When I run across a snake if I'm sure of the species I will leave non poisonous ones alone and dispatch all poisonous ones I come across. When in doubt I take it out. Was curious what y'all do.
Run
If said snake(poisonous or not) is in the forest or field where it belongs I go about my business. No need to dispatch them when they are where they should be.
I usually go through two movements. A bowel movement then a physical movement. S#!+ then run. :emoticon-cartoon-012:
I kill cottonmouths and rattlers, leave the rest alone.
Quote from: WildTigerTrout on February 24, 2015, 04:58:04 PM
If said snake(poisonous or not) is in the forest or field where it belongs I go about my business. No need to dispatch them when they are where they should be.
100% I am a strong advocate for mutual co-existence. Don't mess with me, I won't mess with you.
Leave em alone. They belong there just as much as me.
Copperheads and rattlesnakes are immediately removed. All others get a free pass.
Gman
I let them go. Unless they are in the yard.
I absolutely can not bring myself to leave a moccasin or rattler and return to the area pre dawn and sit by a tree and enjoy my hunt. No sir, sorry, just cant... Ya'll coexist all you want while I better my odds.
Thanks for all the replies!! I completely applaud the decision to live and let live! I just don't do it , maybe it was my upbringing, but we have always killed poisonous snakes. I pose another question to y'all - does that mentality apply to snakes only or does it extend to other nongame animals as well?
Do you shoot yotes? I do!
If you do shoot yotes, but don't kill snakes , why? They both feed on about the same things, they both live in the same woods.
Quote from: bammerslammer 50 on February 24, 2015, 05:38:13 PM
I usually go through two movements. A bowel movement then a physical movement. S#!+ then run. :emoticon-cartoon-012:
:TooFunny: :TooFunny:
If it's in my yard unless it's a black snake its dead. The "live and let live "policy" in regards to snakes etc. is great for others to live by, I suppose, but to me it's the epitome of naivety. I want to meet a coexisting rattlesnake.
I just leave 'em be. If they are someplace that I think I might run into them again, I just load 'em up and take them to a place that I don't plan on going and let 'em go.
I usually dont pay much attention to them. My Grandaddy used to get on me about seeing snakes in the woods all the time, he said, "if you stop lookin for em, youll stop seein em"
If it crawls across my lap I probably kill it.
Quote from: bammerslammer 50 on February 24, 2015, 05:38:13 PM
I usually go through two movements. A bowel movement then a physical movement. S#!+ then run. :emoticon-cartoon-012:
Now that was funny. :TooFunny:... I might just steal that one from ya' with my own friends...
Only poisonous snakes I am likely to run across are rattlers... Pretty easy to identify. I leave all the non-venomous snakes alone, and if in a remote area, I leave the rattlers alone as well. If I am near a place where there are people or dogs that are likely to come across it, I dispatch it... Rattlesnakes actually eat pretty well if they are big enough, so I do not feel too terrible killing one.
I have no desire to share anything, be it food or woods, with a snake. My first few years of deer hunting were spent only hunting opens areas where I could get to a tree in an open area because I was so scared of snakes (Still am scared, as a matter of fact!). I probably missed out on a ton of deer because of that. Now, I just watch where I walk. I would probably crap my pants if I came up on a poisonous snake in the woods (I have never seen one, only one non-poisonous.). I will most definitely be wearing snake boots this Spring. I would probably shoot a snake if I came across one, unless it was actively leaving. I do not want to sit up against a tree when I know a snake is hanging around.
Also, thanks a lot for bringing this up. Now I have something else to keep me up all night...
if it is poisonous and I am armed (which is 99% of the time) it dies
if I come across a coyote, bobcat or anything else while deer or turkey ,hunting, it dies
Poison ones get dead, others get a pass.
Quote from: WildTigerTrout on February 24, 2015, 04:58:04 PM
If said snake(poisonous or not) is in the forest or field where it belongs I go about my business. No need to dispatch them when they are where they should be.
^^^^^^THIS
I figure im in his house and I'm just visiting.
Besides there is no snake season.
Quote from: Marc on February 24, 2015, 10:19:19 PM
Quote from: bammerslammer 50 on February 24, 2015, 05:38:13 PM
I usually go through two movements. A bowel movement then a physical movement. S#!+ then run. :emoticon-cartoon-012:
Now that was funny. :TooFunny:... I might just steal that one from ya' with my own friends...
Only poisonous snakes I am likely to run across are rattlers... Pretty easy to identify. I leave all the non-venomous snakes alone, and if in a remote area, I leave the rattlers alone as well. If I am near a place where there are people or dogs that are likely to come across it, I dispatch it... Rattlesnakes actually eat pretty well if they are big enough, so I do not feel too terrible killing one.
go for it I stole it from one of my buddies. Im actually not scared of snakes at all. I just always wanted to say that. Spiders on the other hand. Well now that's a different story. I walk through a spider web and go crazy. Its funny to watch a grown man walk through one and instantly look like a kid doing karate.
Rattlesnakes, copperheads and moccasins...... :fud:
I let em live. Illegal to kill snakes in ohio. Lot of times I will catch them and check me out though.
Quote from: born2hunt on February 24, 2015, 08:07:05 PM
I absolutely can not bring myself to leave a moccasin or rattler and return to the area pre dawn and sit by a tree and enjoy my hunt. No sir, sorry, just cant... Ya'll coexist all you want while I better my odds.
This is how I feel also.
I'm just glad that we don't have poisonous snakes where I hunt 90% of the time. You guys down south and out west have my respect. If I ever heard a rattler while making my way through dark timber, I'd be sprinting the other way. Then I'd be purchasing naval-high snake boots.
everyone does know that snakes eat turkey eggs. they can wreak havoc on a nest just like a coon or hog. just saying. I do kill any venomous snakes that I come across. non poisionus gets a pass from me.
Last year, a friend told me where to sit. After two sits, he says "by the way, there's usually a bunch of rattlers in that area". After that, I went in with the headlamp on. ONCE!
I haven't killed on in the woods.
Not to say I wouldn't but I usually don't want to make that much extra noise in the turkey woods.
I cannot bring myself to leave a poisonous snake in the woods. My brother has the worst luck of anyone I know. He once got tangled up on the line of a bank pole that had a pretty ticked off water moccasin attached to it. Line wrapped around his leg and so did the snake. I witnessed it myself. He was kickin and screamin like a girl. Thankfully he had on a pair of work boots and when the snake finally managed to bite him, he only got boot.
He also once sat on a water moccasin with his turkey vest cushion before daylight one morning.
I wonder how many folks that give all snakes a pass are from Louisiana?? :toothy9:
I would think that an oak snake would eat WAY more turkey eggs than a rattler. They were constantly in my momma's laying house.
Most snakes get a pass from me, unless very large and venomous or near someone's house or a very high traffic area. Catching a poisonous snake is kookoo. Did a literature review for a project one time and the majority of Coral snake envenomations were inebriated males in their 20s. LOL
I did have a possum that had to die one time. I was crossing a narrow dry area where a creek spread out and there were two possums bowing up to each other. I picked up a limb and tossed it at them. One of them charged me like he thought he was a frickin lion. I stomped my feet to let him know I was there and he kept coming. He brought teeth to a gun fight. He lost.
I never kill snakes.......they take care of a lot of other critters that I really don't need around.
Many years every rattler and moccasin bit the dust. The last 20 years I have seen very few big rattlers and will try to just walk around them on the rare encounter. Moccasins fates are entirely up to them...crawl off = live, crawl closer= death by stick.