Being new to an area where there are actually species of snakes you really don’t want to get bitten by, I have been asking around a little. Most of the input I get is that you need to be pretty careful, especially in warmer weather. What are the thoughts of the Campfire brethren who are a lot more experienced than I about these issues?

Living in rattlesnake and other venomous snake habitat my entire life, I have never owned a pair of "snake boots"...

And nearly 100% of the people I know that spend most of their time outdoors never mess with "snake boots" either.

No matter what size the snake is, they very rarely bite much above ankle level. So those knee high snake boots are false security.

Just get a decent pair of comfortable cowboy or work boots with a leather top that comes up 12" or so, and you should be GTG.

Situational awareness is much more important than snake boots.... I never saw a snake I couldn't outrun..

I pretty much agree with Barry. My normal shoes in south Texas are boat shoes. That is except when blue quail hunting.
I’ve been known to wear snake boots along with chaps. Hasbeen

Down here where hunting season and locales are both warm and wet I wear uninsulated Muck Rangers with heavy canvass gaiters (covers to just below the knee).
Don't remember where I got them, might have been BassPro. Luckily we haven't had to find out if they work.

I spent years ( decades) hunting venomous snakes, and I wore Gokey snake boots any time I did it. Didn't wear them otherwise in snake country....and only ever had to peel one snake off them...a copperhead who bit-as others said-way down low, on the foot.

I squirrel hunt a lot, so I'm always slipping along looking up in the trees. I also live and hunt in cottonmouth country, along with copperheads and canebrake rattlers. I almost always wear high snake boots or some Knight and Hale snake leggings . While I've never been bit, I have stepped on a couple of copperheads and cotton mouths. When deer hunting I wear regular boots and watch where I step.

Good snake boots are expensive. Wanted them for years.
Two years ago I bought some on the way to the hog hunt down in south Texas.
Turns out they feel great on my feet.
I do use them at the farm, which is full of snakes. Don't like having to look at each step, rather look for animals to hunt.
Grass and brush are to thick to watch each step, I have walked on snakes that stressed out the old heart.
So the old work boots get a break, snake boots the use.

Ah heck, I thought this was going to be about boots MADE from snakes.

It's only the rarest of snakes that even has feet.

Son bitten by a Copperhead hog hunting Central Texas area,wearing tennis shoes.Always worn leather boots hunting and working.

Rocky pull on Sbake Boots have worked well for me for years. Not too expensive and very comfortable too.

I do wear snake boots. But, mostly due to the multi-functional aspect. I am WAAAY more concerned with avoiding chiggers. I have hunted Rattlesnake country for 20+ years & encountered three rattlers, one Water Moccasin, two Coral snakes & two Copperheads.

I wear them. I got tired of being paranoid about what I wouldn’t see under the leaves. After almost stepping on a few, I really like the boots. As others have said, they also provide a good surface to apply permethrin to repel ticks and chiggers. Academy landman boots seem to fit well.

Chuck, you will need them here, take my word for it buddy.

Our woods are mostly swampy and we have a plethora of Cottonmouth due to that alone. We also have plenty of Copperheads , Cane Breaks, the occasional Diamond Back as well as the not so threatening Coral snake.

My advise is to get a pair of Muck snake boots, without the insulation. They are cozy, versatile, waterproof and offer a better barrier, not perfect , but far better than just a thin leather or canvas style boot against a hit. Not to mention they lend peace of mind and thus allow focus when tracking a blood trail at night.

Chuck, you will need them here, take my word for it buddy.

Our woods are mostly swampy and we have a plethora of Cottonmouth due to that alone. We also have plenty of Copperheads , Cane Breaks, the occasional Diamond Back as well as the not so threatening Coral snake.

My advise is to get a pair of Muck snake boots, without the insulation. They are cozy, versatile, waterproof and offer a better barrier, not perfect , but far better than just a thin leather or canvas style boot against a hit. Not to mention they lend peace of mind, help with ticks and chiggers. In my opine with that worry removed thus allow more focus when tracking a blood trail at night.

The north portion of the county I live in has timber rattlers and copperheads. I remember hearing all the tales about how bad the snakes were on a certain farm, and the workers had to wear sections of stove pipes on their legs when they went out in the fields to work. Of course, I never met anyone who had witnessed it, only people who had heard about it.

I've hunted all over that part of the county, and have yet to see a poisonous snake. I also have never worn stove pipes either. Granted, this is not a part of the country that is known as a haven for snakes, but they are here, and I'd think the first thing one would need would be a good eye and some common sense.

I've never worn them hunting, but own some knee high snake proof leggings that can be used with any type of boot. I can't justify the expense of another special pair of boots just for snakes. Here in north GA the weather is cool enough over 1/2 the year that it isn't a problem. But in Florida and coastal SC snakes are active year round. I do volunteer for a group that searches for missing people. Many times we recover remains in some pretty swampy, overgrown areas or in abandoned buildings that brush has overtaken. Visibility is limited to just a few inches around my feet in many of those places. When poking around those types of places I wear the leggings.

we have our share of moccasins and rattlers here in North Florida. I wear Rocky brand snake boots, and have been struck twice. Once by a large, fat and aggressive moccasin, and once by a rattlesnake. The boots performed as advertised both times.

Just saw a nice little rattler leaving my stand yesterday. I wear Russell Cordura Snake boots... I also wear LaCrosse Alpha Burly non Insulated rubber boots... had snakes hit them and they do not penetrate. get which ever makes you feel better and wear them. Down here, you need to be looking in FRONT of you hunting, and not at the ground the whole time...

I wear snake leggings with leather hiking boots. I hate frigging snakes.

Only time I ever got close to being bit was 40+ years ago. Bent down to turn on the faucet to fill up the dogs water bowl. Buzz! Still bent over I looked toward the buzz and the sucker was rared back, eye level, and only 2 feet away. Bowser jumped between us just as it struck or it'd have had my neck. Bowser was sick for days. The snake got his from a 12 guage 870. later that night. Should have made a belt out of it but only had two 3 foot pieces left! He was huge!

But i've stepped on severl copper heads and got too close to coral snakes and cotton mouths. No telling how many rattlers I've walked by unawares.

Wear your boots. Loosing a foot or leg is not going to be fun.

I wear snake boots when I'm scouting or working in the woods mostly for the protection from briars and chiggers. I usually run across rattle snakes a couple of times during the year, both diamond backs and canebrakes. Sometimes I'll cross up with a cottonmouth, and rarely a pygmy rattlesnake but almost never a copperhead.
I've owned and worn out three pairs of snake boots over the last 40 years and never seen a snake while I was wearing them. I guess those things work pretty good.

This last part made laugh out loud.

I've dealt with quite a few venomous snakes; I used to collect specimens for the biology department when I was in graduate school. I don't think snake boots are needed for protection against snakes. However, I do think ankle high leather boots are useful for a variety of reasons. As noted by others, the most important thing is to pay attention to where you step and put your hands.

Judging from the replies, I guess it matters a lot what kind of country you're walking around in. It seems all the Coastal Carolina guys are in favor of snake boots. I guess I'll go with their advice and get some before I get too far off the pavement in the Low Country.

I never give much thought at all to snakes. Texting drivers on the other hand...

I always wear snake boots hunting in Georgia and Alabama.

Hunting in South Florida most of my life snakes are a fact of life. So is walking in shallow water which puts you a little higher on the strike zone. You learn to watch where your stepping and it becomes habit. I first bought a pair of Russells but I thought they sucked as they were not that comfortable and they where hot and heavy. I been wearing Rocky lites since they came out. We walk mostly on sand down here and a flatter bottom is more comfortable. They are breathable and light weight. I also like to wear them in alabama where I hunt now. They keep your legs warm and offer a bit of protection up to your knees. They are a pain in the butt to put on and take off. I never found any zip up or slip ons I ever thought I would like.

I wear them at least till thanksgiving depending on the weather, have worn them the whole season. I don't know where in SC you are but snakes are active year round in the LC although slower they are still moving , think laying on a log in the sun in the swamp in Dec.

I always wear my Chippewa snake boots when hunting. Very comfortable once broken in. Mine are the leather lined non insulated ones. They are plenty hot enough most of the season and I have not as of yet needed waterproof. I would as soon my feet get a little wet on occasion vs sweltering all the time.....but that depends on your own situation and make up.

Most guys in your neck of the woods that I have hunted with wear some kind of snake boot. I never had any problems with poisonous snakes deer hunting in Carolina but the height of them is great for keeping ticks and briars off of your legs. You can figure that in the low country snakes are going to potentially be active all season. I saw a big old cottonmouth sunning on the side of the road one year between Christmas and New Year on the way to a hunt.

I like the plastic snake guards. They keep the dew off.

Thats a lot of bites for one person to have received.

We wear them in S Texas on a hunt because the owner requests it. Mine are Justin boots IIRC. VERY comfortable. Keeps my legs from thorns and cactus while stalking pigs etc...

I've been struck only 2 times in my life. Once on a thumbnail by a small copper head. Should have been wearing at least gloves, got lucky. Once on the achilles by a moccasin, in rubber boots. No big deal.

I have been hunting and cruising timber in eastern NC for over 55 years, except for 3 years in SC lowcountry. The very first time my father ever took me hunting with him, we walked up on a cottonmouth down in the swamp. Having said that, your odds of seeing, much less being struck by, a poisonous snake are very small. However, the consequences may be so severe that it makes little sense not to take precautions. As I see it, one has 3 options: 1. Regular boots with snake proof gaiters or chaps. Some guys I know wear jungle boots with gaiters on the theory that their feet are going to get wet, so might as well have boots designed for getting wet and which will let the water out. I have a pair of snake chaps that I sometimes wear, as much for briar busting as for snake protection. 2. Leather/cordura snake boots. First pair I ever had were a gift from a client, Chippewas, non-Gore-tex. Too wide in the heel for me, and not waterproof, but nice comfortable (except for the slipping heel) boots. Next ones I tried were the typical lace-ups, an early LaCrosse model, allegedly waterproof. They began leaking shortly after purchase, and continued to fall apart thereafter. One of my sons got a pair of the Cabela's brand and after a couple of years of very light use the soles came unglued from the tops. At least they never leaked water that I know of. 3. Snake-proof rubber boots. I have had 2 pair of these, both LaCrosse. The first pair started to develop cracks after a couple of years. LaCrosse wouldn't replace them for free, but did give me 40% off a new pair.

I have settled on option 3. Coastal NC and SC are often wet, with numerous branches and ditches to cross. There is a lot of underbrush as well, which is wet most mornings and every time it rains. I like dry feet, and wore uninsulated rubber boots with chaps a lot before I got the rubber snake boots. Chaps get hot in the spring, summer, and fall, so the boots-only option is a plus as long as the briars aren't too bad. They are a little stiff-feeling at first but easy to get used to. In addition, with rubber boots (as well as other types of snake boots) you can tuck your pants into the boots, greatly reducing the number of ticks and redbugs you will have to deal with. Finally, when I get back to the truck I can get them off easily and slip into a pair of topsiders and be comfortable on the ride home.

I still own a good pair of Gore-tex lined leather boots, but I find myself wearing them less and less.

Upon reflection, I guess there is a fourth option: just wear regular boots of whatever type you prefer, and keep an eye out for the no-shoulders. That's what my dad, also a forester, did and he only got bit once in about 60 years.

I hunted in Coleman county, close to Santa Anna. We would sometimes see a half dozen on a weekend. The SOB’s were everywhere, mostly in the fall.