First Blood - Serpent down!

[LimBender]

First trad bow kill with my first self-fletched arrows.   :D  


 

I felt "crushing the head of a serpent" on Easter Eve was fitting.   :p  

Hit him on my second shot at about 15 yards while he was swimming in some very shallow water and pinned him.  My brother who I rarely get to see was with me - it was exciting.

Going on my first hog hunt this weekend!

[hightop_hunter]

What kind of snake is that. up here in the great white north we dont have snakes so im not familiar with them

[Mike Vines]

The more you kill, the safer in this world I feel.

[M. J. Brundage]

Good shot! Looks to be a good sized one.

[LimBender]

We have plenty to share!  I see one pretty much everytime I spend time around water in warm months.

Thought it was a water moccasin (saw a few and just missed one against the bank).  But it was some kind of water snake.  May have let him go if I had known.  We had a lot of kids around the pond and ditches and have tons of snakes, so I try to put the fear of man in the poisonous ones!

It was rough on the arrows - lost one and the muddy clay water was rough on my fletchings.  Need to get a bowfishing rig for this.

[archery j]

Nice shooting...

[Ben A]

Has the coloring of a water moccasin. I've killed my share of them but never with a bow.  Great shot!

[LimBender]

The main thing was, it was fun!  That and shooting with folks who don't shoot much.  My brother was making his second shot ever with a longbow or recurve at almost 20 yards on a can, I told him, dude you are way high, he lowered and then hit the durn thing.       Think he's hooked now.

[LimBender]

Could a been, I've also killed more mocassins than I can count and he didn't look much like any I'd seen.  After some google work, think he was a yellow bellied water snake.

[nc recurveman]

there are currently only two species of snakes on the planet earth cobras and rattlesnakes. If'n it ain't one its the others period  :eek:    :eek:

[Keith Zimmerman]

Seems like a waste of a good predator of vermin to kill one just for the heck of it.

[reddogge]

Got to go with Keith here.

[n.c.swamp buck]

thats the good kind of snake!good shot

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Nice! Well-done.

[mikebiz]

I'm with keith and reddogge.  Not trying to rain on your first trad kill, but I have never understood why snakes have such a bad reputation.  They are exceptional predators and effectively control rodent populations particularly near human habitation where mice and rats aren't so popular and are know to transmit diseases.  Most snakes I see killed here in NJ are harmless water snakes or garter snakes.  We have both Timber Rattlesnakes and Northern Copperheads here.  They are both now quite rare for various reasons, one being senseless slaughter.  Unfortunately most people have no idea how to identify them from non-venomous snakes and kill them unnecessarily.  I can't tell from your picture, but I have a strong feeling that this was just a harmless watersnake of which there are many species that superficially resemble the cottonmouth.  

Snakes have been persecuted for millennia around the world.  You mention that killing a serpent on Easter Eve seemed fitting.  If I recall correctly The Bible relates that evil took the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden.  It does not say that all serpents are evil.  Sorry, but stuff like this makes me want to jump up on my
 

[LimBender]

mikebiz,

I understand some people feel strongly.  Maybe shouldn't have posted.  The excitement in my post was really about shooting with my family members and sharing memories and making archery converts out there, not bloodlust!

Crushing the serpent was an attempt at humor given the timing (but thanks for the theology lesson, albeit very incomplete).

We have a ton of poisonous snakes (no endangered species here I assure you), and I personally know of copperhead/mocassin bites that have caused life long pain and dogs getting killed.  We have a pond that is always full of mocassins (yes, I know what they look like).  My goal that day was to put some fear in them because of a family reunion out there and get some skins for a bow.  I thought this snake was a water moccasin, but on close inspection it wasn't. It is a water snake.  

Since it's causing some people issues, let's just have this thing slip to page 3, 4, and on into the history books . . . .    :D

[Flingblade]

Hogs are efficient predators of snakes and will eat every one they catch so you can even the score by killin' some hogs.  Good luck on your hog hunt!  Gotta love hogs.  You can kill every one you see and be the hero for the day.  And they eat better 'n snakes too!

[BuckyT]

Originally posted by mikebiz:
I'm with keith and reddogge.  Not trying to rain on your first trad kill, but I have never understood why snakes have such a bad reputation.  They are exceptional predators and effectively control rodent populations particularly near human habitation where mice and rats aren't so popular and are know to transmit diseases.  Most snakes I see killed here in NJ are harmless water snakes or garter snakes.  We have both Timber Rattlesnakes and Northern Copperheads here.  They are both now quite rare for various reasons, one being senseless slaughter.  Unfortunately most people have no idea how to identify them from non-venomous snakes and kill them unnecessarily.  I can't tell from your picture, but I have a strong feeling that this was just a harmless watersnake of which there are many species that superficially resemble the cottonmouth.  

Snakes have been persecuted for millennia around the world.  You mention that killing a serpent on Easter Eve seemed fitting.  If I recall correctly The Bible relates that evil took the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden.  It does not say that all serpents are evil.  Sorry, but stuff like this makes me want to jump up on my
 

I feel the same way.  I've caught I don't even know how many snakes since I was a little kid.  Got tagged by a copperhead on my thumb when I was 8yrs old.  An accident, didn't even know he was there.  Went to pick up my "spider web stick" after a couple hours of horny head fishing in the creek one summer.  He was laying in the tall grass with my stick...

I'm fascinated by them actually.  I catch all kinds every year while out on my hunting/fishing forays.

Looks like a Red Bellied Water Snake at first glance.  Harmless...  And actually the term for a snake that can kill you with venom is "venomous" not poisonous.

Here in Ga it is illegal to kill any non venomous snake.  I've only killed 2 snakes in my life.  A canebreak that was in my hunting camp and a copperhead in my yard.  Both were highly agitated and I didn't feel I could catch them without paying a high price if y'all catch my drift.  Didn't want them so close to where people were hanging around on a daily basis..  Felt horrible for killing both of them...

Like Mike said, snakes have their niche in the environment like every other creature does.

A little education about snakes goes a long ways in helping people identify the venomous ones from the harmless ones.  I've never met a snake that was out for my blood.  They all just want to get out of dodge or hide and hope I walk right past them.  Lord knows how many rattlers, copperheads, and cottomouths I've walked by and never knew they were there.

I must say there is a great sense of satisfaction in running down a Black Racer.  Still hoping to catch a Coach Whip.  They make a Black Racer look like a Box Turtle on the run. lol!

[mikebiz]

I agree to let this one slip into cyberspace.  I just spend a lot of time as a biologist and naturalist trying to dispel myths and reduce the fears folks have for snakes.  

Hey BuckyT.  You mean a coachwhip like this.  Not from here in NJ, but Southeastern Arizona.  This thing was over 6 feet long.  An absolutely beautiful specimen.  Pink as a chunk of bubblegum.

Western Coachwhip
 

[Gordon martiniuk]

Good shooting now you can skin your bow