Watch your step

[Spitten and drummen]

Why did I have to read this??  I won't sleep at all tonight and probably won't leave the truck until good daylight in the morning!  Thanks a lot Jody!!

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Lol Im sorry buddy. Maybe it will deter all those quarantined people at home that are bored and thinking of taking up turkey hunting.

[tnanh]

I have been around a bunch of large timber rattlers and most times they are not very agressive. I have had two strike at me and neither one rattled prior so that is an old tale. One of them was in my basement and I stepped on him when I went in to get my push mower. I had a pair of regular Muck boots on and he got me right on top of the hard shoe part right at the ankle. Sounded like I had been hit with a broom stick. He did not penetrate. Usually I go in there in shorts and tennis shoes. The Good Lord was watching over me that day.

[aclawrence]

I almost stepped right beside a Timber Rattler last year after turkey season. It was a cool morning thankfully and he must have been to cold to do anything.  I wear turtle skin gaiters but man that would be an unpleasant spike in my heart rate to get hit by one of those things.
Here's another one I ran across. Thankfully this one was out in the open and he was letting me know he was there.


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[turkeykiller41]

I got hit on the leg by copperhead Sunday morning ,luckily I had my chaps on.

[crow]

Well snakes are bad enough but I thought this thread was going to be about something else with the Toilet Paper shortage right now.

a couple years ago a friend told me about a thing going on at one of his hard hunted public land spots. Some hunters were doing there "business" up against some of the best trees he used to set up against to hunt from, and left no toilet paper in sight.

since then I've taken extra precautions in looking where I step and set up at.

[gdc23]

Im from the Northeast and hunt MA & NY, I walk quite a bit in the MA woods scouting deer but it is usually winter, early spring. I dont spend alot of time in the woods in the late spring summer when I think they may be most active in these parts but am back in the woods by September scouting again. I have never seen a Rattlesnake even though they say we have a population. That is some scary stuff for you guys down south. Im curious if any other Northeast hunters in NY or the New England area have come across rattlesnakes ?

[Happy]

I live in Md and have seen Rattlesnakes in MD, WV, PA and NY. Have seen copperheads in WV and MD. It's not everyone year I run into one but I always try and pay attention where I step in the woods.

[captpete]

I don't know anything about these, but Scentblocker has their snake chaps & gaiters on sale right now.

https://www.blockeroutdoors.com/snake-protection-for-hunters

[GobbleNut]

Well snakes are bad enough but I thought this thread was going to be about something else with the Toilet Paper shortage right now.

a couple years ago a friend told me about a thing going on at one of his hard hunted public land spots. Some hunters were doing there "business" up against some of the best trees he used to set up against to hunt from, and left no toilet paper in sight.

since then I've taken extra precautions in looking where I step and set up at.

The "doing their business" comment made me think of this incident I had just last spring.  I had that sudden urge while driving around looking for birds one morning.  Stopped, grabbed the TP, and headed to the nearest suitable cover, which happened to be a juniper tree, which I cozied into just in case someone came along on the road. (sometimes these matters are urgent enough that getting deep into the woods is entirely out of the question)   

Got on the backside of the tree as fast as I could, dropped my pants, and let 'er rip (so to speak).  Finished my "business" and turned to cover up the "evidence" by scraping loose dirt over it.  In the process I happened to glance at the lower branches of the tree.  There, laying on a limb that was less than two feet away from my "valuables", was a two-foot-long prairie rattler.

He never made a peep and looked like he didn't give a "poot" about the fact that I had almost dumped a load on his punkin' head. ...We left each other none the worse for wear on either side. 

[Tom007]

Amen, be safe..

[Neill_Prater]

Where I was going to set up one morning in Alabama.

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[aclawrence]

Holy moly, might as well go ahead and shoot yourself if you take a hit from a rattler to the family jewels.


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[mhamby]

Thanks for the reminder. I crossed paths with 2 rattlers last season here in Ga.

[mtns2hunt]

Don't see all the fear and hysteria. I have been around snakes all my life. Snakes can be deadly but if you're vigilant and watch where you step, sit or place your hands there should not be any issues. I normally encounter several rattlers a year cutting wood or hunting. I study the ground before picking anything up. Anything that looks like a stick gets a second look. I never kill a snake and even think it is illegal to kill rattlers in Virginia.

Just for general info: I have seen about 20 rattle snake bites and five copperheas bites. In each situation the individuals were not paying attention and several were running barefoot. A couple thought it would be fun to catch them. Someone else described the treatment for snake bite in this post. Believe him: especally about a rattle snake bite as it can be very painfull and ugly or even deadly. Enjoy your hunt but use common sense.

[Spitten and drummen]

Don't see all the fear and hysteria. I have been around snakes all my life. Snakes can be deadly but if you're vigilant and watch where you step, sit or place your hands there should not be any issues. I normally encounter several rattlers a year cutting wood or hunting. I study the ground before picking anything up. Anything that looks like a stick gets a second look. I never kill a snake and even think it is illegal to kill rattlers in Virginia.

Just for general info: I have seen about 20 rattle snake bites and five copperheas bites. In each situation the individuals were not paying attention and several were running barefoot. A couple thought it would be fun to catch them. Someone else described the treatment for snake bite in this post. Believe him: especally about a rattle snake bite as it can be very painfull and ugly or even deadly. Enjoy your hunt but use common sense.

Fear and hysteria is not for the ones you see. Its the ones you dont see that you have to worry about. You ever get bit , it tends to make you a little more cautious the rest of your life.When I went through Ranger school , when I hit the swamp phase , my nerves were really on edge. Spent alot of time doing just what I did when I had got bitten. I pushed on through. This topic is just a friendly reminder and may prevent someone from suffering a very painful experience. Rattle snakes are bad but water moccasins are second to none as far as aggressiveness.