Went to the range today to exercise the dog, me and one of my deer rifles. On the second stroll out, get a real shock when a good sized rattler let me know I was trespassing on his turf. I have lived in PA since 71 and always in smaller rural areas. I have seen lots of game but never a rattler. I got my dog under control and got the heck out of there.
Rattler on the range!!
- Thread starter strut64
- Start date
timeout
Silver $$ Contributor
There was a show on TV awhile back about rattle snake hunting in PA. That is the first I knew about them being there. My recently heard about people hunting rattle snakes and removing the rattles, subsequently turining them loose. Now that sucks, removing our warning sign.
Used to see rattlers on rockslides on the south-facing sides of mountains in central PA. It wasn't too bad climbing UP the hill because you could see the snakes under the rocks ... the scary part was climbing back DOWN, because each time you put your foot down below more rocks, you weren't sure when to expect a very surprised and peed-off rattler to strike! Worst time was in late summer when they were getting ready to molt, because their skin is too tight, making them really uncomfortable and antagonistic, and right before they molt, they can't see!
You got my vote on that. I know he is not the only one .But without shooting him I would never let my dog roam. A little 4 footer died on our range last year. The private range I shoot at had 32'' coral snake die.Gabe22BR said:
Larry
NorCalMikie
Gold $$ Contributor
SSS!! 
If it does not rattle it is a KING COBRA!
My grandfather was born in 1895 & raised here in western Kansas, so it's logical to assume that at some point in his lifetime, he'd seen someone suffer a snakebite. You know darned well they didn't have anti-venom back in those days, and even if they had, by the time they'd have gotten a wagon hitched & rattled all the way to the nearest hospital with said anti-venom, the victim would probably have died. Grandpa walked behind a team pulling a plow, disk, or whatever, so I'm sure he had plenty of close calls in his younger days. He always told me & my uncle that "the one you let get away will probably be the one to bite you someday". We took it to heart - I've always killed every rattlesnake I came across, and still do, at the ripe old age of 63. All this nonsense about live & let live comes across like a load of PC BS to me. Screw 'em - it's in a rattlesnake's nature to strike practically anything that comes within striking distance, and it's my nature to kill 'em before they get the chance. If you don't believe in killing venomous snakes -fine, that's your choice. But don't tell me whether it's OK for me to kill them or not - I'm liable to lump you in with the rattlesnakes.
CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
Killed lots of Pa. rattlesnakes. Killed some at my camp in Georgia also. Here in Florida killed cottonmouth and coral. Don't want to see a rattler but if I do and can - I'll kill it.
Carry a NA Arms 5 shot 22 mag. First two in the cylinder to come up are snake shot. Never leave home without it.
Carry a NA Arms 5 shot 22 mag. First two in the cylinder to come up are snake shot. Never leave home without it.
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
I got hurt turrible bad one time by a rattler. Not from a bite, but from taking a tumble in the boulders instead of stepping on him. I think I'd have been better off getting bit. :
Another time, my "best friend" was walking behind me since I was the one with a pistol, and had earlier killed a nice sized rattler along the trail. I was watching pretty sharp out front when the sick bastard stabbed me in the leg with a sharp stick. I was sure I'd been bit until I saw the grin in his face. I didn't shoot him, but I did get "more even" later, and every so often. jd
Another time, my "best friend" was walking behind me since I was the one with a pistol, and had earlier killed a nice sized rattler along the trail. I was watching pretty sharp out front when the sick bastard stabbed me in the leg with a sharp stick. I was sure I'd been bit until I saw the grin in his face. I didn't shoot him, but I did get "more even" later, and every so often. jd
We see many sunning themselves on the mountain roads in SC PA in the summertime. I don't kill them because they kill Chipmunks that scare the bejeebers out of me when I sit down on a log they call home! I've never been bit or encountered an agressive "Rattler" so I let them go. Copperheads on the other hand don't warn you! Well supposedly they smell like cucumbers but I don't want close enough to smell them!
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