Florida hunters nab nearly 15-foot gator that was snacking on their cattle

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (FOX 13) - Two hunters at a Florida farm say it's the largest alligator they've ever captured in the wild: nearly 15 feet long.

Lee Lightsey, the owner of Outwest Farms in Okeechobee, and hunting guide, Blake Godwin, discovered the monster alligator in one their cattle ponds while on a guided hunt on April 2. They believe the gator had been feasting on the farm's cattle.

"We also discovered the remains what we determined to be cattle in the water. We determined that he was in fact attacking our livestock as they came to drink," Godwin said. They spotted the gator Saturday as it surfaced about 20 feet in front of them and Lightsey shot it, Godwin said.

The gator measured just under 15 feet and weighed in at over 800 pounds. He was so big, they had to use a large farm tractor to pull it from the water, Godwin said.

Photos show the gigantic alligator dangling from a tractor that had lifted it up out of the swamp. 

The company has been guiding hunts for alligators, wild boar, and turkey in Florida for 18 years and Lightsey says on his website he's been hunting all his life. The largest alligator they had taken before was just over 14 feet and this one was bigger than that, Godwin said.

They plan to donate the gator's meat to charity and have the alligator taxidermied for display at their hunting shows and expos.

By the way, Godwin said the photos of the monster gator were taken with their cell phones and uploaded directly to Facebook and weren't photoshopped. "It is hard to believe that something this big exists in the wild," Godwin said. "Hunting is a way of life for us and we are very proud of it!" he said.