Snake Gaiters

[TGbow]

Kituwa, I dont live too far from you..here in southwest Mobile County. I've been hunting state land just a few miles from the coast since last season. Haven't seen any mocs yet but we have a lot of hogs, maybe they're eatin lot of the snakes.

I would rather encounter a rattler than a mocc.
North Mobile and Washington county has a LOT of rattlers though.

[Kituwa]

TG, i live in Conecuh Co. but i have hunted and fished a lot over in the Mobile delta area.My 18 year old son hunts and fishes in Baldwin Co. all the time,,i think he is there right now. He has been gone two days now,lol.He and his friends are reguler swamp rats and are always out in the woods or camping on a sand bar on the Alabama river.I always love hearing the stories he comes home with.My health is very bad so i havnt got to hang out with them out in the woods as much as i used to.That has been really hard on me but my boys make sure to keep me filled in on their adventures. You are probobly right, those hogs would clean up on snakes when they have the chance.Chasin hogs is one of my thangs,,i love it.At one time i was sort of famous.Everyone around here that wanted a hog came to get me to guide them in the swamps.I not only pretty much lived in the hog swamps, but it was said that the only safe way to be out in the river bottom was to have me along because if there was 6 guys along the snake would always only bite me,lol.Used to be i was the guy everyone came to when they lost a deer. I miss that a lot, i loved trcking and finding peoples wounded deer.Used to be common for me to get calls or a knock on my door late at night from guys that couldnt find their deer.

[TGbow]

Great country in Conecuh county..good sausage too ..lol
I pray that your health gets better. I just had colon surgery in June, goin back to work tomorrow.
I will keep you in my prayers.
I'm planning on hunting Perdido WMA next year, didn't get over there last year.

God bless, please watch out for them snakes!

[Kituwa]

Thanks TG. I just got out of the hospital a few days ago and my wife just told me she is draging me back in the morning.I have a very bad case of lupus that is CNS involved so i have seizers and i just found out i now have diabeties so they are trying to get my sugar regulated but that isnt going very good so far.There are several other trad gang members in our area. I havnt had a good chance to meet any of them but have talked back and forth with JAG. It sounds like he makes self bows and stone tipped arrows.That is another one of the things i want to do is to kill a big hog with a self bow and flint tip.You need to get up with him, he sounds like a top notch guy.

[Hud]

Wear good boots, hunt smart and stay alive. Feed those hogs, so they grow bigger and kill more snakes.

[Dorado]

Originally posted by achigan:
I've often wondered, out of our thousands of brothers and sisters, how many have had a snake strike at them or actually bite them?

I was bit on my butt by a rattler. I had squatted down to pull up a small bush that had died in my yard. What had happened was I dug up around the bush and walked off to get a drink. I came back, squatted down to pull the bush out and felt like someone punched me in my butt. I stood up and saw it drop off my backside. I guess it had taken shelter under my shovel and I scared it. I learned how to fly very quickly and got out of there. Luckily it hit my wallet and not me. It's venom rotted my wallet away though.

I'd much rather deal with being a little warm, than dealing with a snake bite.

[halfseminole]

Bitten on the wrist by a small rattler as a stupid kid.  Wanted a pet rattlesnake.  You guess the rest.

Haven't seen much of them this year, not sure why.  My wife still has to convince me to wear shoes anywhere, including out shooting and in the woods.  I cite my great-grandfather, who is still hunting barefoot.

[Kituwa]

Two days after my last post here,  my eleven year old nephew that lives across the road from us got bit by a copperhead.My daughter was outside and heard him screaming down by the corn crib.He was trying to catch. It by holding its head with a stick and was going to grab it behind the head like he saw on one of those snake TV shows.It got him with one fang on his index finger.He spent three days in our small local hospital and then he was transported to a hospital in Mobile for three more days.Two dad after he got out he developed a bad kidney infection that is common with copperhead bites.I had the kidney thing with my first snakebite too.He is doing well now but his finger will more than likely stay numb for life.HE was a sick boy for a. While and that from a single fang on the top of a finger with nothing more than. Skin over bone.Not sure he would have made it wittth a bite on his leg where it could have really injected him good.Yesterday I skinned two timber rattlers and a diamondback that we. Killed by our yard last week that I had in the freezer.I wore rubber gloves but still somehow managed to get poison in in two tiny cuts on one finger a a tiny cut on my pinky on the other hand.By bed time my two fingers were swollen so tight I couldn't bend them..I was feeling pretty rough all night and still hurting and nauseated today.And that from what couldn't be but a small trace of venom.Wear your boots, better safe than sorry.

[J-dog]

I have always figured my lacrosse lagranges are thick enough? Hope I never test that theory though.

Had a copperhead strike by boot toe many many moons ago. I had stepped between tow large brush piles. Yeah almost a heart attack at a young age.
Seen some bites in my fire work and it is nothing to mess with. You most likely survive the bite but depending on species you could be disfigured. Mainly the way they relieve swelling pressure if it is a limb.

[Red Beastmaster]

Since I would only need snake boots for one week per year (annual SC hog hunt) I have been reluctant to spend the money. Where I live and hunt in PA it's just not neccessary.

After reading this thread I started checking them out again. I found a pair of boots that were discounted enough to make me go get the credit card.

Better safe than sorry.

[Stump73]

Ive been contemplating about geting a pair. Especially for when your heading in or out of the woods in the dark and I dont normally use a light to go in or out. A budy of mine got bit by snake about 20yrs ag. He was walking to his stand one morning crossing weed field and something hit his Great Northerner rubber boot. He waited until daylight to see what had hit his boot. He found 2 small holes with what looked like the rubber had turned black around them. Luckily it didn't go to his skin.

[TGbow]

I like the concept of the snake gaiters but I dont like the fact that the foot area is not protected.

[Bill Turner]

Piece of mind means a lot. I'm out a lot and have had a few run ins with rattle snakes but have avoided being bitten. A couple of years ago I had a pair of Muck Woody Armour snake boots stolen from the back of my truck or my camp area. I havn't replaced them yet but they are definitely on my to do list. Comfort is the key. If they are not comfortable you will not wear them. For that reason alone I would not purchase the snake leggins or chaps.      

[bigbadjon]

My wife is way scarier than a snake so I wear them to appease her.

[TGbow]

Originally posted by bigbadjon:
My wife is way scarier than a snake so I wear them to appease her.

LOL, I think the snake boots are the best all around option because they cover the foot area.

[duncan idaho]

"The best swamper I know Robert Carter (RC) wears snake boots when he hunts which is 3 or 4 times more then the average guy because of snakes. Enough said"

I haven't seen anything from RC in quite a while, sure could use a south Georgia hog story. Wish you all the best, RC, hope you and the family are doing well.