Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Snake bites

I know several people bitten by rattlers here, one when crawling up a hill, one trying to catch the rattler, one while repairing equipment and one died after opening up a den with a bulldozer.
Forgot my neighbor got bit while walking his dogs and the ambulance took him to a town where the hospital had no anti venom, so he had to be flown to another hospital.
They told me it was extremely painful but the anti venom was almost worse.
My findings here are unless you find them holed up like in the wheelline motor cover or on the lawn, the best time is 74 degrees when they stretch out on the rocks or roads.
The best part is the cost after the bite care can be tens of thousands.

Guy got copperhead bit here, and the antivenom alone was $50k.

I think the type of terrain people tend to be in has a lot to do with their attitudes regarding snake protection.

As someone mentioned above, here in SC we have every kind of venomous snake found in North America. Here in the Low Country, you often are hunting/fishing/walking around where there's a lot of knee high vegetation, concealing a lot of what might be on the ground. When a friend of mine invited me to hunt his property he was adamant: "Whenever you're out here, wear snake boots and carry a pistol, the cottonmouths are bad around here. Kill every snake you see."

I have a pair of Red Wing/Irish Setter over the calf snake boots. They are some sort of synthetic and lace up so they are really stable and good to walk in, enough so that I use them even when the weather is cold enough not to have to worry about snakes. I've found them to be pretty much an ideal hunting boot for this area.

I might never need snake boots, but then again I might never need the Sig 365 I take everywhere with me too.

Have been going to Alaska and or working and living there since 1987. 2023 was the first bear encounter that was getting close to bothering me. Had to shoot one that was destroying our one hunting cabin. Then a week later around midnight one tore the fly off my tent and almost got one arm in the tent before I ran it off and offered it a few noises with the 10mm.

I've carried all those times. Period. Still do. I've never really HAD to use the defense gun YET... doesn't mean I won't stop carrying it.

I wear snake boots in heavy snake country. Forget the brand but they look like cowboy boots. Probably a pair of Justins IIRC.

Only times I've been bit were once on a thumbnail in a wood pile. Once in a rubber boot in the back of the ankle and once on a finger last spring pulling a limb from under a shredder at dark. A really dumb place to reach... and that one got me just a bit of poison.

Things eventually will happen.

Buy good (comfortable) snake boots. Treat them well with permethrin. The boots will then protect you from the real danger in the Arkansas woods, ticks and chiggers. You may not need it for snakes, but the treated boots may save you a case of Lymes or RMSF.

I've spent a fair amount of time in places with venomous snakes and used to do research on them when I was in graduate school. I never bothered with snake boots or gaiters. I've also handled quite a few venomous snakes and luckily have never been bitten. That said, handling venomous snakes makes it more likely that you might get bitten, and I've known several biologists who were bitten.

A pair of sturdy leather hiking boots will stop most snakebites, and if you want to feel more secure, topping those with gaiters would give you some additional protection although they might be hot in summer weather. Most snakebites to the legs are in the foot and lower part of the leg so boots and gaiters would cover most situations. Only a really large snake or one above you on a slope is likely to bite above the knee.

I've done birding myself and know how you can get fixated on activity in the trees. But it would be wise, regardless of whether you wear snake boots/gaiters or not, to watch where you're putting your feet. It's just another form of situational awareness.

I wasn't going to do it, as it's been posted several times, but feel forced to make a point. My bud getting something out of the back seat of the truck. Heard the buzz & felt the hit on his calf, screamed & ran. Hell, in my part of Ky. we don't have to deal with this.
I stopped him, got info, checked his leg to find the snake didn't quite make the trip, & bud wasn't bit. Even though scared to death of snakes I realized the mad SOB had to be put down. I wasn't gonna be on the lookout for it all day. I moved in.
The end with a lesson; don't have stuff ya need laying all over the ground in that type of country. Our local host made fun of my phobia, got bit a few years later & had a $22,000 anti venom bill.

Snake boots...

My Aunt got bitten by a Copperhead in the late 70s.
No fee for antivenom. They did a skin pop to test for an allergic reaction and her arm
swelled as big as her (snake bitten) ankle.


Ice, and anti inflammatory meds.
She rode it out.
No bad effects, it was a little weak and would hurt her some.
Went right on taking care of her animals, living alone at the foot of the mountain until she died 9 years ago at 89.

I live at the edge of the Mississippi Delta, small 2 story house on the Alluvial Bluffs. Across the road is a cypress/
tupelo gum brake. I’ve killed cane brake rattlers, copper-
heads and moccasins in my front yard. A free flowing spring is at the left edge and seems to attract. We tend to look where we step or place our hands and feet. We don’t go to the car at night without a flashlight and have security lights. The 3 black guys who poured our slab for the garage used to work for the state forestry and said they hated working this area. The abandoned road behind our home was known as Rattlesnake Ridge and Marion Road. The wife like to have stepped on a small rattlesnake going out the side door. I grew up frog grabbing on various creeks and rivers and it’s amazing how many snakes are attracted to a light. My doctor was bitten by a rattler while moving a push lawn mower at his cabin. Taught my sons to beat on the bottom of a Jon boat before flipping it over. Guy I went to church with went to get papers out of his truck at night while in flip flops. He was bitten by a foot long rattler. He’s now on dialysis of the rest of his life. Take precautions and try to keep your yard clean. Lumber and wood piles attract rodents who in turn attract snakes. It’s the price we pay for
country living. Pistol, rifle, shotgun and hoe are always handy for such events. Wife’s people owned 220 acres here for over 75 years.

Looks like ostrich to me. It's probably time to put a CCI shot shell in the chamber instead of a JHP.

🤣👏👍

Rocky snake boots are pretty comfortable and not really that hot Arkansas is blessed with snakes

Snakes boots for me, I've been struck while turkey hunting, joker got me on top of the foot just above the toes. Chaps/gaiters wouldn't have done a thing in that area. We are loaded with timber rattlers, always fun to have one crawl into the turkey blind with ya.

bullchit. Those are ostrich.lol

I've lived in snake country my whole life.

Never had a pair of snake boots, gaiters, or anything like that.

Watch where you step, look for them in areas you think they may be, and kill 'em all around the house, barn, etc.

Never saw a snake I couldn't outrun if I don't have a handgun on me.

My take, snake boots are kinda like a loaded gun or 4WD.
When ya need 'em and ain't got 'em you are in a bad spot.

Another nod for the Rocky side zip cowboy type snake boots.

Birdshot?

Snake shot, dog.

I am SO glad, we don't have the poisonous snakes around here.

When I hunted ND, I was always looking where I put my hands and feet but the funny thing is I never saw a rattler while on a stalk etc. but we would see them up on roads in the evening and night.


They accidentally got run over...