Why all the fuss about snake boots?

[S-3 Ranch]

The folks who grow up in snake country seem to be less worried about snakes. It's like upland hunters who come from the upper midwest with their dogs and think a rattler is under every bush. Some don't even want to run dogs out of fear. I have yet to have a dog get bit and there is a very healthy population of rattlers around. I do take precaution and get dogs vaccinated. Some dogs have a natural fear of snakes, others fear nothing so some form of snake breaking is good.

All that said, I seem to run into a disproportionate amount of snakes per mile walked in Idaho along the breaks of the Salmon River and I am extra careful when it's warm because at times it feels like they actually are under every rock.

We snake train our dogs , they basically avoid snakes after snake break training, usually only takes us zapping them 2-3 times and they never ever want anything to do with them

 

[Harrier]

I hunt all over Texas and I’ve seen more than my share of venomous snakes, most often diamondback rattlers. But the scariest are copperheads because they’re very well camouflaged, and they don’t necessarily scurry off if you walk by. They often stay curled up and hope you don’t step on them but strike if you do. Most places where I hunt are an hour hike from my Jeep and then another hour drive to a hospital, so I always wear snake boots or, more recently, steel-toes with snake proof gaiters. Like someone said earlier, they keep cactus spikes and nettles off you too.

 

[D_Walt]

We wear snake boots most of the time when in the brush around south Texas, lots of big diamond backs and having the extra protection against thorns and cactus is also a big plus. I’ve never worried about them while hunting CO or NM though I’ve seen a few small ones up there. We don’t normally kill them unless they’re around the camp house or somewhere we frequent. This one wouldn’t get out of the way when my son was trying to go fishing at a tank so he shot him.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

Not everybody wears condoms either, kind of a risk/reward thing

 

[Mallardsx2]

Rattlesnakes don't bother me. They are pretty docile critters unless you step on them.

Copperheads bother me. They don't let you know there are there until they tag you. Killed many of those around my house. Luckily they aren't powerful enough to kill you or your dog.

Unless you own a yorkie....Which I do not. lol

 

[bpitt]

We bumped into a few while pronghorn hunting in Wyoming. It seems certain types of hillsides with brush tend to hold more rattlers than the open grassy areas. I dunno. But we had 3 different ones rattling around us while we were busking through some sage on a hillside. We beat a hasty retreat to the more grassy area, and made a detour around that certain hillside.

 

[ImBillT]

I’ve thought about it, but never bought any. I think the article suggests that actual “snake boots” are likely a waste. I find it a little comical that most of the pictures in this thread from people mentioning “snake boots” are of people who are not wearing “snake boots”. I currently wear all leather boots. Double layer leather boota in fact. Danner Super Rainforests. I wear them year round to work in. I switched to all leather because, when hunting, I got tired of pulling my boots off to pull cactus needles out of my feet. One place that I hunt every year previously resulted in 3-4 stops per day to pull 6-12 cactus needles out of my feet. Because I cover 18-20 miles per day at that location, stopping to pull cactus needles out of my feet is quite the nuisance. I wear the boots to work for two reasons. A) it makes it easier to justify $400 boots, and B) im fully accustomed to the weight and fit of my boots when I go hunting. Because of the article the OP posted, I no longer feel any need for “snake boots”. The boots that I wear are boot enough.

 

[S_D_O]

I wear them sometimes, we got sh*t tons down here (Ventura county, Ca.). In general your fine unless you step on one, but there are plenty of times walking in or out of a hunt when I can’t see where I’m stepping.

 

[jbogg]

I realize this is an old thread, but I look at wearing my snake gaiters the same as wearing my seatbelt. I likely won’t need it, but I will be glad I’m wearing it if I do.

I hunt the mountains of the southern Appalachians. All we have up here are timber rattlers and copperheads, but there are plenty of them, and you will often find yourself wading through waste high blueberry, and huckleberry bushes, where you can’t even see your belt buckle much less your feet beneath you. It’s kind of like why I carry my little LCP 380 in my front pocket every day. It’s not because I’m scared, but rather because it makes me more safe. And if you’ve ever known anyone that had to pay for a few vials of Crofab, it gets real pricey real fast.

 

[perma]

I carry a 10 mm pistol when I’m in rattlesnake country.

 

[mtmiller]

When I forget my 10, I either walk around them or pick 'em up. Depends on the mood. No visible tattoos, so knew I was safe.

 

[geetar]

I would guess Pentecostals in Appalachia have a higher bite rate than the average hunter.

 

[Dakotakid]

We had a border patrol agent running for Sheriff that tried to pick up a rattler. He didn’t make it.

I might have told this story before but years ago a buddy and I were exploring some ice caves in the hot summer time. Way down inside the cave that required a contortionist to enter, we thought we could smell smoke coming in from a surface hole. So we bent, wiggled and crawled out to find nothing on fire.
So we wandered up along the rock face hopping from boulder to boulder.
Each hop would elicit a rattle tucked in along the underside of the table sized rock. After awhile we stopped to just toss rocks out as far as we could- each time we received a rattle from a little friend.
Ah to be 17 on a hot summer day surrounded by poisonous reptilia.

 

[Sheltowee]

I carry a 10 mm pistol when I’m in rattlesnake country.

True story: if you are standing in knee deep water and happen to notice a cottonmouth lazily swimming in your general direction about 5 feet away, you should *not* fire at it with a 10 stuffed full of Buffalo Bore 200 grain XTPs. That poor sucker bounced to about eyeball level, at which point I realized I f-ed up.

 

[perma]

True story: if you are standing in knee deep water and happen to notice a cottonmouth lazily swimming in your general direction about 5 feet away, you should *not* fire at it with a 10 stuffed full of Buffalo Bore 200 grain XTPs. That poor sucker bounced to about eyeball level, at which point I realized I f-ed up.

Sadly a candyass like me just runs the other direction. Can’t deal with snakes.

 

[3855WIN]

Also don’t get why people kill every snake they see. People out hiking; come across a rattlesnake on a trail not hurting anybody and they just have to kill it.

Because I couldn’t stand the guilt of hearing the news that that snake bit the next hiker on the trail.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Some of yins ain't never had this poster in your bedroom when you were 11 and it shows.

 

[Harrier]

Some of yins ain't never had this poster in your bedroom when you were 11 and it shows.

View attachment 320515

I thought he was dead.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

You know why we never hear of a grandmother bitten by a snake here in the Southwest? It’s because the snakes know better. No boots necessary.

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

I grew up in a family of rattle snake hunters. No one wore snake boots. I was an edgy and scared kid so only went out when they made me, once my dad ran a big one right at me and it went right between my legs. I don’t care for snakes and hunt in rattle snake country but I still don’t wear snake boots.

I don’t fault anyone who does though. Neighbors kid got bit, we are so far out he had to be airlifted out. He survived but it messed him up bad for a while and costs his folks lots of money.

Had a few cattle dogs get bit, very sick but always pulled through.