Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Why I kill rattlers. Rick, what the frick?

The best snake story I have is about a retired US West splicer and a newly discharged Marine. The old guy told EVERYONE on the crew that he was afraid of snakes,
The young marine threw a bull snake at said retiree. When he woke up in the local doctor's office bleeding from several head wounds induced by the retiree with a shovel. No more throwing snakes occurred on that crew after that. It was my crew burying cable into a new sub division.

I got bit very similar to the guy in the first video.

If your holding their head you really need to focus as they are skilled wigglers.

Index finger on my left hand.

Squeezed the punctures and got a good sized drop of venom from each one.

CroFab was about $7000 per dose back then and they try and give 6 doses.

Smart Doc in the ER said once swelling stabilizes quit the CroFab. I took three and would have been fine with 1.

I can say rattler venom does give you a nice buzz.

JFC...No Bueno touching snakes!

Shooting them, is a given. Anything else isn’t plausible to this scared-ass 🦫 bitch.

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Your honor: I was just trying to shoot the snake and save Hanco from getting bitten. I really didn't intent to shoot him, honest.

I have had enough close calls without intentionally messing with one. The closest being a medium sized one laying on the side of a steep gully I was using to stalk mule deer. It struck at me and missed my left hand by about an inch.

I don't mess with them, shoot every one I come in contact with, legal or not. And yes I always have a gun or weapon on me.

Now this is going to sound made up but I have also been bitten on my left hand by a morey eel.

Diving in Okinowa.

It's pretty ridiculously weird.

Only March & I'm posting this pic again for the year. My bud that nearly got bit knew I was terrified of snakes & ask how I could be running toward it when he was running the other way.

I told him I knew I had to solve the problem then, as I wasn't going to look for the damn thing the rest of the day. WE quit laying rifle cases all over the ground after that.

A 12 gauge is not overkill in my book. They can't be too dead for me. Have had too many run ins for my taste. Spring through fall there's always a .357 with me with snake loads for the 1st 3 rounds. Mama has the same set up, if its a 2 legged critter they get 3 rounds in the face before the hollowpoints to the chest.

Used to catch em all the time on the roads to the lease. Damn fool thing to do just for a picture.

Yep. I don’t do that anymore

I kill every single one I see.

Johnny, is there a lot of nuclear waste dumps near where you kilt that monster snake?

That thing is prehistoric.

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Nice grip on that pistol.

Crazy huh? I've seen and killed a lot of snakes out here in my life, but that one is exceptionally large. Lot's of Texans talk about 6ft rattlers, but they are few and far between IME.

I have captured quite a few rattlesnakes, especially when I was doing research in graduate school. It can be exciting, but if you handle enough snakes you may eventually make a mistake and get bitten. I generally used a snake hook and a pillowcase or other cloth snake bag. If you hold the bag open with a stick and herd the snake toward it with the snake hook they will generally go right in, kind of like escaping into a hole.

Actually handling the snake with your hands is more risky, although I've done that too and never been bitten. I would only kill a rattlesnake if it was right around my house. They have their place out in the field and do a good job of controlling rodents.

Most of the people around here are transplants from far away and to them every snake is a rattlesnake. Bad news for the mostly useful (and usually protected) snakes that get killed.

Pretty average Highline rattler, don’t mess with em unless they come in the yard.

I’m figuring the next thing to discuss is pistols and snake loads being carried.

Kinda like peas and carrots with this thread.

Me, I’m a Ruger LCRx with CCi snake shot.



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In the years I was skeptical of my own mortality I did a few crazy things with rattlesnakes, sometimes just to see if I could pull it off.

Makes me shudder.

It's amazing what some people think is funny. Some people have no social awareness. Doing that at a deer camp where everyone's got a rifle is a good way to get shot.