snake boots - chaps - camo gear for texas

[Jerry Wald]

So I am asking about this because there has been so much concern for this Canucks safety (which I appreciate) that i would like to get some opinions on some equipment.

Boots for snakes - I have great high hikers - should I just get the chaps? or boots.

Camo - I only have heavy wool (sleeping indian) and so I will need somethign for the hot weather I guess.

Was looking at the ASAT cotton stuff.

Thanks for your help...really getting excited now - ONLY 2.5 months to go and I am on the road

   

Jer Bear

[Bill Carlsen]

When I hunted Texas i found that you need boots that cactus needles will not penetrate....I had snake boots and they worked pretty good but even two years later I would find cactus spurs that would work their way thru the boot liners. I would also suggest that you bring a pair or two of heavy leather work gloves if you are going to be making ground blinds. Every plant that grows there has something on it that will stick, prick or poke you and most of the time they will stay with or in you. Good tweezers should also be in your pack.

[amicus]

Hey Jerry,

I have never worn chaps or boots and have never had a problem. BUT... if an area looks snakey im very carefull. Ive seen guys wear the chaps but they look very hot especally in 99 degree weather. They are bulky and make a lot of noise. I would go with the boots. Lots of different styles to look at. One of the main reasons why I havent bought boots is because they all look hot to me. Just my .02 worth.

Hope I didn't jinks myself.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Been down three times over five years or so and never worn either.  Matter of fact, the last trip I wore Converse sneakers and they worked as well as anything I've used.

[BowMIke]

Iv'e been several times and the only poisonous snake I have seen was speared by the guides while corning the road. Just keep alert and watch where you tread.
Cotton Camo t-shirts and pants would be the way to go. Take a jacket for early/late just in case.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I split the difference down there and wear the strap on snake gaiters.  I never saw a live snake there (plenty of tracks tho), but the gaiters keep the pear off of your shins.  They're quiet too, fleece covered, and not too hot as they stop below the knees.

I wouldn't worry about buying camo for pigs and javies - they don't see too well - just don't jump around.  Plenty pigs and javies both killed in blue jeans (the hunters, not the pigs...).  They can smell you, and you'll smell the javies too if you're downwind.

just 2 cents...

R

[Jerry Wald]

thanks - for the info guys - appreciate it

Jer Bear

[elkken]

Jer what you really need for Texas is something to keep the ticks, fleas, and chiggers off you. I have hunted Texas a few times and the bugs just about killed me. Took months for all the bites to heal up ...

I never did see a rattle snake. Any light color camo was good, Predator works very well. Javies are a blast to hunt.

[amicus]

Jer here is a pic of my wife holding one that was almost 6ft. The head is chopped off. I was walking back to my truck from my stand, just humming along and enjoying my surroundings when this thing lifted his ugly head and started buzzing. He was about 10 feet away. Talk about a heart attack, scared the heck out me. Regained my composure and stuck arrow in his head. He still in my freezer.

 

[Jerry Wald]

Ok now you are making me ITCH.

We have mosquitoes here and black flies but you can deal with them pretty easily if you can take it.

I just use Muskol or a bugnet if I am fishing a stream, but mostly it's bearable.

I grew up in tick country in Kamloops BC - short haircut was the ticket back then and a hot pin or needle....

Fleas - are these on the hogs etc and what the heck is a CHIGGER.

jer bear

[Jerry Wald]

Amicus that's a fine rattler - I used to hunt them as a youth with a 22 then a pellet gun and then a 10' piece of doweling and a piano wire (just loop over their head and pull tight).

Snakes is ok...been awhile but I think I will be ok, but those pesky biting little buggers I HATE...always have.

Jer Bear

[Chester Thompson]

Chiggers:

 http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html

I wear jeans most of the time for hunting, lots of things down here with attitudes that like to bit you back.

If you are hunting public land then I believe that you will be required to wear hunters orange, from what I read there was nothing that said during rifle season only, so I hope that somebody have provide more clarity on that.

[Danny Rowan]

Just spray you cloths real good with a good insect repelent, the kind that kills on contact, and the bugs will stay off you. Let your cloths dry before wearing them.

Snakes, I grew up in Texas and hunt there every year, never wore snake boots or chaps, just watch where you are walkin.

Now that is a good sized buzzer, looks like he had a full belly too.

[redfish]

Check into Turtleskins. That is what I would get if I didn't already have boots.
Leather chaps would be handy for thorns above the boots.
I never really worried that much about snakes until I started wearing bifocals and trifocals.

[LV2HUNT]

Permanone for the clothes and while snake boots may not be critical for snakes they help with the spines and thorns. Heavy leather gloves are great for all sorts of stuff down there.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Oh yeah, almost forgot, get ahold of some Sevin dust or other dust pesticide for vegetables...when you kill your hog or javie and get your pictures done dust him down good, let him lay a half hour then kick him around in a circle...the fleas, ticks, chiggers and hog lice will rain off him.  Makes skinning a nicer chore.

R

[ChrisM]

Snakes are way over rated as an issue.  They would rather avoid you and the Rattlesnake is kind enough to give you a warning when you can't see him and are getting too close.  Wear what is comfortable so you can stay in the field longer.  ThermaCell is woth its weight in gold for skeeters!!!!

[acadian archer]

I too will be heading down south next winter or early spring. Chiggers???

[Jerry Wald]

Thanks again everyone. I found a dead lynx once on the road up here....hit by a car but was in mint shape.

threw it in plastic bag and hit it with raid....could believer the amount of fleas it had  WOW.

Jer Bear

[Jerry Wald]

Those Chiggers sound nasty for such a little bugger...makes my skin crawl just thinking about them....

fun how that is eh! never think twice about bears here - grizz or otherwise but little chiggers are making my skin crawl...wierd.

Jer Bear - the CHIGGER hater already and I haven't even seen one..don't even know if I could see one - 1/20th of an inch...hmmmm