Mustangs Rule
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2021
- Messages
- 834
The Pacific Rattlesnake, either southern or northern, is quiet, reluctant to rattle and ever so colorful. They can be tan, brown, gray, greenish; yellow, golden to almost black. They can have rimmed spots or blotches along their backs. Almost like nature was a child who used a box of crayons to decorate them. This color variation is I think the prettiest of any rattler anywhere.
And they can exhibit all these variation in a single area. That means in your mind's eye, you cannot have one color pattern to be aware of.
They can be found on coastal sand dunes, right near crashing ocean waves, on the unimaginably beautiful Lost Coast Trail with its black sand beaches.
In the pine forests of coastal mountain ranges, the almost black version will lie there totally silent stretched out looking like a fallen dark branch from a pine tree.
The giant “A” deer hunting zone in California has the rifle season begin in the August heat, when the Blue and Humpback whales are migrating. Archery season begins earlier.
In times gone by, I had two places to hunt for black-tail deer that took on a surreal quality for me.
One was sitting on a huge horizontal limb from a Live Oak tree high in the coastal mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The immediate view below me, was a black tail deer “superhighway” through a tangle of tall brush, heavy with poison oak. In the distance I could look down canyon at the cold ocean water and see whales spouting with my binoculars.
I had a preferred rifle for such close duty. It had a big ghost ring peep sight, was a classy remodel of a Venezuelan Mauser 98 Cavalry carbine in 7x57 with an 18 1/2-inch barrel. It had a heavy bullet twist that just loved the Barnes Original 190 grain round nosed bullets. They expanded so easy. I named this burly little killer “The Wolverine”.
As I aged and my eyes got weaker, I replaced this rifle, with "The Wolverine II ", a Sako Finnlight stainless/synthetic carbine in 308. It has a 1/11 twist which favors heavy bullets and just loves the Lapua all copper semi round-nosed 170 grain Naturalis. They are designed to be a real killer that is kind to meat. It has a 2.5 X fixed ultralight scope on it.
The second “otherworldly” hunting sight in the coastal mountains had me sitting in tall ferns with my back against a rock cliff and to my left was 100 foot small but vigorous year-round waterfall. Below it formed a clean, clear cold stream that wandered through the redwoods. Another black-tailed deer superhighway ran through the tall ferns 60 yards away and back then; I used the same rifle.
This was Banana Slug not rattler territory, but to access it I had to cross a Madrone Forest on the hot, sunny, dry side of the mountain. The forest floor was covered dead dry leaves, and the rattlers had a perfect camouflage pattern to match. I always wore knee high snake boots going to either hunt sight. Still coming and going in the dark or just dim light was spooky.
I have heard that except for the rut, which came much later, sunlight never shines on a black-tail buck’s antlers. Hunting here was not a high success affair, but I managed to take a few meat blacktail bucks over the years, always in the shaded forest.
Regardless, hunting here was so seductive. I just had to do it even if I did not fill my tag.
From later morning, till early afternoon I would leave and go down to the ocean, maybe do some free diving in the kelp beds which have recovered greatly with the return of the sea otters. The otters eat the sea urchins which can devastate the kelp beds. Abalone fisherman just hate otters and will kill the sea otters because they eat abalone. But with the return of the kelp forests, actual fishermen are pleased as the fish populations rebounded.
Also, during midday I would hike some trails to streams filled with a low-grade jade called Nephrite. Sometimes there would be solid boulders of this the size of Volkswagen Beetles. Regularly, I would find small pieces of jade and give them to my wife. She was acutely allergic to poison oak and would almost never come with me here.
Regardless of where I took a black-tail buck, they would always end up with me at the ocean. After gutting, skinning and quartering them out, I would tie their quarters to a boulder and leave them in the cold waters to chill them deep and get their outside naturally salted before my drive home.
Depending on which route I took home, I might see rattlers coming out at night and laying on the warm asphalt as the night got cool.
Once, I came around a bend and ran over the absolutely largest rattler I ever saw in my life. I actually felt it as a solid jolt in my steering wheel. If possible, I would have avoided running it over, but it happened so quickly.
Deer, elk and even huge rattlers can all just disappear before your eyes.
Once long ago, I was hanging around a huge ledge with a great view, to my left was a rock pile about a foot plus high. After about a half hour about a third of the rock pile began to move and straightened out into a five-foot very fat red-diamond back rattler. This species of rattlesnake is usually very nervous, noisy and moves a lot was but was right there the whole time, invisible. I had not developed my “snake eyes” yet!
I have never been out of rattlesnake country for the past 65 years. I do not harm them unless they really invade my space. I do not want to create any un-needed bad Karma with the rattle snake clan. Over and over when I was dumb and blind they could have bit me but never did.
They have trained me to “see”, really pay attention. Because of that heightened awareness., I can see things near and far now, I might have easily missed otherwise.
About three years ago I was hunting some mountain quail on public land with a fine younger friend and excellent hunter.
Coming back, we saw four groups of hunters go by riding in on quads with rifles. This was the last weekend, of a late cow elk season. They just passed by, going “deep”!
The last quad had a father and son on it. They stopped and asked if we had any idea where elk might be. The father said his was his son’s first elk hunt.
My friend pointed to a herd of elk up high on one canyon side, and I pointed to another small herd on the opposite side. We had seen four herds. None were really very far in and all offered a real doable stalk, but you have to see them first. Got to have “Snake-Eyes”
MR
And they can exhibit all these variation in a single area. That means in your mind's eye, you cannot have one color pattern to be aware of.
They can be found on coastal sand dunes, right near crashing ocean waves, on the unimaginably beautiful Lost Coast Trail with its black sand beaches.
In the pine forests of coastal mountain ranges, the almost black version will lie there totally silent stretched out looking like a fallen dark branch from a pine tree.
The giant “A” deer hunting zone in California has the rifle season begin in the August heat, when the Blue and Humpback whales are migrating. Archery season begins earlier.
In times gone by, I had two places to hunt for black-tail deer that took on a surreal quality for me.
One was sitting on a huge horizontal limb from a Live Oak tree high in the coastal mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The immediate view below me, was a black tail deer “superhighway” through a tangle of tall brush, heavy with poison oak. In the distance I could look down canyon at the cold ocean water and see whales spouting with my binoculars.
I had a preferred rifle for such close duty. It had a big ghost ring peep sight, was a classy remodel of a Venezuelan Mauser 98 Cavalry carbine in 7x57 with an 18 1/2-inch barrel. It had a heavy bullet twist that just loved the Barnes Original 190 grain round nosed bullets. They expanded so easy. I named this burly little killer “The Wolverine”.
As I aged and my eyes got weaker, I replaced this rifle, with "The Wolverine II ", a Sako Finnlight stainless/synthetic carbine in 308. It has a 1/11 twist which favors heavy bullets and just loves the Lapua all copper semi round-nosed 170 grain Naturalis. They are designed to be a real killer that is kind to meat. It has a 2.5 X fixed ultralight scope on it.
The second “otherworldly” hunting sight in the coastal mountains had me sitting in tall ferns with my back against a rock cliff and to my left was 100 foot small but vigorous year-round waterfall. Below it formed a clean, clear cold stream that wandered through the redwoods. Another black-tailed deer superhighway ran through the tall ferns 60 yards away and back then; I used the same rifle.
This was Banana Slug not rattler territory, but to access it I had to cross a Madrone Forest on the hot, sunny, dry side of the mountain. The forest floor was covered dead dry leaves, and the rattlers had a perfect camouflage pattern to match. I always wore knee high snake boots going to either hunt sight. Still coming and going in the dark or just dim light was spooky.
I have heard that except for the rut, which came much later, sunlight never shines on a black-tail buck’s antlers. Hunting here was not a high success affair, but I managed to take a few meat blacktail bucks over the years, always in the shaded forest.
Regardless, hunting here was so seductive. I just had to do it even if I did not fill my tag.
From later morning, till early afternoon I would leave and go down to the ocean, maybe do some free diving in the kelp beds which have recovered greatly with the return of the sea otters. The otters eat the sea urchins which can devastate the kelp beds. Abalone fisherman just hate otters and will kill the sea otters because they eat abalone. But with the return of the kelp forests, actual fishermen are pleased as the fish populations rebounded.
Also, during midday I would hike some trails to streams filled with a low-grade jade called Nephrite. Sometimes there would be solid boulders of this the size of Volkswagen Beetles. Regularly, I would find small pieces of jade and give them to my wife. She was acutely allergic to poison oak and would almost never come with me here.
Regardless of where I took a black-tail buck, they would always end up with me at the ocean. After gutting, skinning and quartering them out, I would tie their quarters to a boulder and leave them in the cold waters to chill them deep and get their outside naturally salted before my drive home.
Depending on which route I took home, I might see rattlers coming out at night and laying on the warm asphalt as the night got cool.
Once, I came around a bend and ran over the absolutely largest rattler I ever saw in my life. I actually felt it as a solid jolt in my steering wheel. If possible, I would have avoided running it over, but it happened so quickly.
Deer, elk and even huge rattlers can all just disappear before your eyes.
Once long ago, I was hanging around a huge ledge with a great view, to my left was a rock pile about a foot plus high. After about a half hour about a third of the rock pile began to move and straightened out into a five-foot very fat red-diamond back rattler. This species of rattlesnake is usually very nervous, noisy and moves a lot was but was right there the whole time, invisible. I had not developed my “snake eyes” yet!
I have never been out of rattlesnake country for the past 65 years. I do not harm them unless they really invade my space. I do not want to create any un-needed bad Karma with the rattle snake clan. Over and over when I was dumb and blind they could have bit me but never did.
They have trained me to “see”, really pay attention. Because of that heightened awareness., I can see things near and far now, I might have easily missed otherwise.
About three years ago I was hunting some mountain quail on public land with a fine younger friend and excellent hunter.
Coming back, we saw four groups of hunters go by riding in on quads with rifles. This was the last weekend, of a late cow elk season. They just passed by, going “deep”!
The last quad had a father and son on it. They stopped and asked if we had any idea where elk might be. The father said his was his son’s first elk hunt.
My friend pointed to a herd of elk up high on one canyon side, and I pointed to another small herd on the opposite side. We had seen four herds. None were really very far in and all offered a real doable stalk, but you have to see them first. Got to have “Snake-Eyes”
MR
