A family in Alabama has slain a 1000-pound alligator over the weekend, setting a new state record for the largest-ever caught in a legal hunt, reports said on Monday.

The alligator was pulled from the river in South Alabama after struggling for hours against the group of hunters who made catching it a family affair, according to a report in AL.com. It was 15-foot (4.5-meter) long and weighed 1,011.5 pounds (459 kilograms). 

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Mandy and John Stokes, together with brother-in-law Kevin Jenkins and his children Savannah, 16, and Parker, 14, battled with the animal for more than five hours on a late Friday evening until Saturday morning.

The family had tried several times to catch the alligator with lines and snatch hooks but it didn't go down. Mandy Stokes even shot the alligator at the "sweet spot" behind its eyes only to make it mad.

Fear had taken hold during that point, the hunters told AL.com.

The massive creature moved forward and started towing the boat with its five passengers across the river.

The towing went on until the boat crashed into a tree stump. It sent the crew spilling on top of each other into the bottom of the boat.

It took them a few minutes to recover from the impact, nonetheless they realized that they had to kill the alligator quick or cut it loose.

By then, John managed to work a snare around the animal's tail while Kevin tied one of their final snatch hooks under its bottom jaw.

Targeting again its sweet spot, Mandy took another shot and ended the life of the alligator.

"We give all the glory to God. Ten men couldn't have done what we did," John said. Mandy Stokes added that if it wasn't for God's grace, they never could have done it.

The family is planning to send the alligator to a taxidermy shop.

Although alligators are a protected species in Alabama, U.S. states authorities grant legal hunts every August to control its population in places where they cause trouble.