? for you snake country hunters/Crackshot Snakeguard Gaiters?

[dosbow56]

What's your take on snake boots or gaiters? Would ya recommend them? Not either/or but using them at all....We'll be hunting Southern GA end of this month. Would the green rubber Northerner boots suffice?
Thanks,
Dave

[RC]

I have hunted the southern swamps about most my life and have never been bit. BUT I have been almost bit at least ten times. I got struck by copperheads twice and did not have snake boots on . God watches over fools they say.Both times they only got pants leggs. I stepped within a foot or so from a BIG diamond back in the swamp a couple of years ago, Mudfeather shot him in the head. He only had twenty rattles and was about five feet long.Again the fool thing.I could go on and on. You will more than likely not get bit if you hunted a year solid down here but man would it ruin a trip.PS my good friend John Bookharts Grandaddy died from a rattlesnake bite.. Gaters no, boots yes.RC

[dosbow56]

Robert,
Like a good friend of ours says, "Boots are optional, snakes are not." Probly kinda like insurance or seat belts, ya don't need em, til ya need em......Any thougts on the rubber boots? They're pretty thick although I'm sure not as thick or tough as a snake boot.
Dave

[RC]

I would not trust the rubber boots. People think the snake will bite you up the leg some where the boots are away from your leg but a cottonmouth or copperhead will bite around the foot or ankle. A rattle snake will get around the calf or higher.RC

[dosbow56]

Thanks RC, good stuff to know....

[Ian johnson]

I was struck at by a cottonmouth not too long ago, luckily, he was too short, and stopped within inches of my hand when I bent down to pick up an arrow

[longstick]

I have a pair and have found them more useful for cactus than snakes,,especially in the dark early mornings

[J-dog]

dont use either, just knee high lacrosse boots. They are really not a worry(snakes), just watch where ya put your hands. You are more liable to e bit there than on the ankle or foot, if you have good boots on.

Later

Jason

[J-dog]

Rubber will stop em no worries.

[katman]

Snake boots are a regular part of your gear here in SC Low Country. Several cases of snake bites come thru the Emergency Room every year, some get awfully sick. I have heard of snakes biting thru Lacrosse rubber boots. Walking in/out of stand in the dark I like the extra insurance snake boots give. They can ruin your day pretty quickly. In the daylight pretty easy to go around them. If traveling through a lot of brush chaps are used as I have encountered snakes up in the bushes.

[Al Dente]

Snakes seem to have a habit of finding me and not anybody else.  Last year I purchased a pair of the Much Boots Woody Armor for just that reason.  I don't care, garter, cotton mouth, copperhead, timber rattler, I feel just a little bit safer wearing them.  I wear gaiters when I'm just tending the fields.

[peak98]

I don't wear them but I just saw that Cabelas has some rubber snake proof boots on sale and now I'm debating getting a pair. I've never been afraid of snakes, poisonous or not, that said, I AM VERY CAUTIOUS OF WEAR I PUT MY HANDS, FEET, OR ANYTHING ELSE. I usually spot the snake before I get within 2 or 3 feet of it. The only time I get nervous is going through high grass or palmetto's where I can't see the ground well. My experience has been that a rattler won't strike unless he is poked, prodded, stepped on etc. Cotton mouths are another story, they will strike unprovoked, and will give chase, but not all the time. I've only came across 2 or thrre copperheads and they were not aggressive. The most nervous I've ever been was 5 years ago in July, I was sitting in a chair back by my pond with my grandfather fishing and a cottonmouth came from behind me, crawled in between my feet when I saw it, flicking it's tongue on my left shoe, then crawling out about 5 feet from me and coiling up. I just sat still ,i.e. to scared to move, and let him get away from me before getting up. My grandfather was more scaried than me I believe, he told me I was crazy for just sitting there not moving. I believe that since the snake wasn't disturbed by me moving, it didn't feel threatened.

so, as I said before, I've never wore them, but honestly, they are a fairly cheap insurance policy. Get them if you like, but just remember, even if you have them on, you'll probably forget about them if you get struck at and your friends will get a show they WILL NEVER FORGET. You'd be better off being VERY CAUTIOUS, just watch out in front of you a couple steps. My father said it best "don't ever put your hands, feet, or any part of you were you haven't looked at closely"

[ishiwannabe]

I just returned home from a week long hunt in Southern Ga. I didnt bring snake boots, and I saw only one snake(road-killed coachwhip). However, my hunting partner had this thing about getting off the trails...I couldnt get him "in the woods" to save my life.LOL.
I never thought about snake boots, and luckily it didnt matter this time. I think if I ever go again I will have a pair. Better safe than sorry.

[Otto]

Dave

While yer down there, catch a 5 footer, skin him out and we'll roast him on the spit at Cloverdale!!!!

[duck'n]

I don't wear them down here in the South Texas brush.  I have considered getting a pair but more for the brush than anything.  I will say that I would be more concerned hunting swamps than this brush.  The only poisonous snakes I encounter where I hunt is rattlers and they usually try to get out of your way pretty quick.  If I hunted where the cottonmouths and copperheads were thick, I would get a little more serious about it.

[dosbow56]

What does it mean when your palms are sweating while you read these.....?LOL Thanks for the input guys, I'm pretty sure I'll be purchasing boots before I go. Joe Skipp sent me some info on Turtleskin gaiters. They look pretty good but a little pricey, I have to buy two of everything,
me and Little John......
Thanks, Dave

[dosbow56]

Steve,
If'n I see a 5 footer, I'll figger out what to do with it while I'm cleanin out my drawers.......then we'll do a skin-along while we're roastin it. They say it tastes like chicken.......

[Mike Brown]

I hunt south Texas and kill several rattle snakes each year.  Some try to crawl away and some don't.  If I am not in bed I am wearing snake boots, even in camp.

If you buy a pair get the ones that zip up they are much easier to take off and on.  Buy a boot jack also.  If you can take your boots off and on easier you will be more prone to wear them.  Mike.

[Kip]

Been hunting around snakes all my life.Never got into a rattlesnake plenty of cottonmounth and copperheads.The only agressive snake I have run across is the cottonmouth you are in more danger on the hiway getting there than getting bit.But the only time I have seen cottonmounths come after me  was in a swamp about to dry up late fall.When you walked within 20-30 feet of a small pool of water it had two or three snakes and one of them would come after you even that far away It happened to me more than once also to other  hunters I guess it was the swamp drying up that caused it.I also recommend ankle fit Lacrosse booths, will stop most or all bites.Kip

[Kip]

Wanted to finish with the rubber boots will also help in the low or swamp areas you will be probably hunting.Kip