If snakes weren’t scary enough already

[aclawrence]

Never understood how an outdoorsman can be afraid of a snake.

Lol ,, huge difference in sceard and respect ...

I'm not afraid of guns, but I also do not play Russian Roulet either. Had a good buddy bitten by a timber rattler on the foot. He was to the hospital within 15-20 minutes, and he died. Rattle snakes are a killer unless you get medical attention real fast. If a person is hunting several thousand feet up in elevation on the mtn and they get bit by a rattler, they are very likely not going to make it.

And whether they scare someone or not, I just can think of a multitude of ways to die that sound better than dying in extreme pain by myself on the side of a mtn from a rattle snake bite. Snake boots have came along way in recent years. The ones I wear are as comfortable as a pair of tennis shoes.

That's awful. Sorry to hear about your friend.  Your story is proof that it is a serious situation. I always assumed I could at least get back to my truck but sometimes I'm over a mile away. I'm going to keep wearing my gaiters and praying for those angels to watch over me out there. I think I also need some prayer help to kill a gobbler this year or I'm going to strike out.


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[aclawrence]

Never understood how an outdoorsman can be afraid of a snake.

I'm not really scared of snakes, I just don't won't to step on one. Now I'll be honest I don't like spiders. Black Widows and Brown Recluses, I hate those things.


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[silvestris]

I sat down next to a timber rattler last week .  I was lucky it was a cool morning and he never moved nothing but his tongue.
I scooted over a bit to give him room , I got the gobbler , then got him to . I run into snakes here in the dirty south regularly, but this one was a little to close .

My friend, I hope you got a dandy hat band out of him.

[Muzzy61]

I hunt in Florida, i don't go into the woods without my snake boots. I look at it like I do must insurances. Hope I never have to use it, but glad I have it if I do.

[DumpTruckTurkey]

Ive had a few sets, mostly bc of the timber rattlers in VA mountains I hunt.... Im an OOS there.... dont get too mad LOL

Just got the lacrosee snake knee boots... pretty comfy and light!  We have copperheads in MD also so why not.

[roberthyman14]

I hunt in Florida, i don't go into the woods without my snake boots. I look at it like I do must insurances. Hope I never have to use it, but glad I have it if I do.

Yeah we have a few snakes in Florida.  Its usually warm so they are active

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[nativeks]

Ive only had one close call while hunting and it was a copperhead. Ive been struck at by massassagua rattlesnakes at work multiple times. We've had 2 on our front porch. Also had the biggest I have ever seen in a scrap wood pile while we were building our house. I dug through it to get out the choice scraps, then set it on fire. That big SOB came out. How I didnt get bit is beyond me.

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[RiverBuck]

I've eaten rattlesnake. It's kinda bland. Use a lot of your favorite seasoning.

[Marc]

Never understood how an outdoorsman can be afraid of a snake.

Back in college was salmon fishing near a popular dam, and a couple guys my age were literally tossing around a baby rattler...   I made a wide girth around them, and they accused me of having a phobia...  I politely expressed, that I did not, as a phobia is an irrational fear of something, and fear of a rattler is completely rational.

My youngest daughter once sat on a squirrel hole with a rattler in side while dove hunting, and this season my oldest daughter had a rattlesnake in her duck blind on opening day...  Later that same day, I killed another one near my hunting shack.

I have had a lot of run-ins with snakes, and have even been struck on the leg (without getting bit)...

Glad that we only have to deal with our rattlers, as they are typically not looking for a fight, and let you know when they are there with that obvious rattle...

I am far more afraid of sitting on one, or disturbing one after sitting...  Walking through the woods for turkey, I am paying close attention to the ground as not to make noise.  I feel like I am more likely to sit on or near one in a hasty set-up of a close bird.

And...  My father got bit by a gopher snake on the hand...  Horrible infection, and the doctor did not believe it was a gopher snake that bit him....  I'll investigate any snake I see and try to pick up most non-venomous snakes, and if I am in an isolated area, I generally do not kill even rattelsnakes...  But I have a healthy respect for any snake.

[Cowboy]

Never understood how an outdoorsman can be afraid of a snake.

You probably never saw firsthand the misery a poisonous snake bite causes. Some of us have and the recipient was a longtime outdoorsman. Thankfully, that person was with someone who could get them out and rushed them to a hospital. Bitten on the fleshy part of the hand. Between the thumb and forefinger. Hand and arm all the way to the shoulder swollen so tight it looked fake. Almost looked like a balloon. Couldn't open or close the hand or flex the fingers. Did I mention that it also turned black, blue and purple way up the arm as well? I use utmost caution when in snakey places because of this.

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[mountainhunter1]

Never understood how an outdoorsman can be afraid of a snake.

Lol ,, huge difference in sceard and respect ...

I'm not afraid of guns, but I also do not play Russian Roulet either. Had a good buddy bitten by a timber rattler on the foot. He was to the hospital within 15-20 minutes, and he died. Rattle snakes are a killer unless you get medical attention real fast. If a person is hunting several thousand feet up in elevation on the mtn and they get bit by a rattler, they are very likely not going to make it.

And whether they scare someone or not, I just can think of a multitude of ways to die that sound better than dying in extreme pain by myself on the side of a mtn from a rattle snake bite. Snake boots have came along way in recent years. The ones I wear are as comfortable as a pair of tennis shoes.

That's awful. Sorry to hear about your friend.  Your story is proof that it is a serious situation. I always assumed I could at least get back to my truck but sometimes I'm over a mile away. I'm going to keep wearing my gaiters and praying for those angels to watch over me out there. I think I also need some prayer help to kill a gobbler this year or I'm going to strike out.


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He got bit at his house and that was how he was able to be at the hospital so fast. His wife had him in the car within a minute or two and drove him, but still he did not make it. Sometimes they give a dry bite, but if they load you up you are in likely DOA trouble if you are a mile or two from the truck. Been a tough spring for many in the south. It was decent gobbling the first week on public, but then went ice cold and no one is hearing gobbling since. They birds were just so far along due to the very warm February and March we had. You may have to break out that Lonnie Mabry cedar pot of yours at this point in the season because desperate times call for desperate measures. Good luck and I pray that all on here stay clear of those timber rattlers. They are a pretty docile snake by nature, in that they really want to avoid you as bad as you want to avoid them, - but if you stumble on them and catch them just right, they are suddenly your worst nightmare.

[howl]

Y'all gonna wear snakeproof gauntlets, too? I've been struck twice. Both were when I was a little fella roaming barefoot over the county side. I just can't take this seriously.

Results of quick search, nothing verified:
On average, five Americans die from a snake bite every year.
Honey bee stings and lightning strikes kill 20 times more people annually than all the rattlesnake bites combined.
Venomous snakes bite 7,000–8,000 people in the US every year.
28% of those bitten by a snake are intoxicated.
In 2018, North Carolina had the most snake bites.

During 2004–2018, an average of 702 heat-related deaths (415 with heat as the underlying cause and 287 as a contributing cause) occurred in the United States annually. Natural heat exposure was a contributing cause of death attributed to certain chronic medical conditions, alcohol poisoning, and drug overdoses.

[worth612000]

I haven't heard anyone say they're afraid to go in the woods due to snakes. It's more why risk it when you can wear some protection as comfortable as any other boot. Just Saying


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[mountainhunter1]

Y'all gonna wear snakeproof gauntlets, too? I've been struck twice. Both were when I was a little fella roaming barefoot over the county side. I just can't take this seriously.

Results of quick search, nothing verified:
On average, five Americans die from a snake bite every year.
Honey bee stings and lightning strikes kill 20 times more people annually than all the rattlesnake bites combined.
Venomous snakes bite 7,000–8,000 people in the US every year.
28% of those bitten by a snake are intoxicated.
In 2018, North Carolina had the most snake bites.

During 2004–2018, an average of 702 heat-related deaths (415 with heat as the underlying cause and 287 as a contributing cause) occurred in the United States annually. Natural heat exposure was a contributing cause of death attributed to certain chronic medical conditions, alcohol poisoning, and drug overdoses.

Those statistics in the real world are ignoring a lot of factors. Naturally a lot more people are affected by bee and wasp stings since they are everywhere and so is lightning. Yet, rattlesnakes are not in many areas of the country - and even then they are close to being eradicated in the more urban areas even if they were there originally. So naturally more folks statistically will be affected by lightning and bee stings. As far as snakes, Most of the number that are bitten are pretty near an area where they can get some help quick. But - the deer and turkey hunters I know who hunt public mtn land do not hunt near hospitals, they are hunting two to three miles from the truck in steep elevations, and if they or myself get bit, we are most likely facing a bad ending. We may be a very minority group that is statistically very different from the rest of the nation, but for us getting bit that far from help is likely a death sentence. That said, I rarely ever think about rattle snakes when hunting, and am sure enough not walking around the woods in fear.

Do you own a home? Total home loss in our country statistically is a very tiny percentage just like snake bites, but surely you do have insurance on your home? You are not living in fear of losing your home, but you have insurance if God forbid it does happen to you. I can tell you one thing for certain - even if it never happens to anyone else because statistically the odds are against it, if it happens to you, it will be a big deal. I know personally because lightning struck our home, and it burned while we were out of town on vacation. I Did not live in fear of a house fire, and honestly never even thought about it or ever expected it to happen to us but thank God we had insurance when it did.

My snake boots are my insurance if by chance I am the only one out of five thousand other hunters who steps on one in the dark one morning two miles from the truck when alone and I either have no signal on my phone to call for help, or if I have a signal it is going to take two plus hours for paramedics to get to my location even if they come break neck speed. Even then, the final locating of me in any kind of timely fashion will depend on if they can ping my phone then due to terrain and them not knowing the woods. Even if all that goes as good as it can go time wise, they will still more than likely have to carry me out by hand since they won't be able to get a helicopter anywhere near the area and that is going to add another hour plus to the mix. I would be willing to bet you any amount of money that the person who is bit in that hunting setting I just described is likely not going to survive 80-90 + percent of the time. Statistically, I do not care if it is only a small percentage of hunters who might find themselves in that situation, I just don't want to be one of them and I surely do not want to miss turkey season in the process.   

[Spitten and drummen]

Never understood how an outdoorsman can be afraid of a snake.

. 



If you have ever been bitten you may have a different outlook. They make me very nervous. I'm not afraid of them but I have a healthy respect for them. Every time I see a poisonous snake I think about the week I was laid up in the hospital along with the bills that I received due to the bite , not to mention it is very let's say uncomfortable. You could buy a lot of Zach Farmer and Neil Cost calls for the price of anti venom lol.