A crew of seven determined local men, ready to nab an alligator in Lake Marion on the last day of South Carolina’s Public Alligator Harvest Program, had no idea their collective optimism would end up weighing 1,060 pounds and measuring 13 feet, 2 inches.

Gregg Antley, State Law Enforcement Division special agent; Elloree Police Chief Preston Avinger (harvest tag holder); Terry Chavis, Windstream service technician; Tyler Garrett, a student at First Assembly Christian School; St. Matthews Fire Chief Wendy Heckle; Calhoun County Coroner Donnie Porth and Elloree Assistant Police Chief Lin Shirer gathered for a collective gator hunt at midnight Saturday at Stump Hole Landing on Lake Marion.

For four hours, the group searched areas in and around Stump Hole Landing hoping to see signs of gator activity.

Lin Shirer said that at around 4 a.m., the group was getting ready to head home “when Wendy and Terry shined some eyes in a cove.”

The crew approached the cove and used a rod-and-reel to launch a snatch hook into the gator. The men said they initially thought the alligator was about a 7-footer. The gator crept along the lake bottom “for hours” after Antley struck him with a harpoon, Shirer said.

Nearly two hours had passed when the gator surfaced for a moment – just long enough for Shirer to get a glimpse of its immense head. He quickly determined the critter was much larger than they originally believed.

By 6 a.m., the men had secured the gator with three harpoons and a snatch hook. Avinger said once the alligator was secured,  it was shot it in the head with a Glock .357 Sig handgun.

Next, the crew attached the gator by its head to their boat and towed him to Stump Hole Landing, a process that took more than two hours, Shirer said.

Randy Coleman of the Ft. Motte Fire Department furnished a trailer on which to load the monster gator.

Shirer and Avinger said Saturday’s outing was their sixth hunt of the season.

“This was a total group effort, and each participant played a vital role in the alligator harvest,” Avinger said.

Shirer said the group transported the giant gator to the Highway 601 Deer Processing facility in Ft. Motte to have it butchered for the meat. They also plan to utilize the hide of the alligator.

The S.C. Public Alligator Harvest Program was instituted last year for the first time. According to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, the state has an estimated alligator population of more than 100,000, and the hunt has proven immensely popular. Last year, 1,000 of 1,475 applicants for the hunt received permits; this year 3,715 hunters applied for the 1,000 permits, according to SCDNR.

According to SCDNR Wildlife Biologist Jay Butfiloski, the applicants represented 35 different states.

“If you have a group of friends, they all apply to increase their odds that one of them will get drawn,” Butfiloski told The Greenville News. “And you need help. It’s not a solitary hunt.”

Last year’s total harvest was 362; through last week, this year’s harvest was at around 310 animals. There have been “quite a few” 12-foot alligators killed, Butfiloski told The Greenville News, with the largest reported animal 13 feet, 8 inches – again, coming from Lake Marion.

“Anything over 10 feet is a big gator,” Butfiloski told the newspaper. “The weights can really vary. Some may weigh 300 pounds; then an animal of the same length may weigh 450 pounds.”

The hot spots? The Santee Cooper lakes lead the way, followed by the Cooper River and the Georgetown area, Butfiloski told the Greenville paper.

T&D Correspondent Martha Rose Brown can be reached by e-mail at marfawose@aol.com.

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