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Arkansas alligator hunters bag 525-pound reptile

By Ben Hooper
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Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A trio of alligator hunters in Arkansas bagged a nearly 12-foot gator that tipped the scales at a whopping 525 pounds.

Martin Walt, one of 101 Arkansas residents to receive an alligator hunting permit during the summer, brought friends Warren Parker and John Manues along for a hunting expedition on a family swamp outside Dumas.

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The men took Parker's grandfather's boat, the Graveyard Shift, to seek out the largest of the nearly 50 alligators sighted in the swamp.

"We actually want the biggest, meanest, nastiest gator we can find to go after," Parker told KARZ-TV.

The men said the reptile put up a struggle.

"He kind of floated up and, I guess, held his ground more or less," Parker said. "I feel like he was the dominate gator in the area."

The hunters used two harpoons to snare the reptile and struggled for about 20 minutes to capture the beast.

Walt posted photos of the victorious hunters with their catch on Facebook this week.

The gator, which measured 11 feet, 8 inches long and weighed in at 525 pounds, was taken to a facility in DeWitt to have its skin made into boots and belts.

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