The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Hunt

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old September 21, 2008, 08:43 PM   #1
hoytinak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 5, 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 5,721
Anyone hunt Rattlesnake?

Taken out at Palo Duro Canyon, TX right off one of the hiking/horse trails.


Last edited by hoytinak; September 21, 2008 at 09:27 PM.
hoytinak is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 08:45 PM   #2
rantingredneck
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 12, 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 4,728
Holy crap.

Watch your step dude.

I've never hunted them, but have killed a few while hunting. Tried some a friend cooked once. Not bad.
rantingredneck is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 08:53 PM   #3
j-framer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 5, 2006
Posts: 375
Wow.

I am thunderstruck. To a northern city slicker like myself (well, not really, but MA is pretty densely populated), that is astounding.

I have never seen even a single rattlesnake in the wild, let alone an army of them like that. If they are so common that you can encounter that many in a single day if you go looking for them, how on earth do you people avoid getting bitten occasionally while puttering around outdoors? Evidently the place is crawling, er, slithering, with them!

Seriously, how on earth is it safe to live where you do?

And, what kind of weapon did you take them with?

rantingredneck said:

Quote:
Tried some a friend cooked once. Not bad.
I wouldn't mind trying some if I had the opportunity, but it doesn't look like I will if I continue living up here.
j-framer is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 08:57 PM   #4
JWT
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 16, 2007
Location: Southern Arizona
Posts: 3,888
See quite a few around here and have had 'em in the yard and even in the garage. I try to avoid killing them and the local fire department will come and move them if requested. I figure they keep the pack rat population down and the rats are a lot more bother than the rattlers.
JWT is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 09:01 PM   #5
hunter33
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 19, 2007
Location: oregon
Posts: 289
Wow! That's about all i can say
__________________
My information might not be helpful but just think of it as a bump
hunter33 is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 09:03 PM   #6
22-rimfire
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 19, 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,323
That is a pretty incredible picture! Was that early spring when the snakes were coming out of their den? I assume the hole is to a den site.

I have seen lots of them. I've even run into them in parks in Texas.
22-rimfire is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 09:12 PM   #7
hoytinak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 5, 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 5,721
Nope that was this morning. We see them quite a bit round here. I really don't mess with them too much till I see one in the yard, then I'll shoot him (usually with a .22lr to the head), skin em and fry em up....that's some good eatin.

Even my little Boston Terrier got a hold of one the other day, tore it apart pretty good. I was lucky he didn't get bit.
hoytinak is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 09:20 PM   #8
Buzzard
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 13, 2005
Location: Kingman AZ
Posts: 479
That picture has been around for a good while, it has been said to have been
in many areas from AZ to TEXAS and Colorado even New Mexico......
Not a new picture at all
__________________
Rick in Kingman AZ
, Super Comanche 45LC/410 , ,Armscor .38 4, Marlin 60 & An UGLY 12ga , Savage Axis .223
Buzzard is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 09:26 PM   #9
hoytinak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 5, 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 5,721
I was given it today and told it was taken this morning...my bad. I'd believe it though as we run into them all the time, plus it looks just like Palo Duro (but then again I know other places that look the same). Still a cool pic.
hoytinak is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 09:28 PM   #10
hogdogs
Staff In Memoriam
 
Join Date: October 31, 2007
Location: Western Florida panhandle
Posts: 11,069
What is the size of those? Are they adults? What congregates them like that? I have easterns around me and have never seen 2 in one spot like that. The ones around here share gopher tortoise dens or use the abandoned ones...



Junior got me a real good fright with this one... He had it strategically placed right out the door when he came in and whispered in my ear to go see what he got outside... we had just been out shooting shotguns and I had left him as it was HOTTTT and I was ready for a beer... I tell you I never knew I could tap dance and cuss at one time and managed not to pee myself!
Brent
hogdogs is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 09:41 PM   #11
j-framer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 5, 2006
Posts: 375
hoytinak said:

Quote:
I was given it today and told it was taken this morning...my bad. I'd believe it though as we run into them all the time, plus it looks just like Palo Duro (but then again I know other places that look the same). Still a cool pic.

Uh-oh, did I step in it this time? I read too hastily and I guess I was somehow under the impression that that picture showed your work.

I thought it seemed a little too amazing.
j-framer is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 10:00 PM   #12
nate45
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 15, 2007
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,746
Quote:
I thought it seemed a little too amazing.
Rattlesnakes do pile up like that in their dens.


Serpientes de cascabel

Some of them also get pretty big.





Both of these medium size rattlers were caught in TX.
__________________
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."- Thomas Jefferson
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
(>_<)
nate45 is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 10:07 PM   #13
hoytinak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 5, 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 5,721
I was hoping it really was at Palo Duro Canyon, I was planning on heading out there tomorrow after work to see if I could get enough for a cookout.
hoytinak is offline  
Old September 21, 2008, 10:56 PM   #14
BurkGlocker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 18, 2008
Location: Sheppard AFB, TX
Posts: 568
In our area we have an Annual Rattlesnake Roundup thats held a little north of the Red River in a little town called Waurika, OK. I've only missed a few of these things since I was a small boy, but when I got old enough we have hunted a few times. Usually there are more than 1500-5000 rattlers held in pens at one time there that have been trapped. They also have a contest to see who can bag baby rattlesnakes the fastest, they dump 5 baby rattlers out on the bed of a trailer, and you have to rebag them. a lot of fun, but very dangerous. They have EMTs at standby constantly at these events.

But when we are hunting rattlers its a very exhilarating feeling when you come upon a den full of snakes, but the smell is god awful...:barf:

And BTW, fried rattlesnake isnt that bad, but not as meaty as I would like it to be.
BurkGlocker is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 12:53 AM   #15
Inspector3711
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 9, 2008
Location: Puget Sound Washington
Posts: 1,553
Those are some big rattlers. I had a friend in high school around 1980 and his parents had 40 acres of vacation property in eastern Washington not too far from Goldendale. They called the neighboring ridge rattlesnake ridge and for good reason. We would wander around the property with .22 rifles (mine a Marlin and his an old Remington, both bolt guns) looking for snakes. We might bag several in a day between the two of us if it didn't get too hot to keep us from trying. It could hit 105ºF there. The biggest we ever saw was about half the size of the smaller one pictured of the two big ones. We would occasionally find a nest of 6 or 7 in a hole or under a stump. Most of them were 4 feet long or less.

The meat was quite tasty! I haven't eaten snake since. One of these days I may have to take a trip over there..

One day his nephew was dinking around under the camp trailer and somebody went to check on him. The kid was probably four or five. He was under there poking at a diamondback with a stick! Mr. snake was quite riled up. We hauled it out of there with a rake and put one in it's head. Scary moment!
__________________
"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." The Dalai Llama (5/15/01, The Seattle Times)
"That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." George Orwell
Inspector3711 is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 11:58 AM   #16
22-rimfire
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 19, 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 5,323
Hoytinak. You had me fooled as I thought you took the picture. Isn't the internet grand.

Guess all I can say at this point is I'm not impressed. It is probably where the snakes were dumped after a rattlesnake hunt.
22-rimfire is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 12:12 PM   #17
10-96
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 19, 2005
Location: Tx Panhandle Territory
Posts: 4,159
The first photo in the thread was taken at Palo Duro- but not in the state park part. It was east of Hwy 207 close the the JA Ranch boundary line.

The other photo, with the feller standing on a sidewalk in front of tin buildings- was taken at the old Turkey Creek booster plant on Hwy 136 between Fritch and Amarillo. Relative of the guy's wife works where I do.


I don't mind living in areas where these things roam... at least they're not bears, aligators, or other such things that might dislodge me from the top of the foodchain!
__________________
Rednecks... Keeping the woods critter-free since March 2, 1836. (TX Independence Day)

I suspect a thing or two... because I've seen a thing or two.
10-96 is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 01:10 PM   #18
Lavid2002
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 6, 2007
Posts: 2,568
hmm

if i had a pile of rattlers that close to my house I think the birdshot would be getting some use pretty soon.
__________________
Math>Grammar
Lavid2002 is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 01:36 PM   #19
Kreyzhorse
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 12, 2006
Location: NKY
Posts: 12,463
I almost stepped on a small (about 12") rattlesnake once in Wyoming. Buddy of mine saw it and grabbed me before I put my foot on it. Scared the holy hell out of me. That's the only one I've ever seen. I might never recover from a seeing a big old nest of the nasty things.....
__________________
"He who laughs last, laughs dead." Homer Simpson
Kreyzhorse is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 02:57 PM   #20
grymster2007
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 22, 2007
Location: In the oak studded hills near Napa
Posts: 2,203
As we headed side-by-side down a dusty logging road on our motorcycles, me and Mrs. Grymster each leaned out a bit to avoid a rattler curled up right in the middle of the road. We stopped a couple hundred feet away and she said “was that a rattlesnake? let’s go look at it!”. We headed back on foot and checked it out. Then, the ever-lovely missus said she’d never heard the sound of the rattle before. I looked around and the only stick I could find was about 18” long. I think I said “ahh craaaap” and went about riling him up.

It got my adrenaline going to say the least, but rattlers are not particularly fast and I considered myself in no real danger. I considered myself in far more danger when on a more recent occasion I nearly grabbed one while gathering firewood. It’s one thing to be aware of a rattler’s presence out in an open area and quite another to stumble onto one in a jumble of logs and branches.

Mr. Newfound Caution
__________________
grym
grymster2007 is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 03:31 PM   #21
10-96
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 19, 2005
Location: Tx Panhandle Territory
Posts: 4,159
The creepy little boogers have the art of cammo down fairly well- don't they?
__________________
Rednecks... Keeping the woods critter-free since March 2, 1836. (TX Independence Day)

I suspect a thing or two... because I've seen a thing or two.
10-96 is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 03:34 PM   #22
FrontSight
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 9, 2005
Posts: 1,712
grymster2007: Do you mean they are not quick when it's cold out, or always? Cause I've seen them on tv covering groud very, very quickly, and they strike at about 100mph...
__________________
To kill something as great as a duck just to smell the gunpowder is a crime against nature. - Alan Liere
Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. - George Bernard Shaw
FrontSight is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 03:59 PM   #23
grymster2007
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 22, 2007
Location: In the oak studded hills near Napa
Posts: 2,203
Quote:
grymster2007: Do you mean they are not quick when it's cold out, or always?
It was hot out when I had to rile up that rattler. I would guess it was 3 1/2 - 4 feet long and pretty thick. It tried to strike me, but it never tried advancing. I don't think they can strike more than about a third of their body length and that seemed to be the case. I've never seen on TV or elsewhere, a rattler that could cover ground at more than a couple mph.

100mph strike speed? That'd be nearly 150fps... I'm very skeptical! I doubt they could do more than 1/10 that.

Mr. Snake Charmer - bring on the Cobras!
__________________
grym
grymster2007 is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 04:06 PM   #24
hogdogs
Staff In Memoriam
 
Join Date: October 31, 2007
Location: Western Florida panhandle
Posts: 11,069
I don't know enuff to say FACT at 150fps... But I can tell you I won't goof with one with a device shorter than more than their length. I have MANY times had them strike and rebound faster than you can see.
I also know the first several strikes are merely warning lunges... The ones that count are with mouth wide agape and the 1/3rd is a minimum assumption... I have seen a four footer with only under one foot still on the ground. Needless to say inertia was a force in action. These are a very strong animal and to think a measly stick on the neck is gonna pin one for long is VERY OPTIMISTIC!
They feel as strong as a mad tomcat when trying to pin one to graps his neck to sack him up.
As for concealment... a coiled pygmy rattler is one of the hardest critters to spot!

Brent
hogdogs is offline  
Old September 22, 2008, 04:15 PM   #25
grymster2007
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 22, 2007
Location: In the oak studded hills near Napa
Posts: 2,203
Quote:
But I can tell you I won't goof with one with a device shorter than more than their length.
When Mrs. Grymster tells me to rile up a rattlesnake, fear is not an option.
__________________
grym
grymster2007 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:11 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.11288 seconds with 10 queries