{"id":1104,"date":"2026-10-02T00:52:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T00:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/10\/02\/844-lb-alligator-found-lurking-in-south-carolina-lake-is-confirmed-as-second-largest-gator-in-the-state\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T00:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T00:52:23","slug":"844-lb-alligator-found-lurking-in-south-carolina-lake-is-confirmed-as-second-largest-gator-in-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/10\/02\/844-lb-alligator-found-lurking-in-south-carolina-lake-is-confirmed-as-second-largest-gator-in-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"844-Lb. Alligator Found Lurking in South Carolina Lake is Confirmed as Second Largest Gator in the State"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The giant reptile was pulled from Lake Moultrie after a years-long pursuit<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/ST_YpbPMbecfQpsSb5PxrTurB2s=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/844-pound-alligator-100126-23f0490f770545159601dd994b3e3367.jpg\" alt=\"The 844-pound reptile, nicknamed \u201cSnaggletooth,\u201d measured 14 feet after being pulled from Lake Moultrie on Sept. 28Credit: Renegade Bowfishing LLC\/Facebook (2)\" title=\"844-Pound Alligator Found Lurking in South Carolina Lake is Confirmed as Second Largest Gator in the State\" \/><figcaption><i>The 844-pound reptile, nicknamed \u201cSnaggletooth,\u201d measured 14 feet after being pulled from Lake Moultrie on Sept. 28<br \/>Credit: Renegade Bowfishing LLC\/Facebook (2)<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The 844-pound alligator, nicknamed \u201cSnaggletooth,\u201d is the second-largest confirmed harvest in South Carolina<\/li>\n<li>The massive reptile was pulled from Lake Moultrie on Sept. 28 after a years-long pursuit<\/li>\n<li>It was initially measured at 14 feet, though a second measurement hours later came in at 13 feet, 8 inches<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>An enormous alligator pulled from a South Carolina lake is making a place for itself in the state\u2019s record books.<\/p>\n<p>The 844-pound reptile, nicknamed \u201cSnaggletooth,\u201d measured 14 feet after being pulled from Lake Moultrie on Sept. 28, making it the second-largest confirmed alligator harvest in South Carolina, according to <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/charleston_sc\/844-pound-alligator-lake-moultrie-south-carolina\/article_4123f726-d68d-4e87-b286-0f4a315b0930.html\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>The Post and Courier<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The massive animal was captured around 11 p.m. after a years-long pursuit by Cole Poplin of <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Dd4h0C_l0Qs\/\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Renegade Bowfishing<\/a>, who was hunting with William Ard and clients Chris Webb and his father, Craig Webb, according to <em>The Post and Courier.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The hunt was anything but straightforward.<\/p>\n<p>Chris recalled that the group encountered an alligator measuring more than 11 feet only about 20 minutes after beginning the outing. Rather than take it, they continued searching. Over the course of the night, the group pursued at least 20 alligators before their attention turned to the animal that would ultimately be identified as Snaggletooth, according to a <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chris.webb.963\/posts\/pfbid0F7B6rLGwMnfZfGSUxrALaz5HfGw8QMSkzR2Jvyt4nNoUaLPdyRN947LayrCzLcKbl\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As the group made another pass through the grass, Poplin and Chris spotted the much larger alligator. They scrambled to secure it, with several harpoons ultimately landing in the animal as the group worked to bring it under control, Chris wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The process of getting the alligator onto the boat proved to be nearly as challenging as catching it. Chris said the group struggled to free and move the animal and nearly wore out a winch in the process. By the time they returned to the boat ramp, everyone was estimating that the alligator was somewhere in the 13-foot range, he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the measurement.<\/p>\n<p>Chris said the group initially measured the alligator at exactly 14 feet, prompting them to realize just how significant the catch was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSTATE RECORD BABY! Last night was a hunt of a lifetime! We hit the lake with Renegade Bowfishing LLC for a big gator and the trip did not disappoint,\u201d Chris wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>He described the catch as an experience he expected to remember for the rest of his life and thanked Poplin and Ard for their efforts during the hunt, as well as Cordray\u2019s assistance in helping unload, weigh and process the animal.<\/p>\n<p>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\">PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n<p>Snaggletooth wasn\u2019t Poplin and Ard\u2019s first encounter with a giant alligator this season.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in September, Poplin harvested a 12-foot, 9-inch alligator weighing 769 pounds while hunting the Santee Cooper lakes with Ard, according to <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fitsnews.com\/2026\/09\/30\/monster-844-pound-alligator-harvested-from-south-carolina-lake\/\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><em>FitsNews<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Poplin told <em>Carolina Sportsman<\/em> that the animal was a \u201ccertified giant,\u201d although it wasn\u2019t the alligator the pair had originally been searching for, <em>FitsNews<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n<p>Lake Moultrie has long been associated with some of the state\u2019s largest alligators, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>The largest confirmed alligator harvest in South Carolina came in 2010, when Massachusetts hunter Maryellen Mara-Christian caught a 1,025-pound, 13-foot alligator at Lake Moultrie, according to <em>The Post and Courier<\/em>. Mara-Christian, who had experience hunting other animals, said at the time that it was her first alligator harvest.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The giant reptile was pulled from Lake Moultrie after a years-long pursuit The 844-pound reptile, nicknamed \u201cSnaggletooth,\u201d measured 14 feet after being pulled from Lake Moultrie on Sept. 28Credit: Renegade Bowfishing LLC\/Facebook (2) NEED TO KNOW The 844-pound alligator, nicknamed \u201cSnaggletooth,\u201d is the second-largest confirmed harvest in South Carolina The massive reptile was pulled from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}