The open alligator season for Dallas, Monroe and Wilcox counties ended with record numbers Sunday, including a 14-foot-10-inch, 838-pound monster, which was taken near Camden.

Once again, several area hunters were on the water and took an enormous alligator of their own.

The team of Blake Jones, Clint Norris, Wesley Siddens, Wesley Smith and Crawford Henry rolled in with a 12-foot-6-inch, 720-pound alligator of their own.

Jones said after an unsuccessful hunt last weekend, they hit the water again Friday night and spotted the beast. Henry hit the reptile with a crossbow and the others began reeling him in with treble hooks on deep sea fishing equipment. When they originals saw the alligator, Jones said he had no idea it would be so large.

“We never thought it was going to be that big,” he said. “We figured it might be around 600 pounds, but not as big as it turned out to be.”

The alligator, which was hooked ½ mile below the Cahaba River feeding point, dove 26-feet deep in the river, making it difficult to harvest.

Jones said it took more than four hours to get him to the surface where he was finished with a 12-gauge loaded with No. 4 shot.

Jones said the team would definitely be interested in participating in another hunt next year.

“It’s definitely something we would want to do again,” he said. “This is the first time we have done it, but I think we would all like to try it again.”

The alligator Jones and his team harvested was one of many taken over the weekend.

Chris Cook, Wildlife biologist for the Division of Wildlife and Fisheries, said almost all of the tags handed out were cashed in.

“We ended up with 40 of the 50 tags, which included Dallas, Monroe and Wilcox counties,” he said. “We expected it to be pretty high, especially in talking to some other folks where they have had legal hunts before. They reported about 65 percent of the tags filled and in a place where they haven’t been hunted, we expected them to be high.”

If people hadn’t been trophy hunting, Cook said he believes the tags would easily have been filled.

“I think people were mostly going for the bigger ones,” he said. “If they had just been out hunting for all of the legal alligators, they probably would have turned in all 50 tags.”

The jury is still out on whether there will be a hunt next year. Cook said he believes there will be another season, but is not certain.

“I would guess so,” he said. “We’ll just see where they go from here. I think they will take a thorough look at this year’s hunt and make a decision before they set all of the seasons for next year.”

The 2011 hunts proved to be educational for many in the area who had not hunted alligators before. Jones said he will be sure to pack stronger equipment next season.

“We learned that you need strong hooks,” he said.