New snake gun on the way, snake boot question

Louis was in fact from SA originally, and yes, he died recently. He and Pat were friends for a long time, and taught together at Gunsite. Pat is opinionated, but he's earned the right to be based on his experiences (20 years NYPD, retired a Sgt.; a lot of time USMC/USMCR, retired W3; teaches a lot; studies a lot). He's probably top of the carbine instructors because of the huge amount of data points he brings to the table, and his ability to show what they mean - and certainly one of the top ones. He took my miserable skill level and made me functional with an AR.

More important, and back to the boots: quality costs. If I was going buy snake boots, with the obvious expectation I would be needing them, I would do the research to get the best quality I could, and to make sure that they fit well and were comfortable so that I would actually wear them. They are of little use in the closet at home.
 
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Doug-

I did a little research on Awerbuck and heard his voice/accent; later found enough of a bio to confirm his origins and that he seems to have been a special forces soldier in South Africa prior to the change in government in the mid-1990's. That he'd immigrate here was probably a good idea.

I think I gleaned enough about him to guess the reasons for his death, the manner of it. As he seems to have had friends here, I won't post about that. The info is available if one looks. But ill health seems to have been the underlying cause.

I agree that snake boots or gaiters are probably a really good idea in certain areas. Coral snakes have short fangs and may not be able to pierce some normal shoes, but all the pit vipers probably can, if large enough. And most bites are probably on the ankle or above, anyway. A great many coral snake bites occur as a result of naïve people handling these colorful- but- deadly reptiles.
 
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When I was wade fishing I wore leggings made to stop sting rays---ought to work on snakes.
Brush hooks work wonders on the crawly things---from a safe distance.
I don't care when this was originally posted. ;):D
Blessings
 
I stepped on a copperhead once in high grass while I was walking back to my truck after plinking with my .22 rifle. I had expended all of my ammo so I had to use the butt of the rifle to kill the snake. If I could have backed away I would have but I was right on top of the snake.
 
I'm pretty sure the OP bought his snake boots already and most likely dispatched the snake. His post was from 2009.

Hey! They're having fun with this. Don't bother 'em! :D

I saw one of them even bought a new "snake gun" (the lawyer) and I wouldn't be surprised if another one is thinking about a new "spider gun." :D
 
My post was partly in jest...

But GOOD POINT, and I agree. One has to be prepared in snake country.

In 15 years of living in AZ I've run across many, I mean a lot, of rattlers hiking and I've never had to shoot one (or any other snake in the wild).

When I'm in their house, I go around or back up and wait a few. They go away.

In my house (backyard), they get the shovel. Snakes are territorial, and moving them does not always work. I've moved rattle snakes before and had them come back. Now, if one gets in the yard, they get the shovel.

Walking away does not cover all snake encounters, so please don't pile on too badly! :)


People keep making posts like this, but how likely are you to have a hoe or shovel out in the woods when you need to kill a snake? A riding lawnmower?!! My son did recently shoot a copperhead off of his back fence with a pellet gun and his wife finished it with a hoe, but they were at home.

Two years ago, they had an Argentine guest and took him out to see their rural land. This guy is from Buenos Aires and not even very familiar with Argie snakes, which include some bad ones. He was a big city guy and seemed not to register Geoff's cautionary comments about looking out for snakes.

A water moccasin showed up and the visitor almost walked into it, despite Geoff pointing to it. He (my son) drew his Colt .45 auto and disposed of the snake, which took off after the first two bullets missed. It was on watery ground and half swimming when he finished it off. He chased it with bullets until he got in a couple of good hits. I think the ammo was Federal's 230 grain HST.

Skeeter Skelton once wrote that if you extend your arm with gun in hand, a rattlesnake will align his head on the gun. I guess he sees it as the object moving and thus the threat to him. You can then pull the trigger and probably pop him in the head. I don't know how far out the sensory pits on his head will detect the heat from a mammal, so he probably is aligning on the visual motion from your hand as you extend your arm. (Keep in mind that Skeeter was a terrific marksman.)

Has anyone tried this? Keep it in mind and see if it works. But don't get too close. Some snakes will go after you and they can move fast. And a coiled snake can strike at least two thirds of his body length, maybe more on a downhill slope.

Venomous snakebite is a very serious medical emergency.
And a hospital stay with antivenin treatment can cost $250,000. The last time we did a snake thread a few weeks ago, that was the figure quoted by, I think, Bear Bio. But I've seen similar very hefty sums cited in magazine articles.

And snakebite lingers. You may lose a limb or the effective use of it. One man who was bitten by a Green Mamba survived but said that his leg hurt so much years after that he'd scrape it with a knife or hold in his campfire! That leg also took a hit from a Boer's Mauser and a spear wound. This was in the early 1900's and he probably didn't get proper antivenin. I don't know when it was first used. The book where I read this is John Alfred Jordan's, "Elephants and Ivory" , should you be able to locate a copy. Mine isn't for sale.

Water moccasin venom is especially strong in necrotic (tissue killing) properties and you can easily lose a leg or arm from a bite. Some people do die, but lasting damage is more likely, and extreme pain. Some US snakes do have easily enough venom to kill an adult human.
 
Skeeter Skelton once wrote that if you extend your arm with gun in hand, a rattlesnake will align his head on the gun. I guess he sees it as the object moving and thus the threat to him. You can then pull the trigger and probably pop him in the head. I don't know how far out the sensory pits on his head will detect the heat from a mammal, so he probably is aligning on the visual motion from your hand as you extend your arm. (Keep in mind that Skeeter was a terrific marksman.)

Has anyone tried this? Keep it in mind and see if it works. But don't get too close.

I first heard about this method from Boy's Life magazine back in the fifties. Yes it does work, and it is correct that the snake visually follows the end of the gun barrel, rather than sensing heat from a long distance.
 
LOL... wow.

FYI... I do still carry that "snake gun" if I'm out in the swamps but I have learned quite a bit about snakes since. I kill the venomous ones I find in the vicinity of my house (yes, sometimes with a hoe or shovel) and I leave the nonvenomous one alone.

The first thing that I have discovered is the more we use our back yard the less we see snakes. The second thing is that I do my best to keep the grass cut quite low and I limit places for them to be (for example I have no landscape shrubbery or mulch and I have no raised structures. We've taught the kids to identify snakes and also to leave them alone regardless of the species.

It has also helped that we have a family of owls living in the woods near the house and we've had a bunch of armadillos around as well. They're a pain but they do eat snakes eggs I hear.

Anyway... I still haven't bought any snake boots as I also hear that good thick leather boots will foil a cottonmouth bite and I don't walk around too much in the water.
 
Water Moccasins (not to be confused with banded water snake) are very territorial and can be quite aggressive. They will wiggle their tails in the leaves or grass doing a more than passable immitation of a rattler to get your attention, also they will put off a smell not unlike a split watermelon.

It is rare for one to leave an area, even if given the chance....the only snake I have encountered that will stand and fight rather than retreat.

TPWD now issues (or did for a while) Game Wardens their choice of Chippawa or Russell snake boots....Both of our local wardens wear them daily - spring,winter,summer, fall
 
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