MN Whitetail Deer Hunter Bags Trophy Buck and an Alligator?!

Photo Credit: Cory Klocek

In what could only be categorized as something to have happened in 2020, we have a confirmed report of a Minnesota whitetail deer hunter who successfully filled his buck tag on firearm opener weekend, and then proceeded to harvest an alligator as well. The lucky (or unlucky) hunter is Cory Klocek from Princeton, Minnesota and he regales the tale on his Facebook of how everything went down:

“Well… this was a first for me… Great Minnesota gun opener… Odd Minnesota opener…. this morning I harvested a beautiful 10 point buck, this was my first ever deer with a shotgun, as I am usually a rifle hunter (different zone, different regs). As I’m walking around a pond, tracking my deer, I look down to see a 3 foot alligator 10 feet in front of me. After contacting the game warden, I was informed I could shoot it. No clue how it got there, or why. I’m guessing someone had it as a pet and released it when it got too big. Either way, only in 2020 can you go out to sit for deer gun season opener in Minnesota and shoot an alligator. I’m still at a loss of words lol. Legit speechless. The plan is to mount them together in a fun taxidermy piece.“

Minnesota can be one of the coldest and most unforgiving states in the United States, but this year it has been unseasonably warm. While some deer openers have 1 -2 feet of snow, this year we saw temps in the 70s with a light forecast of alligator! This will truly be the hunt and harvest of a lifetime for this young man, and as he stated above he will definitely have one of the most unique mounts in the state of MN. Have you heard of any other unique and perplexing hunting stories this fall? Any that could top this? As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

Adam Scepaniak