A group of north central Mississippi hunters captured an alligator weighing nearly 700 pounds and measuring nearly 14 feet long, nearly setting a state record.

When the group made the catch on Friday, Aug. 29, hunter Blake Daugherty was with his two sons and his hunting partner in a lake off the Mississippi River in Natchez, about 103 miles southwest of Jackson, he told USA TODAY this week.

Initially speaking to the Clarion-Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network, Daugherty and his hunting partner Jimmy Appleton said they were hoping to catch a 12-footer. As they waited patiently for hunting season to begin at noon that day, they heard a "guttural growl," Appleton told the Clarion-Ledger.

Daugherty echoed his hunting partner's sentiments on Sept. 4, telling USA TODAY that the hunters qu

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