SC hog hunt in June..snakes?

[Liquid Amber]

"RedHead® Ultra Snake 16'' Waterproof Hunting Boots for Men"

Buy a pair of these [ cheap and light] and go where you want and don't worry about getting them wet.  You going to hunt pigs in SC, you likely going to get wet.

I wear snake boots working and hunting and have for nearly 40 years.  They are a cheap insurance policy.  My company thinks so as I am reimbursed 100% for any boot to included custom Russells when ever I need a pair.  Not wearing snake protection in rattlesnake country is as poor a decision as not wearing fall protection from a tree.

Most of the time I wear this old pair of cheap Rocky's because they are comfortable, light and leak badly.

 

If you still not sold....interview someone who has been tagged by a rattlesnake or cottonmouth.  Both rattlesnakes [coiling and rattling} and cottonmouths [opening mouth and exposing the white interior] use a defense mechanism to warn you off when they feel threatened.  They are not normally aggressive but if their defense doesn't work they will not hesitate to pop a load in you.  They rarely give a dry bite

Copperheads' defense mechanism is a strike and are much easier provoke to do so.  So, they may pop you to get your attention with a dry bite but if you don't pay attention they will pop you again and this second strike is generally the real deal.

I got tangled up in a thicket with a sow and pigs and this dude one evening near Savannah, GA in the late 1980s.  I'm wearing a pair of Gokey snake boots here.  I took the easy way out.  

 

[Killdeer]

Lawsie that's a putty canebrake!  
Killdeer

[khardrunner]

Snakes are gross!

[michaelschwister]

My hunting buddy and I did not wear snakeskin boots for several years of GA swamp hog hunting.  His wife kept bugging him to get snake boots.  He finally bought a pair and got hammered by a big cottonmouth while sneaking through palmettos in a spot we had hunted on a reguar basis- the FIRST day he wore them in the woods.

[TxAg]

Snake boots are HOT! I hate wearing them. Gaiters over jeans/boots is even worse.

I don't see the point in spending the money if you've already got a pair of leather boots or rubber boots...they'll deter a snake just the same. (they're hot, too, though)

Google 'texas rattlesnake roundup'. Those guys catch and handle hundreds of snakes. They generally only wear cowboy boots.

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
Only a fool would "not worry" about the real possibility of an encounter.

Biggie.....did you just call shoe-man a fool???    

[straitera]

Had them all including boots, wraps, & leggings. IMHO, the cheapest & best are plastic wrap around or zip up you can put under & "puff out" your pants leg which kind of work to keep your legs cooler. Rubber or snake boots & chaps way too hot.

Wearing lowcut hike boots the other day when I stepped near the moccassin. He raised & showed his fangs. Lucky he didn't whack me! Likely wear rubber boots from now on just because they're handy.

[David M. Mathis]

No and no but they're there. If you wear snake boots or legging you don't have to look down every step. Back in the early 70's I hunted he swamps on the Congaree river out of Columbia and seen lots of timber rattlers a few cotton mouths and copper heads. I had a pair of Herters leather snake boots at that time. mIKE

[Liquid Amber]

I don't much care if you want to play with rattlesnakes, as long as it has no effect on me.  Occasionally I invite someone to hunt hogs with me in South Carolina.  You don't wear snake protection...you don't hunt with me.  

Reasons:  I don't want you getting bit and ruining my hunt, or other guests' hunt.  I don't want you getting bit and needing 6 vials of anit-venom at $6,000 plus per vial, a week in the hospital and running up my insurance premiums.  I don't want you inconveniencing your family and friends having to care for you.  I don't want you to have a hand that can no longer pull a bow or a leg that limps.  

It be find and dandy if the only one impacted by a poor decision was the person making it.  But it never works that way.  

For those who think it sissy and too hot and too costly and too whatever....."Here's your sign!"

[TxAg]

What I would like to reiterate is that if the OP doesn't want to spend a bunch of money on snake boots or gaiters, he's likely fine with the leather and/or rubber boots he probably already owns.

I've also never seen an African PH wear snake boots. Maybe it's because the ones over there are big enough to bite you above the waist  

[khardrunner]

Well I decided to get some gaitors off of some reccomendations. My brother in law is picking a set up for me.

[stujay]

Bought a pair of snake proof chaps. Warm, yes but much better than the other option! I used to just watch for snakes but twice in the past 2 yrs almost stepped on a rattler. If the last one hadn't rattled when it did, I would have stepped on it, and that settled the issue for me.

[Bud B.]

I walked by this guy three times within his striking distance. I guess he tolerated me.

Wear protection if you have it.

 

[Pokerdaddy]

May I ask a related question?  Is there any time during the winter that you can be somewhat snake free in South Carolina?  Do they hole up at all?  I'd like to hunt Ray's, but snakes freak me out!

[Hoyt]

I'd keep my eyes peeled anyway and watch where you step. There's more than snakes to step on. I've had to make some pretty quick backwards, sideways, twist-around moves, more than a couple times when big cotton mouths and rattle snakes struck at me. All the big ones struck up high...like the way this big cotton mouth is looking. He didn't strike and I didn't kill it.

Click pictures for full size

 
 
 
 

[straitera]

Sorry Andy. Don't know how you can hunt & have a good time so askeered of snakes? Good news is, hogs love snakes too. Snakes are getting scarce in hog infested areas. Doubt hot snake boots would bother me at all rather than both eyes peeled to the ground all the time.

[Ray Hammond]

Poker

Jan1  thru March 15 is going to be without snakes for sure

Call if you'd like to discuss 6783002883

[Pokerdaddy]

Thanks for the heads-up, Ray!  I'll be coming down to your place January or February.  You know, spent my Army time (infantry) stationed in GA and TX and never gave snakes a thought (young and dumb) and never saw any that I can remember...but all these snake pics ya'll are always posting get me all worked up.  Don't get em up here in MI.

[Looper]

Snake boots or gaiters, a thermocell, and clothes sprayed with Permithrin are the mainstays in my list of equipment. I doubt you'll have problems with snakes, but it's good to be prepared. One thing you definitely need to prepare for is ticks. Oh, and the heat.

[NOMAD88]

They are out there but i haven't had any close calls with them striking at me...knock on wood!