not really.............



much bigger than the picture looks



measured 5' 2". Never did count the rattles. Was in a hurry to get the deer cleaned and on ice. Had a house full of company over to watch the fight. Dang Brock got his butt beat tonight.



my son shot this deer about 6:10 Sat evening. Waited about 45 minutes and we started tracking it. Not 40 yards from where it was shot we stumbled into this ugly thing coiled up in some blood spots. Took me 5 minutes to find a stick long enough and not rotten to put it to sleep. Finally did. Went on to find the deer and came back to get the snake. It had moved about 10 feet and was coiled back up. When my son walked by it....it went into strike mode. Haven't heard one rattle that loud in a couple of years. Puts a chill down your spine. Killed it AGAIN and put it in the front basket of the 4 wheeler. It and the deer are on ice right now.




found this this morning. the piece of EMT under the snake skin is the wrap-around part of a shooting rest I use on my ladder stand for rifle hunting.



You can see the wrap-around in the back ground of this picture. What if one of my grandkids had walked in to that stand and gotten popped? The snake is dead and I'll kill everyone I can get to!

Dang, I hope you don't have to kill the snake a third time!

Nice buck sir.

Kenny

You and me both

Hats off to both you and your son! What a day you had! I'll bet the back-straps will be tasty. You going to have the back-straps off the
snake? I've heard they "taste like chicken".
Congratulations on bringing up a son like that, and on dispatching
a critter that could blot your day.
TACC1

The only good snake is a dead snake.

But did you have to kill the deer more than once?

Are you not allowed to have a firearm when hunting? I have used firearms successfully on snakes for years.

Good photos, great memories, tanfastic eatin', and. . .

a really nice hatband!


Bullseye

__________________
Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.

No, the deer ws stone cold dead, the FIRST time. Not sure about the firearm or not. The little ole deer had crossed a fence and onto a neighbors property. We have permission to recover on his property, but not hunt. Don't think I would have shot the snake for that reason and a better reason was we were in stealth mode. We kept seeing deer in the thick woods while we were tracking the deer an dragging it back to a spot where we could get the 4 wheeler in quietly. We were trying really hard not to nuke the area. My son is back in that same tree stand this morning sitting for a nice 8 that usually showed up with that six, but didn't yesterday.


Backstraps/tenderloins for lunch with a thick brown gravy over some sticky white rice, green beans, texas toast and a big glass of sweet tea. Probably fall asleep during the race too. Will have to set my alarm clock, I'm sitting in MY sadder stand this afternoon. Baby Boy can wash my truck or doing something sweet for his mom. ;-)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Didn't have time to skin it out last night, so I iced it down real good and let him set till this afternoon when I would have time to go slow and do a good skinning job. been years since I skinned one.

Got back from the "Dog Show" and watched the race and started in on it. 10 rattles and a button. Dang that snake was poor. Hollow inside. may not have eaten in a month or so.

Took my time with a razor shark stockman and pair of good scissors. Came off really clean except the end of the tail around the vent and from there to the rattles. Red meat from the vent back. Got it cleaned off, wiped dry with a towel, stretched to 76 inches long and 9.5 wide. That doesn't count about 6 inches of the head I chopped off with a machete and the 3+ inches of rattles. Salted it good, rubbed it in and turned a fan on low across it and let her lay.

Anyone know much about tanning it from here? Son wants to put it on the wall over his couch in his living room! KIDZ? ? ?

Hmmmmm. 76 inches long. In my case, that would be a belt, not a hatband. I stand corrected, suh!


Bullseye

__________________
Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.

Will take a picture and post it when it cures and I pull the staples out. Thinking about mounting it on either a red or green felt covered board.

Yeah, a belt that would even fit me! :-)

SC

nice deer! i have never seen a diamond back in the wild onlt timber rattlers here, the ndb get realy big !

__________________
WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

You must be a proud father. Son shot a nice deer.

What is the bow? A Hoyt? Looks deadly.

Bow hunting is a hoot, I just got into it this year, but no luck so far.

__________________
NRA Benefactor Member

Very interesting. I used to hunt varmints and small game with a bow and would carry a variety of different points with me, because you never know what will pop up in front of you.

I just don't understand this business of killing snakes. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to run them off. If they're around kids, pets, or livestock that's one thing but when they are out in the wilds killing them is senseless. A rattlesnake is not that hard to handle with a long stick. They are living creatures that have a place in nature. I once worked in a children's camp in N. CA. and of course any rattle snake that showed up had to be killed but the place was over run with gray squirrels that were eating up all the animal feed!

I think that's not an Eastern Diamondback (crotalus adamateus), but a Timber Rattler, crotalus horridus), based on its size and markings. In any case, it's a formidable and dangerous snake... Where, exactly, was it found???

I will repeat what was said before:::: THE ONLY GOOD SNAKE IS A DEAD ONE !!! Nice deer - hope you get the 8 point.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

never seen or heard of a timber rattler in my area. Went and looked at some pix of timber rattlers and just as I remembered them..............way more brown than an eastern. Don't see that tell tale brown down the spine of the eastern.

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Pictures, Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Facts - National Geographic

I actively transplant Eastern Milk snakes to my gardens and barn when given the chance, but will permanently neutralize a poisonous snake at any opportunity. Same with coyotes and groundhogs for that matter.

[QUOTE=hdsoftail;135669320]You must be a proud father. Son shot a nice deer.

What is the bow? A Hoyt? Looks deadly.

QUOTE]

XXXXXXXXXXXX

it's an old Jennings Buckmaster 2000. He's had it for years. Offered to buy him a new one for his birthday last year and he said he wanted to keep using this one. It's quiet and smooth and is bottomed out to 72#. It's not a sled, but it's not 325 fps either. As long as he is confident with it..........fine.

I see no entry or exit wound.
Where did he hit him.?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

straight down his back, just to the right of the spine. didn't make an exit hole. not a shot he would normally make, but it was right under him and leaving.

Its always SO NICE to have a discussion with people who know how to talk rationally and calmly about issues.

I'm fairly sure there won't be anyone there to council the snake on how he shouldn't bite me because I'm not really bothering anyone and I'm just trying to live my life. Or how I didn't intend to step on him, I just wasn't paying attention. Nope, if I get too close, I'm nailed without remorse or afterthought. So, if I see them first, and can identify it's make and model (all done while screaming like a little girl and jumping around) it might get a pass. If it's poisonous, it's dead. If an elephant wanders into the yard, (or water buffalo, crazy dog, T. Rex or an insane mole), they're dead. If I haven't killed the grandmonsters yet, nothing else (animal, vegetable or mineral) gets a shot at them. Dangerous things don't last long around me. Just my opinion.

__________________
James L. "Jim" Rhiner

its not a timberrattler for sure i have cought alot of them, not even close to the same markings

__________________
WILL WORK FOR AMMO!