Alligator hunters bring in 13-ft, 825-pound gator from South Carolina lake

LAKE MARION, S.C. (WCIV) — On Sunday, alligator hunters Jeff Hobday and Paul Burdick had an unforgettable day on a South Carolina lake.

The duo caught a 13.5-foot, 825-pound alligator, missing the record by half an inch, in Lake Marion, the largest lake in the state.

While they fell short of rewriting the record book, Hobday said it was an exhilarating experience.

Words cannot describe it. Hunting is an exhilarating experience and it is only a 30-day season. The pressure is on to make the most of the lottery tag," Hobday said.

For Hobday and Burdick, this catch set a personal record.

"We have caught a couple 10-11 footers in the past, " Hobday said. "Most of the time, they weigh around 400 pounds. This was the biggest one I have ever caught, by far."

According to Hobday, they now plan to have the meat processed.

"The tail and jaw meat (are) the most usable. The meat from the body has a lot of fat so we took it to get processed and we are having the skull removed and bleached," Hobday said.

An alligator weighing more than 600 pounds was also caught by hunters near the lake over the same weekend.In a Facebook post, Cordray's Processing and Taxidermy said Nick Gibert and his crew came in with the massive gator on Saturday.