While scouting out some new hunting ground, I found out the answer to how effective a 44 loaded with home made #8 shot capsules. Not a monster but I sure wouldn't want to step on him in the early morning going to the stand.Attachment 319067
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While scouting out some new hunting ground, I found out the answer to how effective a 44 loaded with home made #8 shot capsules. Not a monster but I sure wouldn't want to step on him in the early morning going to the stand.Attachment 319067
Good deal. He would have to go. Non poisonous would get a pass.
Yep, that's the way I see it. I never kill a King snake but the other black ones (Moccasins) get the same treatment as the guy above. I was always wondering how effective these shot loads were and believe me, they do the trick at 10'.
My Mama always felt the only good snake was a dead snake. Sadly that also applied to ALL snakes, not just the poisonous snakes.
We have the Northern Diamondback's in Pennsylvania. Many years ago growing up there were rattlesnake hunts to get as many out of the woods. Since the snake feeds primarily on rodents mainly mice we have had a large increase in Lyme disease. The mouse is the carrier of the Lyme disease. The ticks that are carried by the mice infect them. Farmers, woodsman, gardeners, loggers and people that spend alot of time outdoors are most likely to come in contact with a Lyme tick. My neighbor and his family raised a large flock of sheep. Richard contracted Lyme and it went undetected for a long time. It altered his life as the disease progress until it was finally detected. Yeah Hog snakes, Black and King snakes really reduce the mice population but the mass killing of rattlesnakes has greatly allowed the Lyme disease carrying mice to proliferate this terrible disease. I have had to take a couple two week doses of Doxicycliene after a big red bullseye appeared after getting bitten by a Lyme tick. Yeah I am careful where I walk in the woods not to stumble upon a Timber rattler and always check for a tick that may have hitched a ride on me. But look out for the red bullseye at the bite site! Time to get to the doc and get a scrip for Doxicycliene. Think about that next time you blast a snake!!!
Anytime man tries to adjust nature to suit him it seems to backfire as we just can't see the bigger picture nor how other things interact. Just an observation.
Yeah. Hate to see it go to waste:
I never cared much for eating them. They remind me of chewing on a wet paper towel.
However- Hopefully there's enough left to make a nice hat band or something.
I used to kill every rattle snake I saw.
I no longer do unless they are around small children or pets.
They eat mice and are very important dealing with the mouse population.
No, I am not a Greenie, I'm a retired logger.
"Think about that next time you blast a snake!!!" I will, right before I blast a venomous snake. I said previously that I never kill King Snakes or any other non poisonous snake. Thanks for the advice.
I don't bother snakes, and they don't bother me.
Of course, if I were up to my fanny in them, I might see things differently.
Congratulations, Murf--- one more victory in the ages-old animosity between mammals and reptiles! Seems like an increase in venomous snake bites in the news lately.
DG
I live in a semi populated area and I haven't seen a poisonous snake in years. The last one was a dead copperhead that someone had ran over and killed and then threw it up on the bank of my yard. Its head was mashed flat but I threated it with caution anyway. I put it in a bag in the trash. Any poisonous snake that shows up in my neighborhood will die quickly. Too many children around here to take any chances. Out in the boonies is another matter. I have ran into rattlesnakes and copperheads while squirrel hunting and let them be, but that was in the mountainous areas of east Tennessee. james
Great job Murf!!!!!!!!!
I killed a juvenile copperhead, in my yard a couple years ago. I didn't have a safe means to move him to a different location from my neighborhood. Other than that, I don't kill snakes, If I'm in a place that venomous snakes might be, not near pets, children, ( the woods). I watch for them so I don't step on them an surprise them into biting me. They would much rather use their venom on prey that they can eat (which is what it's for) than for defensively biting me for stepping on their tail.
I guess that one of the cats killed the foot long little rattlebug that Mama found in the yard last week.
I’ll feed them a bit more meowmix for policing the area….
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I’ve killed more moccasins than anything else on my property in eastern NC.
I also make my own 44 mag snake shot loads.
Copperhead + Dog = $1800.00
Copperhead + Child = $11,000.00.
Copperhead in yard = dirt nap.
762
I kill poisonous snakes whenever they appear if I have the tools-shotgun is preferred. Maybe the non poisonous snakes can thrive in the space left behind by the dead ones.
It is actually a crime to shoot any snake here in Michigan you can destroy them by other means but not shoot them .
I pretty much leave snakes alone we do have what everyone else calls Pigmy Rattlers my last dog was bitten by one though the ear most of the poison was down his face ,he was still sick for three weeks . The fangs were 1/2" apart the dog only weighed 30 pounds at the time . Several times after that he had a leg swell while chasing chipmunks in a rock pile .
better to vent your ire at bee,s, they kill more people than snakes in the usa.Attachment 319297rattle snake i ran into in spring turkey season, i didn,t kill it.Attachment 319298
I've never seen a rattlesnake in the wild. Plenty of copperheads and moccasins. Copperheads don't bother me but water moccasins, I don't care for.
Killed every timber/prairie rattler I could using 2x4, shovels, hoe and a 357 Smith with my own loads; Just to many around the farm biting our dogs, cats calves and almost me more than once! Our cattle dogs would bark like crazy whenever they found one so I'd get whatever tool was handy and kill it..Farms have mice and they attract snakes, it's a constant issue pending where one lives. I don't hate snakes and never have I killed a Bull snake or any non poisonous snake but those dang rattlers are just bad!
Plain old garden hoe makes a terrific snake killer. I have never killed a non-poisonous snake but never allowed a poisonous one to live long. too many children around and too many housewives who like to work in their flowers, a favorite habitat for Copperheads. Also the bean patch or in the Potatoe patch. I knew one lady who had been bitten 2 or 3 time while working in her bean patch. The first bite nearly killed her but the succeeding bites cased less problem as her immune system was adapting to her bites. In her old age she moved into town to get away from snakes as much as anything. She was a fine Christian lady and I learned a lot of positive things from her that stood me in good in later years. james
As a kid in Arizona we lived in a Trailer outside Luke A.F.B. the trailer park manager bragged he never shot a rattle snake just used his shovel . A widow a few trailers up from us called him saying there was a huge rattler under her trailer and bring a gun . He drove down with his shovel bragged about never shooting a snake . Looking under the trailer he went home and brought back his shotgun the rattler was 8 feet long . After he shot it he skinned it and put the body out in the desert a 1/4 mile away .As that snake rotted it stunk up the entire area for a few days!
In Texas, rattlesnakes are now protected by law. They can't be killed unless they are a threat to you.
I kill any snake I see just like a Hatfield would kill a McCoy. I despise rats and know that snakes eat rats and mice but I'd rather have mice crawling around in my bed at night than to have a snake on the far edge of my property. I've shot green snakes with a 12 gauge. If a snake wants to live it better stay clear of me. They are in the same category as coyotes - never let either species be seen without taking a shot at it.
I kind of agree with murf205. Don't advertise, and follow the three "S" routine.
In August, I had a copperhead come into my tractor shed while I was there working. He didn't live long. I need to make lighter 410 loads for my sawed off 410. 1/2 oz of #10 was more than needed.
Copperheads and water moccasins don't live. Rattlesnakes, if not close to house or barn, may get a pass.
I regret having killed non venomous snakes in the past. In Texas rattlesnake roundups are popular events resulting in large numbers of rattlesnakes killed. They put gasoline in den areas to make the snakes exit. I'm not sure that these events are a good idea. Yes, I will pop one at my house.
I kill every rattle snake I can but go to great lengths to save bull snakes! .... even right in my yard
Three44s
When I was in the TN Army Guard, we used to train at Camp Shelby, MS. One year, as we were setting up the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) the Brigade XO killed a rattler with a stick. Someone thought it would be a good idea to leave it curled up near the TOC entrance just under the camo nets. People entering would jump out of their skin when they saw it. So along came a sergeant who had accumulated a lifetime maximum of redneck points. He knew just what to do with the dead snake, grabbed it and ran off. A short time later he returned with a big pan full of fried rattler, which by the way is not bad at all. Not exactly like chicken though.
Wayne
Have not saw any rattlers all year till this month. Saw two that are now deceased.
I am an old farmer who had to spend hundreds of dollars to get 42 quills pulled out of my loyal dog's face by the vet. Next year a rattler nearly killed my Golden, but he survived $260.00 later at the vet. I do not kill much, but every poisonous snake, porky and other threatening vermin gets "smoked."
Greenies can love ALL things, but have they ever lived with the results? If they leave their luxury apartments, walk in the snake infested woods or their nearby flowerbeds, would they ever learn? Yes, after they bury a beloved pet, take a kid to the ER bitten by a rabid animal. I have shot copperheads by the porch and a porky beside my front door. The real world is NOT Disneyland!
Adam
Amen to that. By the way, if you chop 'em up, roll them in flour, salt, pepper and paprika...a few seconds in a hot frying pan, they taste pretty good.....watch out for bones.
Like my Grand Dad used to say, "God put snakes on earth to make boots out of".
Have you been putting out tick tubes? If you haven’t, maybe give it a try. I wouldn’t try to cover 100 acres, but I do 5 around the house.
Tick tubes are toilet paper tubes stuffed with cotton balls that have been sprayed with permethrin and allowed to dry. The mice find and use the cotton as bedding, it kills the ticks in the process.
A Game and Fish Officer told my Dad to put out mothballs around his house and property to keep the skunks away that were a source of problems for him. He told Dad that they would also keep other small pests as well as bugs away. I don't recall that he mentioned snakes or not. I tried it and it does work on bugs around the house foundation. james