A nearly 14-foot alligator that dodged hunters for four years finally met its match at the bottom of a South Carolina lake.
Quick Take
- An 844-pound, 14-foot alligator nicknamed Snaggletooth was caught at Lake Moultrie on September 28.
- The catch makes it the second-largest alligator ever confirmed in South Carolina.
- Guides Cole Poplin and William Ard of Renegade Bowfishing led the hunt with clients Chris and Craig Webb.
- Hunters had tracked the gator for about four years before finally landing it near 11 p.m.
A Four-Year Hunt Ends In The Dark
Cole Poplin and William Ard of Renegade Bowfishing had chased this particular alligator for years. The animal earned its nickname, Snaggletooth, from its crooked teeth. On the night of September 28, their long pursuit finally paid off on Lake Moultrie in Berkeley County, South Carolina, just north of Charleston.
Around 11 p.m., the team closed in with tag holder Chris Webb and his father, Craig, along for the hunt. Together they hauled in an animal measuring nearly 14 feet long and weighing 844 pounds, according to The Post and Courier. It stands as the second-largest alligator ever confirmed caught in the state.
Poplin later described the experience on Fox News, calling it the result of a long chase finally paying off in the dark waters of the lake. Photos of the enormous reptile, dwarfing the hunters standing beside it, quickly spread across outlets nationwide, with several comparing the animal’s bulk to something prehistoric.
Why This Catch Stands Out In Gator Country
South Carolina’s alligator hunting season isn’t a free-for-all. It runs through a strict permit lottery, and demand for tags keeps climbing. A record 12,243 hunters applied for the 2025 lottery, competing for just 1,400 available permits. Out of that pool, hunters reported 467 harvested alligators that year, the highest total since at least 2013.
Most gators taken each season fall well short of Snaggletooth’s size. State wildlife data shows harvests exceeding 10 feet long have actually declined since South Carolina opened public hunts in 2008. That makes a near-14-footer weighing in at 844 pounds a true outlier, not just within one hunting party’s record books, but across the entire state’s modern harvest history.
The Rules Behind The Record
Catching a trophy gator is only half the job. South Carolina law requires hunters to file a harvest report within 24 hours of taking an alligator, then submit full paperwork within five business days. A copy of the harvest permit must travel with the hide at all times, a safeguard meant to keep the state’s recovering alligator population properly tracked and managed.
That system exists because alligators nearly vanished from South Carolina decades ago. Wildlife officials closed hunting for roughly 40 years before reopening a managed season in 1995, starting in just four counties. Populations rebounded well enough that the state expanded hunting access in 2008, and alligators now thrive across South Carolina’s coastal plain.
A Trophy That Reflects Smart Management
Snaggletooth’s capture isn’t just a fish tale for the ages. It’s a quiet success story for wildlife management done right. Decades of permit limits, mandatory reporting, and population monitoring allowed a creature like this to grow nearly unchecked for years, evading hunters until persistence finally won out.
Conservative, common-sense regulation, not blanket bans, built the conditions for this trophy to exist at all. South Carolina didn’t eliminate hunting to protect alligators. It managed the harvest responsibly, and nature did the rest, producing a nearly half-ton reptile that will likely be the talk of Lowcountry hunting camps for years to come.
GIANT GATOR: 844-Pound Alligator Dubbed “Snaggletooth” Captured In South Carolina
Cole Poplin With Renegade Bowfishing LLC Joined F&F First This Morning To Tell Us How He Caught “Snaggletooth” pic.twitter.com/S690HC4Eza— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) October 6, 2026
Whether another hunter ever tops Snaggletooth’s size remains to be seen. For now, the record stands as a reminder that patient, rule-following hunters in a well-managed system can still land the catch of a lifetime.
Sources:
postandcourier.com, newsnationnow.com, foxnews.com, fitsnews.com, dnr.sc.gov
