A freeper's Observation: For Rattlesnake Hunts

E.G.C.

[E.G.C.]

I'll be back later today to read and respond to replies on this subject.
Regards....

[kjam22]

Maybe we could ship all of them that are caught to Ramallah and let the Israelies place them inside Arafat's "safe room".

[Revelation 911]

first the rattlesnake hunts and then opening day of trout season - only when the pry the rod from my cold dead hands.

[Rustynailww]

do you all cook them. rattlesnake is very good eating.

[Phantom Lord]

Is this anything like the long time tradition in Springfield, Snake Whacking Day?

[Whilom]

Hey, I was raised on deep fried rattlesnake, and look what it did for me. When I was a boy, we called a nest of rattlesnakes, a "Woodward cafeteria." If you don't get it, you were never a poor boy raised in Western Oklahoma.

[CFW]

Cooked Rattlesnake with garlic butter sauce is delicious.

[kjam22]

I was raised in central oklahoma... OKC specifically. When I see a snake I don't think of it as food. I think of it as a moving target for my shovel.

[M Kehoe]

FWIW, in Florida we have rattlesnake hunts every year at this time. Check out Clewiston FL in the next three weeks if your event is (for some stupid reason) canceled.

That reminds me, I haven't had rattlesnake in a year. No time like the present, eh?

5.56mm

[Palmetto]

Hunting rattlers? Cool.

I like to drift down a local swampy creek popping cottonmouths with my 22LR HP. Aim for the head...they tend to get quite angry when they're injured.

Shotguns are cheating!

[BluH2o]

Not sure how the rattlesnake population is holding up, but overhunting a species can eventually diminish it to a point where its very survival is in jeopardy. Example; alligators in the south east, particularly Florida. Sharks in many parts of the world, in the US, off Long Island and southern New England. Granted, the alligator, after many years of being protected is making a comeback ... but there was serious concern that it had been overhunted to the extent survival of the species in that area was questionable.

[E.G.C.]

Thanks to everybody for posting. Rattlesnakes do make very good food. As to cooking them (post #4)you'll have to ask the organizers of these events. Some do and some don't.

[Whilom]

Interesting you should mention that. We used to say that a man with a shovel and a pocketful of kindling was going on a "Woodward picnic."

[Crowcreek]

"Shotguns are cheating!"

Hey, anything goes with a critter that can bite even after it's head's chopped off !

[Ditter]

I am in favor of rattlesnake hunting. I don't live in rattlesnake country but we do hunt deer there. These creatures are fearsome & I have killed several myself, not during the prescribed months of March & April.

[E.G.C.]

Thanks, Ditter for the comments. Bumping for more replies.

[Quilla]

PETA ALERT:

A couple of years ago, my husband was walking my son to a precariously located treestand for a late afternoon deer hunt. They saw a six foot rattlesnake in the path ahead. Ol' Brilliant, er, I mean, my husband props his gun up against a tree, walks up to the snake, and picks him up just below his head. In reaction, the snake coils his tail around my husband's upper arm gaining enough traction to start pulling his head out of his grip. As six footers are quite strong, he was succeeding. Having no other choice, my husband grabs his hunting knife with his left hand and cut off the snake's head.

After hearing the story, I asked him why in the world did he do it. His reply: "I wanted to wrap duct tape around his head, put him in the freezer, and take the undamaged snake to the taxidermist." I guess I'll never understand man's obsession with rattlesnakes.

[Deguello]

One big change in Texas is that the Texas Parks and Wildlife changed the games laws and made rattlesnakes a game animal.

Now we have to have a Hunting License just to pick them up from the roads in the evenings.

[Dog Gone]

The Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas, is a big deal. It was there that I had my first taste of chicken-fried snake.

I can't say that it compares to filet mignon very well, but it was kinda fun.

[discostu]

But we're talking about rattlesnakes here. Rattlers and mean animals with a serious attitude problem. Most highly venemous snake are pretty mellow and will only strike when they feel threatened. Rattlesnakes are teritorial and will bite you for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I'm a big live and let live guy when it comes to wild animals, not into hunting (not against it, just don't feel a need to do it myself) and will generally give animals a chance to get a way without damage. Not with rattlesnakes though, once you get chased down a winding mountain trail by one of these bugger you learn there's no use appeasing them.

And as for the "threat" of extinction, lots of animals go extinct all the time without humans having anything to do with it. It happens. Maybe if we kill all the mean rattlesnakes we'll force the species to mellow out and become less of a threat.