hit by a rattler today

[beeep] Slick, you're a lucky boy! I've seen the silent rattler strike work out the other way. You'd best drop an extra few bucks in the offering plate on Sunday, you got a guardian angel that deserves a big tip!
 
Angry little son of a gun.
You're a braver man than I, for sticking around to take the video. I'd a been getting the heck away from there. But then, I am terrified of all snakes.
 
Originally Posted By: possumalCountrystrong, what do the snakeproof boots do for you if a snake is coiled up in a bush? The snakeboots go up to my knees and then some. They use some incredibly tuff material on the boots and it deflected the snake.
 

Man, that's scary stuff.

This past summer I got a pair of snake boots due to a close encounter with a copperhead last year.

As others have mentioned, you are a lucky guy.
 
Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotOriginally Posted By: Infidel 762Noticed the camera backing up when he would strike...

yeah. couldnt help it. it was hard not to react. lol

Reminds me of the old western movie where the bartender kept a rattler in a glass jar and wagered no cowpoke could hold his hand on the jar when the snake struck.
lol.gif


Regards,
hm
 
In all the time I've spent this last summer hunting never once did I see a snake. I alway look out for them when walking through the sage brush and am thankful I never came across one.
 
Man, you're one lucky guy! Around here, we don't have rattlesnakes, I'm very thankful! In mid September, I went to Montana, Fort Peck area to hunt big horn sheep with my brother in law. I knew there was snakes around those parts, so I always had that in the back of my mind when walking in the hills and the thick sage and other grasses. I was 50/50 on wanting to see a rattler, I've never seen a live one in the wild, and I've always kind of wanted to, but at the same time, I wouldn't want to be surprised by one! On the last day of the hunt, my brother in law shot his sheep, and the first guy down the hill radioed back up to us other guys coming down behind him that he had just been surprised by a silent rattler that struck at him and missed him by inches. I was jacked and scared sh!tless at the same time, lol! We walked extra careful on the way out in that part, never seen the snake, which was a bummer and a blessing all in one! I still would love to see one in the wild, but on my terms, haha!!

And another thing on the snake boots, I had a veteran hunter that has seen many snakes in the wild and even had some strike his boots before, tell me that the snakes strike out, not up for the most part. So more than likely, they will usually strike below your knees, so with snake boots being tall, they protect your legs from snake bites.
 
You must be from east of the river if you don't have rattlesnakes around where your at? West river is loaded with rattlesnakes.

There was a newspaper article a while back that suggest rattlesnakes are using their rattles less and less and it may be evolutionary. Supposedly they are learning that announcing their presence will usually get them killed. How they can prove that I don't know. I believe the article was in the Rapid City Journal.
 
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I believe that snakes are much like coyotes; you can never say never or always about their behavior.

All of the rattlers I've seen do tend to strike out, but I still have reservations as to snake boots being 100% protection for several reasons.

I once came to a fork in the trail and fortunately noticed a rattler about 18-20" off the ground in a bush right at the fork between the two paths. From that perch he could have struck above a boot top (given the opportunity). Some of our native salt grass along coastal plains is so thick that rattlers often crawl up into a clump to sun, putting them 2' or more off the ground.



Also, due to terrain irregularities the snake could have an elevation advantage, not that much of a problem to us flat-landers but still a possibility.

We have some pretty fair sized rattlers in S. Tx. and terrain is pretty flat, but one rancher told me he has had cattle rattlesnake-bit in the brisket and that's a lot higher than snake boots.


Regards,
hm
 
hm1996, I absolutely agree with you! I was very careful in my post to NOT say never or always. Again, I'm not a snake expert, I've never even seen a poisonous snake in the wild, so I'm not the person to ask advise from on this topic. I just was relaying on what another hunter had told me, and he's had a lot of run ins with snakes. There is always going to be cases where something different can happen. I'm sure there are cases and scenarios where snakes can & have bitten people even while wearing protective snake boots or chaps. Anyone that is outdoors in places with snakes needs to always be prepared for the worst case scenario and have a plan of action in case the worst does happen!

FairChase, yes I live in the NE part of the state, so thankfully, no snakes to worry about around here! I know they have them in the Western part of the state, but in all of my ventures out west hunting and riding atv's in the hills, I've still never came across one!
 
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