Grandson's first deer, my first rattler.

crsides

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A good friend of mine invited my grandson down to his lease for his first deer. Said I could come along since the Grandson can't drive yet. He gave us the logistics of where, when, and who was cooking and lastly that we were going to "have fun". And that we did.

On Friday about an hour before sunset, grandson and I were sitting in camp chairs behind a blind of tree branches and brush and he starts whispering to the old man that left his hearing aides at home. Says he heard something ??? I had heard a squirrel earlier, so I said " a squirrel?". No, he tried again. Finally turning up the volume so the old man could hear him say he heard a snake. You HEARD ??? a snake? Yes, right there.


10ft away a 5 1/2 ft cane brake rattle snake was making his way thru the grass. First rattler I have seen in the wild. And in SC. 1940 USGI Colt took care of business.

Next morning we sat in our hosts tree stand when a spike came out around 100 yds up the woods road. He walked straight away from us, offering only a butt shot. Another 20 yrds and he turned broadside when Grandson made a great shot on this first deer.


My buddy had instructed us that he had a trailing dog and if we shot something not to go in the woods after it. So we waited a long 2 hrs until he brought the dog around. We went up to the place he had hit the deer and my buddy told Grandson to walk down in the woods just a little way and look for white, while he and I looked for blood in the road. Wasn't long before we got confirmation " I got him". We were all super pumped. Loaded up his deer and headed back to camp in the Kawasaki Mule. My buddy's son was driving when he slammed on brakes. He grabbed his 4" model 29 and I grabbed my ears. Looked up and saw 6 wild hogs milling around in the brush, just off the road. He fired 4 shots, I emptied my 45 auto and we scared the hell out of a bunch of hogs.

Back at camp, we skinned the rattler and found a perfectly preserved full grown squirrel inside. It was gross and super cool. And we did have fun!!!


Many Thanks Gene. Super weekend.
 
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Great job with the grandson Charlie!

And that snake looks BIG and old. I bet it makes a dandy hat band ;) I would almost bet that it will make two or more wraps around your head :D

I can't wait until my boys are old enough to go hunt with grandpa.....won't be long now for the first one.
 
One of the spikes would make a nice knife handle for a skinning knife.
Grandson could carry the rest of his life.
 
I would have emptied my 45 on the snake, and immediately reloaded while looking for it's mate!

Congratulations to two great shots! That boy will replay that shot in his mind for another 70 years I'll bet! Thanks for sharing the story!

Wrong time of year=snakes mate in the springtime.

I was on a field trip while in grad school and went back to the truck to get more film. Going back to the group, I walked up on two Mojave rattlers mating!
 

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