? for you snake country hunters/Crackshot Snakeguard Gaiters?

[dosbow56]

Has anyone seen or had any experience with the Crackshot Snakeguardz Gaiters? or would ya stick with the boots. I guess I'm concerned about getting them broke-in in less than 2 weeks. Yes, I'm the President and CEO of the Procrastinators Club......  

[Mike Brown]

I have had them
rattle, not rattle, hold their ground like they were ready to fight, stay still trying to hide like a rabbit, try to crawl away.

I have had arrows pinning them to the ground and all they did was try to get away.  Never struck once.

I also had one raise up a foot over the top of knee high grass and let me know he did not enjoy my pressence on the same planet.  He was about 15 yards away!  I would have never seen him.

As I said I do not trust a reptile with a brain the size of a quarter.  You just never know what one will do.

Once when I 16 yrs old on a church trip we stopped at a road side park.  I was walking around on bare dirt and thought I heard a Cricket.  I looked down and a 4' rattle snake was coiled and not happy.  I froze and about a 1/2 centry later it crawled off.  I have never heard one sound like that since.

Onther thing about rattles.  I have killed 4 so far this year.

One was 4' and had one rattle. A coyote had him upset when I came across him and he was trying his best to rattle and did not make much noise.

one was 4' and had 8 rattles

one was 5' and had 3 rattles

one was 5' and had 11 rattles.

What I am trying to say is that even if the snake WANTS to warn you he might not be able to.

Judo's and SGH "those claw shaped things" are great.  Stay about 6' back and shoot them through the top of the head.  Those heads will just about turn a snakes head inside out.

[8th Dwarf]

I hunt Rattlers.  I was struck once when Antelope hunting.  Rattler hit my White Logger boots, which were leather.  Bounced right off.  When we are in the den sites, we wear snake leggins...very noisy, so you can't use them for hunting.  I wear normal rubber boots (thick rubber) and no rattler can get through them.  Rattlers have small, thin fangs and they will actually retract (so I am told) their fangs when they hit something which might break them off.

I have hunted Georgia and Alabama and just wore good, higher rubber boots.

Too Short

[dosbow56]

TTT with edit

[pine nut]

Don't mean to scare anyone but here's my story.  I have a vet. friend in south Ga. I used to go bird hunting there.  This was near the Altamaha River.  He told me he treated a birddog from a nearby town that had been bitten by an assumed rattler.  When he prepped the bite site he put a ruler on the fang marks and measured 4" between the two marks.  The snake had penetrated the chest wall and put his load in the thoracic cavity.  The dog did not survive.
As narrow as the head is on the front that would have been one HUGE snake. It was never seen and could still be there.  

I saw a rattler start across the road in front of my van about eight miles from the area of the previous story.  I only saw the head but knew instantly it was a diamondback of major proportions.  It was easily six inches across his head.  He jerked his head back into the grass as I went by.  I stopped to look for him but never saw a trace.

Moral of the stories is Be Careful there are some bruisers out there.  The odds are small but they will fill your dance card quickly if you are careless.

My son used to hunt them and had a captive in an aquarium in his blazer.  I asked him what he planned to do in the event some other idiot were to wreck his truck and how he planned to "handle" an angry rattler stuck in a car with him. He saw the folly thank God.  Bill

[jdupre]

I grew up hunting in the swamps of South Louisiana and wore rubber boots and never was afraid of getting bitten. You just have to be aware of where you put your hands and feet.
I have also hunted in the South Texas brush country with all of it's thorns and rattlesnakes for about 10 or 12 years and never wore a pair of snake boots. My theory is that if you know the terrain in dangerous, you tend to be on your guard more. If you have on knee high snake boots, you might have a tendency to be a little more laxed. I do know that I don't come back with any more thorns in my old hide than my buddies that wear the snake boots religiously.

[waterone]

For years I have managed crews and workers who have to work off road, in swamps, marshes and all sorts of stuff, without the protection of vehicles.  I have also been on collecting excursions for professors in college for smakes in the swamps.  I was always real good about seeing everything and being careful around poisonous snakes and have HAD to kill very, very few of them. When you are working, and you might as well count hunting in the swamps as work, you need to be wearing snake boots. If you are like me, you don't have the luxury of being able to tippy-toe around in the woods, especially while recovering an animal.

All snake boots and gaiters are not created equal.  Get the good ones, the name brand ones.  Don't have to be the handmade ones, their great if you can afford them.  We go through up to three pair of Rocky's a year for each person.  So far they seem to be a good value even though we go through a bunck of them. They don't wear out, they leak and when your are standing up to your ankles in water a good portion of the time, dry is good.

Gaiters sound like a good option but they ride up and stop protection for the back of the ankle and the foot. I wouldn't trust them in the swamps.

BTW, consumer rubber boots, hip waders, waders DO NOT stop a big canebreak, Timber Rattler, or ever a copperhead. Commercial grade, industrial grade boot MAY. I know I've been through it.

Also, I have "running back calves" and one of my guys wears a knee brace and the only thing that fits both of us is the lace-up style, neither of us can get the slip-on to work.

If you are coming South on a trip, a $130 pair boots is cheap - you'll spend more money than that on gas. Peace of mind is priceless and you might be needing them more than just once   ?

charles

[dosbow56]

Any feedback on these gaiters?

[Mike Brown]

Well I was at the lease on Tuesday.  I heard a snake rattle and I stopped to see where it was.

It was BEHIND me.  I had just stepped OVER it on a bare dirt trail.  I always thought that I looked where I am going.  I would have never known it had happened if it had not rattled after I walked over it.

I probably should have let it live since it did not strike me but I could not help myself.  I love most animals but every one has their limits I suppose............

[LazerRay]

Man I hunted S. Texas and now the hillcountry a couple of years ago I climbed in a pit blind with a 27" Coral snake they are poisonous like Cobras, but can't bite without fangs. But I have killed several large Diamond Backs and a few Copperheads. So be careful when wearing any kind of boots

[Nala]

WHEW!!  These snake stories are killin' me.  I am scared to death of 'em!

I haven't been hunting in a long time, but up here they're usually all gone when deer season is in.  I did see a garter snake on one deer hunt though, he was sunning himself on top of bare branches of a small bush and I only seen him on my way out, still gave me the willys.
Now I do see them rather often when I go Bass fishing with my friends, but they're almost always some type of water snake.  There have been a couple of close calls while night fishing though.  We fish with a black light on the side of the boat and that attracts insects galore.  It don't take too long till you get some other "visitors" to take a look and see what's going on.  Thank GOD I have never seen a poisonous snake in the wild.

If I would've had some of the encounters you all are telling about, the only chance the snake would have to bite me would be on my BIG FAT BUTT cause that's all he'd see of me!

Nala

[ethan]

Two years ago I climbed into one of my deer stands about 15' up, in early deer season. As I reached down to pull my bow up I saw a snake about 10" from my face. I couldn't tell what it was and didn't fancy climbing back down, as I climbed up I had to pass within 3 or 4" from it. I got my bow and used the limb tip to push it off the limb.  I turned out to be a large rat snake, but now I tend to look carefully before I get in my stands.