Hunter kills alligator while tracking a buck he just shot near Minnesota pond

A Minnesota man bagged a rare combo — an alligator and a deer — on a single hunt over the weekend.

Cory Klocek says he harvested a 10-point buck on the opening day of the Minnesota firearm hunting season Saturday. As he was tracking the deer around a pond, Klocek says he looked down to see the gator just 10 feet away.

“Well... this was a first for me,” Klocek posted on Facebook.

Klocek said he called game wardens for instruction, and they gave him permission to shoot it.

“No clue how it got there, or why,” Klocek posted on Facebook. “I’m guessing someone had it as a pet and released it when it got too big.”

The alligator was about 3 feet long.

A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources spokesman told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the agency gave Klocek permission to hunt the reptile.

“Oftentimes, these turn out to be pets that were turned loose or escaped from their owners,” Joe Albert told the Star Tribune. “These animals are not native to Minnesota and would be unable to survive the winter.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Hunter kills alligator while tracking a buck he just shot near Minnesota pond."