Georgia hunters have bagged a couple of massive alligators this week, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

On Wednesday, a hunter killed an 11-foot, 800-pound gator near in the Chattahoochee River near Fort Benning. It still had part of a large pig in its mouth when it was shot, the Franklin police chief told Channel 2 Action News.

On Sunday in Lake Seminole, in the state's southwest corner, hunters killed a 13-foot, 9-inch gator that weighed 680 pounds. It was the longest taken since Georgia's alligator hunting season began in 2003.

"Once they had a line on the animal, it took them two hours to get him to the boat," DNR spokeswoman Melissa Cummings told the AJC. "The gator was dispatched with a .44-caliber bangstick."

Georgia's gator hunting season runs from Sept. 4 to Oct. 3. Permit holders are allowed to bag one alligator, and it must be at least four feet long.

According to the DNR, hunters may use hand-held ropes or snares, snatch hooks, harpoons, gigs or arrows with a restraining line attached. Immediately upon capture, the gator must be dispatched with a handgun or bangstick, or by severing the spinal cord with a sharp implement.

The hunting season helps control Georgia's flourishing gator population. In addition, state-licensed trappers annually remove about 450 gators around Georgia.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. (center) is flanked by GOP whip Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. (left) and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, as Thune speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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