First game of the season

[Jakeemt]

Went out after bushy tails again yesterday they are mostly up high and I mostly miss!!      however I did manage to bring home some game.

     

   

She is tacked to a board and drying as we speak after another couple days she will get a glycerin/alcohol soak and be ready for her new life as a hat band.    :D

that's a nice looking one, I prefer the browner colored ones as to the coppery pink colored ones.
 I guess its just more manly.
                   
              good eatin too!

[jt85]

That one is marked up nicely, good kill.

[RAU]

Nice! copperheads are the best looking snake by far in my eyes!

[awbowman]

That is a big copperhead

Make sure you show us pics of the finished hat band!

Congrats on taking one of the venomous ones out!

Bisch

[CoachBGriff]

Very cool!  I can't say I'm terrified of snakes, but it never saddens me to see a venomous one on a bow limb or around a hat!

They are beautiful.

[Jakeemt]

I have no issues with snakes either not even the venomous ones. I typically do not kill them. However, my scouting and roving buddy was with me (aka the big dumb dog) and was headed my way from about 30 yards off so I dispatched this guy. Last time old Guiness got bitten by a copper head he was about 5 years younger and I had to carry him out of the woods and get him epinephrine shots at the vet!

[Charlie3]

Yeah man my parents have lost 3 dogs to snakes in the past few years. Each time it was either the 2nd or 3rd bite was the one that killed 'em, so yeah you don't want dog getting multiple bites.

[Tim]

Yikes....snakes just freak me out....  

[dhaverstick]

I don't how it is in your part of Missouri but those dang things are thick at my house! I've had three that have come out from under the porch by the kitchen, two next to the house and one in my dog pen.

My daughter killed this one a couple of weeks ago. It was the third time she had seen in by the porch and she got to it before it crawled back under.
   

This was her weapon of choice - an 8 lb splitting maul. It was the first copperhead she has killed and she beat on it so much that she broke the handle out of the hammer! I guess a new handle is a small price to pay for a dead copperhead.
   

Darren

[Fattony77]

Nice shot!

Last Sunday, a friend of mine's son yelled that he found a copperhead, then he threw a nerf gun at it and messed it up pretty good. I tried to shoot it to finish it off, but missed it with 3 arrows. Lol. (Which is why I hadn't posted it on here.) It was a pretty decent sized one, so I skinned it, and it will one day decorate  the back of the decorative bow that I am making for that friend.

When I mentioned that it was edible, the kids decided that we had to grill him. So we put some seasoning on it and grilled him up. We all had a good time, and the kids all got hooked on trad archery, because I let them shoot my selfbow.

[DiamondD]

Is there a sac that holds the venom that needs to be removed before eating a poisonous snake?

[Fattony77]

The venom is produced in glands in or near the head (if I remember correctly). So it is usually removed when you remove the head (I immediately bury the head of any venomous snake as soon as I cut it off, so that the severed head doesn't pose any more threat. The head can still bite for quite a while after being severed).

However, technically, it's not really "necessary" to remove the venom sacs before eating, other than for taste. The difference between "venom" and "poison" is that venom must be injected to cause harm, whereas poison causes harm when ingested. So, you could literally drink snake venom (an actual custom in some cultures) without any ill-effects (other than  bet it tastes like hell).

[DiamondD]

Ewwww!  Don't think I'll be drinking any snake venom but I sure wouldn't mind eating the meat.

[Fattony77]

The meat is actually very tasty. The snake we killed didn't have very much meat on it, though. I think that may be why most people just eat rattlers, 'cuz I know you can get some pretty good chunks of meat off of the big rattlers.

Sorry for the hijack, Jake. Again, great shot, and post up pix when you get that hat band made.

[Russ Clagett]

Good shot....

I normally kill 3 or 4 in front yard every year, mostly rattlers, but not so far this year.

Had an old man tell me once...there are only two kinds of snakes...rattlesnakes...and everything else is a cobra...

[TRAP]

Killing snakes is illegal in Missouri.  

You could of course, argue you were protecting your property.  But  then, something as simple as controlling the dog would have led to different results for the future "hat band".

Posting pics and stories such as this on a public forum is asking to get a visit from the local conservation agent.