Snakes!

[Certus]

I live over by Tulsa, I kill about 6-10 poisonous snakes a year mostly rattle snakes, cotton mouths, and copperheads.

Why?

 

[Hunt anything]

I don’t kill snakes other than the odd cottonmouth that shows up at the house, if I have time I’ll relocate them but sometimes that’s not an option. They are basically just a part of our daily lives.
I was impressed by my trackers in Mozambique, they just shewed the Gaboon off of the trail even though it was a little reluctant to move. Finally he went his way and we went ours.

 

[PARA45]

Honeybadger is the ultimate badass...

Honeybadgers don't give a sh*t!

 

[HankBuck]

Why?

@Certus I would not kill any snake for No reason and enjoy seeing and handling them. But there are some circumstances where I would kill one: Rattle snake to skin it and preserve the skin, Copperhead, to preserve the skin (beautiful) but also because I’ve got small Grandchildren and Coperheads fairly common around our property. I teach my grandkids Not to be afraid of snakes and let them handle garter, black rat, and hog nosed snakes I catch — then we let them go. Even though I tell them never pick up a snake unless Grandpa is there —— I‘m still concerned they “might”. So, Copperheads will get dispatched for a while until grandkids are older.

 

[PARA45]

I like snakes, and have had many as pets, venomous and non-venomous, I like them all. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a herpetologist, and visited the Miami Serpentarium every weekend. The Miami Serpentarium had one of the biggest King Cobras in captivity, and Mr. Bill Haast, would kiss the Cobra in the head, and then he would milk this monster. I was always fascinated by how much venom would come out of this Cobra; I believe several CCs. It was a huge disappointment when it was shut down. Mr. Haast had been bit so many times, his blood and body were immune to snake bites. He passed away I believe almost 100. He continue to do anti-venom research, and continue to milk snakes to make anti-venom serum. He was a remarkable man, and thanks to him and his research we have the anti-venom we currently have.

Miami Serpentarium Laboratories

www.miamiserpentarium.com

 

[JimP]

If (unlikely) I lived in cottonmouth country, I would pay the $200 class whatever fee and carry a sawed-off 20ga O/U, probably in a shoulder rig aligned with my spine. Depends how short I could get the barrels. But buy the Class 2-3 license, whatever it is, no problem!
Have I mentioned lately how much I love Alaska?

No need to take a class, just pick up a Thompson Center 410/45. For the 410 there is a screw in choke, it works good enough for birds.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/101575290

 

[HankBuck]

If (unlikely) I lived in cottonmouth country, I would pay the $200 class whatever fee and carry a sawed-off 20ga O/U, probably in a shoulder rig aligned with my spine. Depends how short I could get the barrels. But buy the Class 2-3 license, whatever it is, no problem!
Have I mentioned lately how much I love Alaska?

@freefall - would you really buy a gun just for “snakes”?….that you can easily kill with a stick. If you see one and have time to shoot it - you can walk around it, stomp it, or club it (ammo is expensive)

 

[Nyati]

As long as we’re on the subject .

Has anyone had a problem on their hunting trips in Africa?

If so I will no longer plan on my first trip.

I’ll purchase some paper game targets and pretend at my range!

My sleep tonight will be tough!

Seen several including a beautiful orange Cape Cobra, never tried to kill them, they will run away from you.

Just don´t step on them

 

[freefall]

@freefall - would you really buy a gun just for “snakes”?….that you can easily kill with a stick. If you see one and have time to shoot it - you can walk around it, stomp it, or club it (ammo is expensive)

yes

 

[HankBuck]

@freefall, Oh come on - your kidding. Do you sleep with a light on and have a gun for Mice & spiders too??

 

[freefall]

@freefall, Oh come on - your kidding. Do you sleep with a light on and have a gun for Mice & spiders too??

yes

 

[Certus]

Smart PH. I’ll never understand the attitude of being out hunting, seeing a snake in the wild and going “dangerous! Kill it!”.

Walk around it, like you said. You’ll never see that snake again. No need to be a big baby or try and prove macho man by killing it. Seems to be very common to kill any rattlesnake on your property, because it exists. They’re always there, just leave ‘em be. We had a little Eastern Brown under the front steps. I attempted to shoo it out of the yard and instead of took off to the back yard. I have a dog so there was only one thing to do….
I shut the dog inside for the evening and let her out later that day. Yep, snakes gone and I never saw it again. EZ PZ.
Here’s the friendly fellow popped up for a better look.
For perspective this fellow has an LD50 of 0.053mg/kg. The LD50 of an eastern diamondback rattlesnake is 1.3mg/kg and a black mamba is 0.25mg/kg. Soooo it is a spicy little noodle. But as said - shut the dog in, no problem. I live in town - snake bites (dog or human) make the news. Here we are 2 years on and no bites have occured due to me leaving it. They ain’t gunna seek out trouble, trouble comes to them.

Just realised the pic never attached to this one.

 

[peacemaker]

Most snakes are harmless, and the others, well, just don´t try to play with them

common you could try be chanting right behind you !!!!!

 

[BJH65]

I’ve only killed venomous snakes that were immediately around the house, always rattlesnakes in our case, living in California and Montana on acreage, primarily because we have dogs. Anywhere else, we leave them alone. We actually did the rattlesnake aversion training for our dogs while living in the foothills of Northern California. The guy came out with a couple Pacific Rattlesnakes in 5 gallon buckets, carefully took them out, caught them and taped their mouths closed with medical tape then placed shock collars on the dogs. The dogs got a pretty good jolt when they came near the rattlesnakes and subsequently stayed the hell away from them after that!

I recall hunting wild pigs years ago on a ranch in Paso Robles, California and almost stepped on a small rattlesnake and had it not rattled (they don’t always either) I certainly would’ve got bitten. After it slithered off, we got to looking around and it seemed like every 10 yards there was a rattlesnake bathing in the sun! I stopped counting after 15-20 rattlesnakes and we got the hell off that hillside! It was a south facing slope, early April, and the rattlesnakes must have all recently come out of their den where sometimes hundreds of them hibernate together. They probably hadn't had a chance to disperse yet.

Since we’ve relocated to south central Oklahoma about a year ago, living on 20 acres, I’ve not yet encountered any venomous snakes yet, just several rat snakes, hog nosed snakes and some harmless water snakes. I’ve always did my best to eliminate snake habitat around the homes we’ve lived in, keeping the grass short and no habitat for snakes to hide in. I also keep a pair of snake tongs to relocate snakes as needed.

 

[mdwest]

I would pay the $200 class whatever fee and carry a sawed-off 20ga O/U, probably in a shoulder rig aligned with my spine. Depends how short I could get the barrels. But buy the Class 2-3 license, whatever it is, no problem!

Serbu Super Shorty in 20ga. Wear it in a hip holster

 

[CarsonG]

Why?

I have three little girls and I’m not taking chances. They can populate somewhere else.

 

[CarsonG]

Serbu Super Shorty in 20ga. Wear it in a hip holster

A judge with 410 works pretty well on a hip holster.

 

[Hunt anything]

I was snooping around by the stock pond next to my house yesterday afternoon and came across this skin. Looks to be about 4’ long and extremely thick. Has to be a good sized cottonmouth. Don’t want to run into him in the dark.

 

[HankBuck]

Serbu Super Shorty in 20ga. Wear it in a hip holster

@mdwest: is that a “real” gun or composite from some “Movie”? Other then robbing a Bank - what is it good for? Wouldn’t a Walking-stick or any revolver with snake-shot-loads work as well, carry as easy, etc..?

 

[mdwest]

its a real gun.. serbu has been making them for at least 30 years that I am aware of..

I think most of the sales have just been to guys looking for a Class III toy...

I am aware of at least a few of them being sold to law enforcement back in the 90's.. the ones I know of were used by tactical teams for breaching (knocking doors off of hinges)..