This is topic Blizzards and Snakes in forum Predator forum at The New Huntmastersbbs!.
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Posted by DiYi (Member # 3785) on March 18, 2013, 09:55 AM:
Sitting here trapped inside with a blizzard roaring outside(gusts to 60mph).I've planned all the possible ways to call a few spots this week-ways they can approach without getting hung up by new,deep snow and cleaned all the guns I can take so here goes a Q I've always meant to ask.
How often do you guys in the south and west run into snakes while calling?Gonna quit resisting and call some south and west next year and just wondering.Historically if there's a rattler around,I'll find it.any thoughts/comments appreciated.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 18, 2013, 10:47 AM:
As far as I am concerned, I don't think about snakes very much, but I am careful where I walk. The thing to remember is that they are not out in cold, and same with real hot, you won't see them then, either.
If I had to make a guess, I would say around 70 to 80° is when you are most likely to see them out in the open. And, in the summer time, watch your step at night when it cools off. On cool mornings, they might be sitting on a rock absorbing heat.
I remember in Georgia, you couldn't see your feet with the underbrush, and the lizards told me that rattlers could be there too. And, the last thing you need is a eastern diamondback bite.
Be careful in grassy areas and around a water source where quail might be around because rattlesnakes love quail but same thing, as it cools down they crawl out from under their rocks.
Also, pay attention to gopher holes and ground squirrel holes. You are just as likely to find a snake in those holes as a rodent, you know, where you fall in up to your ankle? I have seen them go in those holes at night when I walk out to pick up a dead coyote. Never fails, I walk more careful the rest of the night!
Rocky hills are sure to have snakes, lots of hiding places. I always look down, maybe more than looking around for animals? They mostly don't move so you have to recognize the shape. Spring time, right now out here, you need to be more careful than in the heat of the summer.
I used to laugh at those snakeproof boots, but in some places they give you confidence so I don't laugh any more.
Good hunting. El Bee
Posted by DiYi (Member # 3785) on March 18, 2013, 11:47 AM:
Thanks Leonard.
Last rattler I saw I was scrambling up a bank along the Missouri and there it suddenly was,about 24 inches from my face.Haven't been constipated since.
Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on March 18, 2013, 11:54 AM:
Simple;
Call when fur is prime.
Quit calling when it's not.
You'll rarely see a snake.
Posted by Prune Picker (Member # 4107) on March 18, 2013, 12:58 PM:
Several years ago a couple of friends and i were in the high desert hunting quail. For whatever reason we encountered a nest of rattlers, so we killed the bastards & skinned them. As we were leaving a guy drives by and stops, he sees the skins and tells us we were dickheads for killing them and that they are protected in Calif. Turns out they "might have been" Mojave Greens. I must be a slob hunter because i kill every snake i see.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 18, 2013, 01:39 PM:
Okay with me. I kill some, especially if they are aggressive, but am just as likely to leave them be. At the campout a few years ago, Gerry Blair told me he would sent me a nice Mojave Green he had, already pinned and dried. Never got it.
Sometimes they are hard to find. Man, I saw a big fat one a few years ago up around Helendale, in the riverbed. He knew what I was up to and ducked into a huge green tumbleweed. I think he was daring me to go after him in there, but my momma din't raise no fools.
Good hunting. El Bee
Posted by the bearhunter (Member # 3552) on March 18, 2013, 01:48 PM:
i've seen only 1 while out shooting prairie dogs in ne Wy. small one. strange as it was a cold/windy overcast day.
storm is FINALLY letting up here. just got done snowblowing, hopefully for the last time this winter. won't be seeing black dirt for quite some time.
a major flood ai'nt out of the question. damn, they suck!
[ March 18, 2013, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: the bearhunter ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 18, 2013, 01:53 PM:
Well, those are the one's to step on, if you are lucky. Chances are, he got caught out when the weather changed...you know how that is, in Wyoming?
Good hunting. El Bee
Posted by Prune Picker (Member # 4107) on March 18, 2013, 02:01 PM:
Green tumbleweed! That's where we found them. We were looking for a downed bird and saw the tumblweed moving, thinking the quail was hiding there. we used the barrel of a shotgun to part the t'weed and found the first snake curled up and rattling at us. Needless to say that one didn't get skinned.
Posted by TOM64 (Member # 561) on March 18, 2013, 02:08 PM:
Last copperheadedrattlemocossin I saw was back in the fall and on the concrete running path around the lake I run at.
Little bastards like to warm themselves I guess. Don't see many of them in the heat or cold but watch out during cool nights and warm days.
Posted by Prune Picker (Member # 4107) on March 18, 2013, 02:22 PM:
When the spring rains start (if it rains this year) we load up and fish the Washita river at the mouth of Lake Texhoma for the smaller sized Channel Cats. Around early May the Cottonmouth Water Moccasins start their breeding cycle. It gets really interesting at times because they will bite your fish and aren't one bit shy of stalking you on the bank. I fish with a handgun in my pocket day and night, no exceptions. Call me what you want i don't care.
Posted by Krustyklimber (Member # 72) on March 18, 2013, 04:33 PM:
I hardly ever kill snakes, if I can help it, and have handled more rattlers than I could count.
I did pay the price once, moving a HUGE western diamond back out of the parking lot of one of my favorite climbing areas, in B.C. It had latched onto my walking stick a number of times, then I transfered venom onto my hands to one of my eyes and my lips.
Anyone else remember when Higgins licked the venom off the lens of his camera? ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Now the rattlesnakes here, that don't have rattles, they're cheaters!!!
I found a shed skin last fall, and I tread very carefully in the area now (*well not right now, with snow on the ground AGAIN).
I did manage to get myself bit by a HUGE black rat-snake last summer, they tell me that's a right of passage here though.
Prune Picker,
I hear ya... when I was in Texas I had a very big water moccasin "shadow" me as I walked along the creek, it was creepy and scary. ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Krusty
Posted by DiYi (Member # 3785) on March 18, 2013, 04:45 PM:
Chit,maybe blizzards ain't so bad after all.
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on March 18, 2013, 05:12 PM:
All you guys that live with themm al the time just don't appreciate the morbid, paralyzing fear of those of us who tree at the sight of a garter snake. LOL When I was in college in NE KS, it wasn't at all unusual in the fall to have copperheads soaking up the heat on our concrete driveway once the coolness of the evening moved in. They made me very nervous.
About six years ago, I was hunting with Shaw and Q in SW KS near Garden City and down to the Cimarron National Grassland. Q and I were traipsing cross-country and I heard that bdistinctive rattling. Stopped me dead in my tracks as it was an unusually warm day. I looked all around and saw nothing. I stood upright. began walking to catch up with Q and there it was again. Stopped dead in my tracks. This went on for a couple more stop and goes when Q turned around and saw me frozen in one spot. He asked me what was wrong about the time I realized that the "snake" was actually the breeze blowing across one of the open reed calls on the lanyard around my neck, making the reed "rattle". I just told him "nothin'" and sheepishly caught up to him. Don't know if I ever shared that with him or not. LOL
Posted by the bearhunter (Member # 3552) on March 18, 2013, 05:26 PM:
LOL C Dog.
not real knowed up on snakes but are copperheads/water moc's REALLY a danger??. never hear much about them causing problems
Posted by TRnCO (Member # 690) on March 18, 2013, 06:04 PM:
only one time while hunting here in Colo. have I found a prairie rattler out and about, and at the time we were archery deer hunting so it was early season. It was quite cool out and it was curled up, not in defense mode but in it's cold mode. I used an arrow to flip the snake over and he immidiately showed what defensive mode was.
I've killed one prairie rattler at work each of the last several years, except none last year.
I've never come across any rattlers while calling in Colo.
Posted by TOM64 (Member # 561) on March 18, 2013, 06:09 PM:
I've known 2 people who have been bitten by copperheads. Both were sick as a dog before they got to the hospital but both also nearly died from the anti venom.
A friend of mines wife was bitten the third time by a rattler (she catches them) and she spent a spell in hospital this past summer.
Never knowed anyone who was bit by a cottonmouth but cuzz was bit by some kind of moccossin while we were bow fishing. He got sick but got over it.
Moral of the story? I ain't messin with no kind of copperheadedrattlemocossin.
[ March 18, 2013, 06:11 PM: Message edited by: TOM64 ]
Posted by Prune Picker (Member # 4107) on March 18, 2013, 07:45 PM:
Copperheads are the most agressive snake that i have encountered here in the states, they will bite ya for fun. The Mamba is a badass in Africa, but not too mean unless provoked. i have actually held one that didn't scare me until i found out that the black Mambas are green with a patch of black in their mouth, and when aggravated turn darker, almost black in color! And i can honestly say that i have never met a black person in Africa that wasn't afraid of snakes, big or small. In Zaire (Congo) there is a small tree snake (deadly poisonous)that will bite anything that comes close enough to it. I learned in Africa long ago that a walking stick isn't only for the elderly!
Posted by the bearhunter (Member # 3552) on March 19, 2013, 11:21 AM:
DiYi sent me a picture of him out trying to find snakes.
took awhile to clear his driveway.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 19, 2013, 11:27 AM:
If you look close, I can see three of them that he ran over that were lying on the road trying to warm up. Poor things!
Good hunting. El Bee
Posted by the bearhunter (Member # 3552) on March 19, 2013, 12:40 PM:
those ai'nt snakes Leonard, those are squished dog shits.. they ai'nt go no where else too go!!!!
Posted by Prune Picker (Member # 4107) on March 19, 2013, 12:41 PM:
Gawd oh mitey! We get pissy here when a couple of inches of freezing rain lands in Okla. Let the power go off for an hour or two and i start thinking conspiracy.
Honestly, last year we had appx 2 ft of snow here, it was fun for a couple of days but the stinking sun came out and melted it within a day or so. Then the temp went back to the usual 43* w/5 to 15 mph north winds.
Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on March 19, 2013, 12:42 PM:
Thank Gawd for Global Warming or who knows how deep that snow would be!!!!
Posted by the bearhunter (Member # 3552) on March 19, 2013, 12:56 PM:
was a strange winter this year for sure. hardly had any snow till the first of the year, than POW!!!.
makes it better for coyotes though. few have/use snowshoes. ;
P.S. LB, I have an extra set iff'n ya wanna come out and try them??
i left some coyotes for seed, but...... ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Posted by Prune Picker (Member # 4107) on March 19, 2013, 01:14 PM:
And to think i felt abused for spending 40+ days at the lake last summer because of the heat. 33 straight days the temp never fell below 92*
Posted by DiYi (Member # 3785) on March 19, 2013, 01:14 PM:
Ahhh,thanks for the memories.On post blizzard days it's nice to see back to when we had just a skiff of snow.
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on March 19, 2013, 03:43 PM:
Aaaah the best time of the year.
Would rather go face to face with a skunk rather than a rattler...
Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on March 19, 2013, 09:49 PM:
Hey Tim;
Don't know if you can do it with the new digital cameras but a neat trick with the old film ones was to telephoto the moon and then double expose it onto a scenery shot like yours. Gives that huge harvest moon effect.
Skunks versus rattlers???
Since I've lived down here I've had several rattlers on the property. Relocated all but one of them out into the desert. Also have had gila monsters, scorpions, and tarantulas in the yard. Plus we are blessed with killer bees in the area. Prickly pear, cholla cactus & cat-claw are also to be respected.
But the thing that has caused me the most grief (so far) is a plant called `goat head`. The seeds track into the house, stick in the carpet & wait for bare feet to come along.
Posted by Prune Picker (Member # 4107) on March 19, 2013, 09:59 PM:
Koko, i found out the hard way many years ago about the infamous "Goat Head" sticker. We have them here too. Ever sink one into the middle of your heal? They will shoot pain all the way up to your ass cheek when ya step on one if you are barefootin.
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on March 19, 2013, 10:36 PM:
Koko that is a harvest moon, for coyotes that is..
Been to AZ a few times and other than haveing lots and lots of coyotes I don't know why anyone would want to live there. Dam near everything will either kill you or make you sick or hurt.
Still have a little souvenir on my left leg from the last trip..
About the only thing to worry about here is Bee's,wasp, poison ivy and only dureing the summer months..
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on March 20, 2013, 08:20 AM:
I went waterskiing up at Prineville Resevoir in Oregon about three years ago. They have a large campground and it was completely infested with goatheads. It was scandalous, somebody should have sprayed that shit. And, yes, I have stepped on them, drug into the house on shoes. Hate the damned things!
My kid used to have radar for finding them with his bike tires, when he was a kid, I could hardly keep up!
Good hunting. El Bee
Posted by Duckdog (Member # 3842) on March 20, 2013, 08:35 PM:
They're hell on a dog's feet too! I've literally, had to pick up my Lab and carry him out of them!
He would always stop and pull sand burs out with his teeth, but not the goat heads. Friggin hate those things!
Posted by jimanaz (Member # 3689) on March 20, 2013, 09:27 PM:
When I'm hunting I don't see rattlers very often. Of course I'm not looking for them either. I do what I do, go where I want to go and watch where I'm stepping. I probably walk past a wheelbarrow full every year. Found one slithering across the road last spring on my way back to the truck after a stand and had been thinking all day that I needed to snake break the dog. Normally, I would have stopped and looked at that snake for a while, and kept going about my business. Snakes are just trying to make a living too. That day, that one became a target of opportunity and training aid. A couple of weeks later, I came upon another that turned into 3 lounging under a prickly pear. They suffered the same fate just to make sure the first lesson took. It did, but I flipped one toward her and burned her again for good measure. I also kill every one that scares me, unless I'm on my way in to a stand, but I look for them on the way back with bad intent.
For once, I agree with TA. Just about everything here sticks, stings, or bites, and thank goodness if that's what it takes to keep him out of AZ.
Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on March 20, 2013, 09:49 PM:
Yeah, living in Paradise ain't for wimps. ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on March 21, 2013, 05:19 PM:
Western Ks isn't nothing but goatheads. On another trip to NW KS/ NE Co, I stayed in a little mom and pop motel and it didn't take me long to discover that the room might have looked clean, but the carpet was infested with goathead stickers. If'n you had to pee during the night, you had to take the time to don your boots before crossing the floor because you sure as hell didn't wanna do it bare footed. To make things even better, they had the place decorated with goathead colored carpet, too!
Posted by Duckdog (Member # 3842) on March 22, 2013, 04:28 AM:
I think I've stayed there Lance!
Posted by 6mm284 (Member # 1129) on March 24, 2013, 05:28 AM:
I cannot hear the rattle, too many years of loud machinery,etc. Many others may have the same problem, so don't assume you will hear the rattle. Saw four in so dakota one day alone just two yearsago while shooting pds.
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