central Alabama Farmer’s Co-op and is also 14-feet 2-inches in length, but weighs 838 pounds.
The alligator was hooked just south of Cedar Creek early Friday around 1 a.m.
Calvert said he wasn’t too scared when reeling in the large creature because he had hooked one several times before.
“We actually harvested one last year,” Calvert said.
According to Outdoor Alabama, although the American alligator was threatened with extinction a few decades a go, the population has now grown to the extent that they pose a nuisance in many areas, so a regulated alligator-hunting season has been implemented. Hunts in southeast Alabama are held through Aug. 26.
Tim Wood, owner of the Central Alabama Farmer’s Co-op, has said alligator hunting has the potential to bring in revenue to the area because people come from out of town to scout the waters, stay at hotels and spend money on fuel and food while in town.
“When they killed the state record up here, everybody from the Tensaw Basin in Mobile and all over, they started applying (for hunting licenses) up here because we are getting such big alligators,” Wood said.
Although this alligator is no longer patrolling the waters of the Alabama River, its life will not be forgotten.
“We are having a head mount done and some of the other guys are going to get some parts,” Calvert said.
Also, the tail will be served on a dinner plate, as Calvert says he plans for it to be eaten. “It’s not like he went to waste,” Calvert said.
