An 844-Pound Giant Finally Made One Mistake

Crocodile with open jaws in green water — Photo: isaxar / Shutterstock

A South Carolina hunting crew finally beat an 844-pound alligator that had dodged them for four straight years, proving old-fashioned grit and patience still pay off.

Story Snapshot

Hunters caught an 844-pound, 14-foot alligator nicknamed “Snaggletooth” at Lake Moultrie on Sept. 28.
The catch ranks as the second-largest alligator ever recorded in South Carolina.
Renegade Bowfishing’s Cole Poplin and William Ard led the hunt with tag holder Chris Webb and his father, Craig Webb.
The team had chased the elusive gator for three to four years before finally bringing it in.

Four-Year Hunt Ends At Lake Moultrie

The chase ended around 11 p.m. on Sept. 28 at Lake Moultrie in Berkeley County, about 50 miles north of Charleston. Cole Poplin and William Ard of Renegade Bowfishing guided the trip, working alongside tag holder Chris Webb and his father, Craig Webb. Together they hauled in the massive reptile after years of near misses on the same lake.

Hunters nicknamed the animal “Snaggletooth” because of its jagged, broken teeth, a feature that made it easy to recognize every time it slipped away. Once the team finally got their hands on it, the gator weighed in at a staggering 844 pounds and stretched roughly 14 feet long, according to the Charleston Post and Courier.

A Record-Setting Catch For South Carolina

That size places Snaggletooth as the second-largest alligator ever caught in the state’s history. Cole Poplin later described the years of effort it took to finally close in on the animal during an appearance on Fox News, telling viewers the gator had outmaneuvered his crew more than once before they finally tracked it down for good.

Renegade Bowfishing’s team measured the alligator three separate times shortly after the catch, each time getting a reading of 14 feet. About 11 hours later, after the carcass had been iced and straightened out again, it measured 13 feet, 8 inches, a normal shift that happens as a large animal settles after death.

Palmetto State’s Gator Season Keeps Growing

Snaggletooth’s capture came during a banner year for South Carolina’s alligator hunting program. Hunters statewide reported 467 harvested alligators during the most recent public season, an increase of 72 from the year before and the highest total recorded since at least 2013. The Middle Coastal unit, which includes Lake Moultrie, led the state with 128 of those harvests.

South Carolina runs a tightly managed, tag-based hunting system that requires licensed hunters to follow strict rules on season dates, hunting units, and reporting. The state’s hunting guide defines legal length as total length from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and successful hunters must file a harvest report for every alligator they take.

A Win For Hunting Tradition

This catch was a family and small-business effort through and through, with a father-son team working alongside a local guide service to pull off a feat that took years of patience and know-how. It’s the kind of story that reminds folks why hunting heritage still matters in rural America, built on hard work, private enterprise, and respect for the outdoors rather than government handouts or shortcuts.

Stories like Snaggletooth’s capture highlight a tradition worth protecting: regular Americans, armed with skill and determination, out on the water pursuing a legal, well-regulated harvest. No red tape, no outside interference, just a guide, a tag holder, and a gator that finally met its match after four long years.