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After a four‑year pursuit, hunters from Renegade Bowfishing LLC captured a nearly 14‑foot, 844‑pound alligator nicknamed Snaggletooth in Lake Moultrie, Berkeley County, South Carolina, cementing it as the second‑largest reptile ever taken in the state and sparking a dramatic chase that required a tractor to haul the beast home.
On the night of September 28, a coordinated team of South Carolina hunters finally brought a massive alligator, known locally as Snaggletooth, to a swift end.
The jagged‑teeth creature was apprehended at 11:00 p.m. near Lake Moultrie in Berkeley County, after a four‑year search that had the hunters returning to the same shoreline time and time again. Early estimates spotted the animal around the area in late 2022 and the group had tracked its movements for several seasons, daring the gator even outside of the official hunting period that runs from the beginning of September to early October.
Hunters Pursue Snaggletooth for Four Years
Cole Poplin and William Ard, two partners of Renegade Bowfishing LLC, spearheaded the final effort along with hunters Chris and Craig Webb. Poplin recalled that he had seen the elusive creature for the first time roughly four years ago and had previously chased it on at least two separate occasions, each time coming up short.
"I spotted this gator four years ago, roughly. I've hunted this gator a lot over the last three or four years. Four years later, we have a magical night, and he just happened to slip up and make a mistake, and we made it count," Poplin told a local paper. The catch was nothing short of overwhelming.
When the gator was hauled out of the water, it weighed 844 pounds-a staggering figure for a creature that measured nearly 14 feet from snout to tail. Its weight and size made the hunters rely on an industrial‐grade 1,000‑pound winch and a tractor to move the animal to a secure location.
Record-Size Alligator Secured in South Carolina
In a Facebook post, the team's social media manager described the moment as "the hunt of a lifetime," and the captured gator was instantly classified by state officials as the second‑largest alligator ever taken in South Carolina. The newly acquired specimen surpassed a previous record set in 2010, when a Massachusetts resident named Maryellen Mara‑Christian captured a 1,025‑pound, 13‑foot alligator on the same lake.
That earlier riposte remains the state's top catch, but Snaggletooth's arrival will sit just behind it for years to come. In their post, the hunters shared details of the chase: a wind‑whipped final sprint toward the shore, a round‑the‑world loop to get the first harpoon in, and a moment when one of the cables sheared under the pressure of the reptile's bite.
However, the story is not simply about the magnitude of the creature. For those who closely followed the chase on social media, it was a testament to determination, teamwork, and the high stakes that hunting professionals accept in pursuit of record‑setting achievements. The team voluntarily chose to hold back on an 11‑foot gator that appeared earlier that same night to pursue what they had been chasing for years.
Capture Raises Hunting and Conservation Questions
The exhilaration of the final confrontation was palpable, as Webb described it in a Facebook post: "On the last bit of ground to cover Cole and I put eyes on a monster and all hell broke loose. We scrambled to get him harpooned. One was good, one bounced off. We ended up with three stuck in him and a treble by his front leg.
" The commentary highlighted the coordinated effort present in hunting circuits that rely on sharpshooting and knowledge of animal behavior. Following the event, local authorities and wildlife conservancies have reviewed the capture procedure to ensure it complied with state regulations. While the hunters used a tractor to haul the animal, the handling was deemed within protocol because the gator weighed well above the threshold that permits manual transport.
Despite the impressive feat, the incident has spurred discussions about the regulation of large‑scale alligator hunting and the ecological impact of removing apex predators from the equation. The incident's impact will likely be felt across both the local fishing community and the conservationists who monitor alligator populations.
Though it remains a significant win for the team involved, the broader conversation about support and oversight for wildlife management continues to evolve as the state continues to assess how best to balance a booming hunting industry with the need to preserve the ecological integrity of the wetlands that support these species. The Daily Mail has reached out to Chris Webb and Renegade Bowfishing LLC for further comments on the legal and ecological implications of the record‑setting kill.
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