Bryan Burnside and Anthony Acy have harvested alligators together more for more than a decade.

And on Monday morning in the Mississippi Southwest Alligator Hunting Zone near Natchez, the experienced gator hunters accomplished a feat they’ll remember for decades to come.

Alongside Acy’s son, Colby Acy, and Stephen Brady, the hunting party managed to harvest the largest recorded male alligator in state history at 14 feet, 3/4 inches, breaking the previous mark by a half-inch.

MDWFP Alligator Program Coordinator Ricky Flynt certified the record gator.

“We never expected to catch the state record,” Burnside said.

The gator weighed 766.5 pounds. The belly girth was 69 inches, and the tail girth was 43 inches.

“(Sunday night) we caught one around 11 feet and turned it loose,” Burnside said. “Then we caught another one that was about the same size and turned him loose.”

The Brandon resident said his group was looking for more.

“I personally wasn’t going to harvest anything under 13 feet,” Burnside said.

And they quickly found it after releasing the second alligator.

“We knew he was big, but we didn’t realize how big,” Burnside said. “We got three hooks on him and a snare, but the snare came off and two hooks broke loose. We got two more hooks back in him, then two snares on him before getting him in the boat.”

Burnside said when his group measured the alligator in the boat they recorded a rough estimate just over 13 feet.

“And that’s with him not straight,” he said. “I knew the old record, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this could be a new state record.’”

Turns out Burnside’s suspicions were true.

“It was just an awesome experience to share with a great group of guys,” he said.